Louisiana-Born Popeyes Slipped in a 2026 Customer Satisfaction Ranking as Its Rivals Climbed

Picture every fast-food chain you eat at getting a report card from its customers.

Popeyes got its 2026 grades back, and so did the chains competing with it.

Here’s how Louisiana-born Popeyes slipped in a 2026 customer satisfaction ranking as its rivals climbed.

Who Ran the Numbers and How

Popeyes’ score comes from ACSI, which surveys customers about the companies they buy from.

If you’re wondering who answers, customers were picked at random and contacted by email between April 2025 and March 2026.

That added up to 16,464 completed surveys for the restaurant study.

The results came out on June 16, 2026.

Think of your last drive-thru order, and you’ve got the three things the model looks at.

Those are what customers expected, the quality they got, and the value for the price.

Scores run from 0 to 100.

Higher is better.

That 73 followed a 75 in 2025.

The scorecard behind those numbers lists each chain’s 2025 and 2026 scores side by side.

The sections ahead start with the chains above Popeyes, then show where it landed.

Top of the Scorecard

Popeyes’ 73 sits 11 points behind the new leader, Jersey Mike’s, which debuted at 84.

If you’re wondering what that debut changed, it ended Chick-fil-A’s 11-year run in first place.

ACSI recognized Jersey Mike’s for freshness, food variety, and value.

The chain also added 238 net new locations in 2025.

Chick-fil-A held at 83.

That left it one point short.

If you’re keeping track of newcomers, Jimmy John’s was new too, and it tied Panda Express for third at 81.

Chains Moving Up

While Popeyes slipped 3%, its fellow chicken chain Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) rose 4% in the same study, to 80, a gain ACSI ties to its improvement efforts.

A year earlier, the two moved the other way.

In 2025, KFC fell 5% to 77 while Popeyes rose 4% to 75.

The two-point gap between them grew to seven.

Subway rose 4% to 79, but if you want the biggest mover, it’s Sonic’s 5% jump to 77, the largest of the 27 chains listed.

The release credits value offerings for that jump.

Sonic scored 73 in 2025, two points under Popeyes.

Sonic passed Popeyes.

Burger King rose 1% to 78, which the release ties to a broader range of food.

Wendy’s and McDonald’s each gained 3%, to 77 and 72.

If you want to see how widespread the lift was, fourteen of the 27 chains on the scorecard gained ground.

Popeyes Among the Chicken Chains

Four other chicken chains share the scorecard with Popeyes.

Chick-fil-A stays the clear leader in the chicken category at 83, followed by KFC at 80, Raising Cane's at 79, and Wingstop at 77.

Popeyes trails all four.

Raising Cane's opened its first restaurant in Baton Rouge in 1996, which makes it a second Louisiana-born name in the group.

If you're weighing the two Louisiana names, Raising Cane's 79 is six points above Popeyes' 73, while Wingstop's 77 is four.

If you're choosing among all five, the scores span 10 points, from 83 to 73.

Neither Raising Cane's nor Wingstop has a 2025 score, since ACSI lists both as new.

Where Popeyes Landed

Both Taco Bell and Jack in the Box scored 74, one point above Popeyes' 73.

A year earlier, Popeyes was ahead of both.

Taco Bell scored 73 in 2025, and Jack in the Box scored 74, against Popeyes' 75.

Only two chains scored lower.

If you're checking the bottom of the scorecard, Dairy Queen and McDonald's both landed at 72.

If you want a yardstick, the quick-service industry as a whole scored 79, the same as a year earlier.

That leaves Popeyes six points under the industry score.

Popeyes' 2025 Plan

In ACSI's 2025 release, Popeyes was looking to build on a 4% gain by rolling out an initiative called Easy to Run.

The initiative's stated aims were to standardize processes, improve order accuracy, and reduce wait times.

Then came the follow-up.

If you're looking for the next data point, the 2026 release has Popeyes falling 3% to 73.

That release also reports incremental gains in accuracy across quick-service restaurants, so if accuracy is what matters to you, the category as a whole moved up slightly.

Other Chains That Slipped

Arby's fell 3% to 77, so Popeyes wasn't the only chain to lose ground.

If you're comparing, Arby's 77 still beats Popeyes by four points.

Not every rival moved up.

Starbucks and Panera Bread each lost 1%, landing at 79 and 78.

Five chains on the scorecard held steady: Chick-fil-A, Culver's, Dunkin', Jack in the Box, and Dairy Queen.

Culver's held at 78, and ACSI credits an emphasis on friendly service and fresh, made-to-order food.

If you use an app for ordering or discounts, you're in growing company, since the release says customers increasingly do while mobile app quality slipped slightly across quick-service restaurants.

Where Popeyes Started

Popeyes began in Arabi, Louisiana, where a New Orleans native named Al Copeland opened a chicken restaurant called Chicken on the Run in 1972.

If you're looking for that store on a map, it was on Judge Perez Street in St. Bernard Parish.

That restaurant failed.

The short-lived store failed in all ways but one, and that one taught Copeland the power of spicy.

He called a sign painter with a new name: Popeyes Famous Fried Chicken.

By July 1973, he had opened a second restaurant on Williams Boulevard in Kenner.

If you've wondered when Popeyes became a serious rival to Kentucky Fried Chicken, it was going toe-to-toe with the chain by 1976.

Its ads paired fried chicken with Mardi Gras and traditional jazz.