Business Insider said Chick-fil-A is "statistically the most polite chain in the restaurant business," after a QSR Magazine report showed positive attributes of customer service at the chicken chain.
The annual drive-thru report, released Monday, showed employees made eye contact with customers 87.9 percent of the time, said "please" 61.8 percent of the time and had a pleasant demeanor 93.9 percent of the time. Employees also smiled 90.9 percent of the time and said "thank you" 95.2 percent of the time.
The report included data from 15 fast food chains and data from 1,948 visits.
Among the other restaurants included were Arby's, Panera, McDonald's, KFC, Starbucks, Taco Bell, Burger King and Wendy's.
Employees at Chick-fil-A were the most likely of the 15 chains surveyed to say "please" and "thank you" and to smile at drive-thru customers.
The only chain that had workers more likely to have a pleasant demeanor than Chick-fil-A was PDQ, a Tampa-based company known for its chicken tenders. PDQ has locations in less than 10 states.
"It's all about speed and accuracy, but we know our customers appreciate that we can be nice while being fast and accurate," Mark Moraitakis, senior director of hospitality and service design, told QSR. "Eye contact and smiling go a long way in the drive-thru experience."
For each visit to each restaurant, a trained data collection specialist surveyed the drive-thru lane and then entered the line the same as any other customer, QSR reported.
The company said a minor special request was also made with each order, such as requesting beverage with no ice.