The Best Fast Food In America

Wendy's classic burger—now known as Dave's Hot 'N' Juicy—scored high with Business Insider readers. The chain prides itself on never freezing meat and making each item to order. The burger is topped with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, and condiments.

Other contenders included Burger King's Whopper (26%), McDonald's Big Mac (24%), White Castle Sliders (6%), and Carl's Jr.'s Famous Star (10%).

It seems that better ingredients do equal better pizza. Despite other chains' attempts to revitalize business with new menu items, Papa John's stuck to basics and won for best pizza.

Competition, however, was stiff. Pizza Hut came in second place with 31% of votes, while Domino's received 29% of the vote. Little Caesar's only managed to get 6% of votes.

No one in the fast food industry has been able to compete with McDonald's french fries. While Wendy's and Burger King have adjusted their recipes for years, McDonald's fries remain a classic.

Arby's Curly Fries came in a distant second with 17% of the vote. Wendy's received 14%, while Burger King came in at 11%.

Chick-fil-A's secret recipe is rumored to include brining the chicken patty in pickle juice before breading it and frying it in peanut oil. Our survey results show that no one has mastered the chicken sandwich like Chick-fil-A.

Other options included Wendy's Spicy Chicken (26%), McDonald's McChicken (9%), and KFC Chicken Littles (10%).

KFC retained its status as an American fried chicken staple with Business Insider readers, despite Chick-fil-A recently passing the chain in sales.

Still, our survey revealed that competition is intense. Chick-fil-A and Popeye's tied for second place with 32% of votes respectively.

Chick-fil-A's chicken nuggets, which include whole pieces of unprocessed breast meat, scored big with BI readers. This reveals the bigger trend of consumers preferring unprocessed foods over processed ones.

Other options were McDonald's (31%), Wendy's (18%), and Burger King (4%).

Subway won this category, perhaps because of new offerings like the Chicken Enchilada sub. Subway also has more customization possibilities than competitors, a big trend in the fast food industry.

Besides Subway, readers chose from Jimmy John's (25%), Quizno's (20%), and Potbelly (18%).

Starbucks has retained its reputation as the best coffee chain. In addition to signature brews, Starbucks also began offering more frozen Frappuccino and dessert latte options.

Other options were Dunkin' Donuts (27%), McDonald's (9%), Tim Horton's (8%), and Caribou (7%).

Dairy Queen's plethora of flavors and options won out over the competition. It's possible that readers view Dairy Queen as more of a specialist when it comes to milkshakes.

Competitors were Chick-fil-A (20%), McDonald's (18%), and Burger King (4%).

Krispy Kreme is known to make their donuts fresh, earning them high marks with BI readers. The donuts have also been named among the "most addictive foods."

Other choices were Dunkin' Donuts (36%), Tim Horton's (8%), and Starbucks (2%).

McDonald's has long been the king of fast food breakfast by market share, and it looks like there's little-to-no chance that another restaurant could steal its crown, based on our survey. McDonald's handily won best breakfast spot with 53% of the vote.

Competitors were Dunkin' Donuts (17%), Starbucks (14%), Taco Bell (7%), Subway (5%) and Burger King (5%).

Taco Bell launched its first ever breakfast menu in late March after nearly seven years of testing menu items. The Waffle Taco was the most buzzed about addition to the Mexican chain's offerings, and it turns out it was a big hit with Business Insider readers. But it was a close match between the Waffle Taco (31%) and McDonald's new Egg White Delight (30%).

Other competitors were Dunkin' Donuts Eggs Benedict Sandwich (18%), Burger King's French Toast Sticks (14%), and White Castle's Belgian Waffle Breakfast Sandwiches (7%).

McDonald's Quarter Pounder BLT, which was released last spring, has thick cut Applewood smoked bacon on top of a beef patty with American cheese, tomato, lettuce, red onions, crinkle-cut pickles, mayo and mustard. The sandwich is a clear favorite among Business Insider readers.

Taco Bell's Beefy Cheesy Burrito (23%) was the second favorite, followed by Wendy's Bacon Portobello Melt (21%), Burger King's Satisfries (14%), and Jack In The Box's Sweet Potato Fries (13%).

Chick-fil-A has original recipes for most of its condiments including buffalo, buttermilk ranch, barbecue, honey mustard, Polynesian, and the famous Chick-fil-A sauce.

That's likely what made it a clear winner over McDonald's (23%), Arby's (21%), and Taco Bell (19%).

Business Insider readers crave Mexican food after a night of drinking, according to our survey. Chipotle came in first place with 34% of the vote, followed by Taco Bell (26%).

Readers also chose from McDonald's (23%), Burger King (9%), and Dunkin' Donuts (8%).

Chipotle's huge food portions, ease of customization and wholesome ingredients has helped it become a cult favorite.

The burrito chain won the "Best Quick Mexican" category by a huge margin, with 58% of the vote compared to next-in-line Taco Bell's 27%. Other competitors were Qdoba (8%) and Moe's (7%).

In addition to the "Best Sub" category, Subway also wins as the healthiest fast food option. The sandwich shop, which has more locations than McDonald's and Starbucks in the U.S., offers a wide range of salads and healthy snacks, such as apple slices.

Panera Bread (29%) came in second place, followed by Chipotle (25%), Chick-fil-A (7%), and Wendy's (3%).

Now check out 20 regional chains we wish would go national >