If you live in a major U.S. city, it often feels like you can’t turn a corner without seeing the famous green and white mermaid logo that indicates that a grande Americano, an icy Frappucino, or a Pumpkin Spice Latte (depending on the season, of course) is just a long line away. Starbucks is famous (or notorious) for being absolutely everywhere, and for good reason. According to a study by Quartz in 2014, they have stores in 63 countries. Quartz noted that Seoul, in South Korea, had 284 Starbucks — the most of any city in the world — followed by New York with 277. In 2014, no one in America was ever more than 192 miles from a Starbucks, the farthest point being the tiny town of Circle, MT. That’s a long way to drive for your favorite coffee!
However, a lot can change in five years, and Starbucks’s domination over our cities and our wallets could be under threat from a surprising source (or should we say sauce…). At the moment, the largest restaurant chain in America is, predictably, McDonald’s, who raked in $38.52 billion in sales in 2018. Starbucks is in second place with $20.49 billion. So far, so boring — but third place made industry experts sit up and take notice.
In 2018, Chick-fil-A shot up from seventh place to third.
The brand is famous for a few things, starting with chicken sandwiches and being very Christian:
Also for their own-brand sauce:
Yo I just tried chick fil a sauce for the first time and this is how I’m feeling pic.twitter.com/PZma2r8IW4
— aelyn (@yunglean_23) June 14, 2019
And for their excellent customer service:
And for their excellent customer service in getting that sauce to you:
Given that Chick-fil-A has slipped into not just lunch menus, but also culture at large, we should be less surprised to see them climb the fast food ranks — but to do it this fast is shocking. In just a year, they overtook household names Wendy’s, Burger King, Taco Bell, and Subway when their sales increased from a still-eye-watering $8.7 billion to a Scrooge-McDuck-worthy $10.6 billion. That’s 16.7% more. And Chick-fil-A doesn’t even open on Sunday! According to an expert quoted in Business Insider, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Chick-fil-A eventually hit $30 billion, which would send them past Starbucks.
Cue the dad jokes:
Why did the chicken cross the road? Apparently to dominate the fast food market! @ChickfilA is now the 3rd-largest restaurant chain in America, and @McDonalds and @Starbucks should be terrified.. #fastfood #retail
— Andrew Vest (@AndrewVest) June 18, 2019
Read more at https://t.co/upxwXI74KP
Not everyone is a Chick-fil-A fan.
In 2012, the company’s CEO (and son of its founder), Dan Cathy, was criticized by LGBTQ+ groups for speaking out against same-sex marriage (which was made legal nationwide by a 2015 Supreme Court decision). This year, Vox reported that the Chick-fil-A Foundation, the company’s charitable wing (pun intended), donated $1.8 million to groups with histories of discrimination against LGBTQ+ people. So unsurprisingly, people are still against the company.
Who the fuck eats at Chick-fil-A like they only have three things
— Sadge (@CrimsonStrm) June 14, 2019
1: Mediocre chicken
2: Bland waffle fries
3: Undying hatred for the gays
And even twisting it to make their own pro-LGBTQ+ views clear:
this local restaurant has a sauce called “chick-fil-gay” and i have decided to stan
— h (@caseofpuppylove) June 12, 2019
It’s become a moral dilemma for those who want to support gay rights but who also, well, really love chicken.
Even if you want to order your chicken without a side of politics, Chick-fil-A is entering a highly contested battleground.
Ranking fast food is a serious and skilled business.
People THINK about this:
Loyal fans stick with their long-time loves:
I’m this old.
— LilMoonLambo (@LilMoonLambo) May 19, 2019
Yellow Wendys > Chick fil a pic.twitter.com/0OfG13iGDU
Others chop and change:
Shoutout to @Wendys for helping me find replacement to Chick-fil-A. 👏🏽👏🏽
— ✌🏽 Black Lives Matter ✌🏽 (@FerNerdy) June 18, 2019
And even betray their previous favorites:
Sometimes your heart wants one thing, but circumstances get in the way.
And sometimes you’ll hold out just to get your favorite:
And then there are the people who just love them all:
Since my mom went up to Ludington for the weekend on Thursday night my dad and I have eaten McDonalds, Burger King, Qdoba, Chick-fil-a, and Culver’s. You could say we’re living our best life.
— Brennan Heidema (@Brenanimal4) June 16, 2019
Whether you love them or hate them — or hate them but also love them — Chick-fil-A is not chickening out of the fast food race any time soon. Look out for that red and white logo coming to a street near you.
