The Most Popular Fast Food Items Ordered at Every US Chain

Choosing a favorite fast food chain is hard enough, but choosing a favorite food at each chain is even more difficult.

Fast food restaurants have carved their way into the everyday lives of people across the world, their menus boasting mouth-watering items that have people coming back from more. From infamous burgers to chocolaty shakes and everything in between, each fast food restaurant has a “best in show,” the one menu item that makes it stand out above the rest.

Keep scrolling to see the most popular menu items at some of the most popular fast food chains.

KFC

KFC is known for its ‘finger linckin’ good” fried chicken, and it turns out that its fried chicken lives up to its name, earning the title as the most popular food at the fast food chain. The “Original Recipe,” which boasts an infamous blend of 11 unknown herbs and spices, has also made KFC home to one of the most famous menu items at a fast food restaurant in America, according to HowStuffWorks.

Subway

Selling almost 2,800 sandwiches and salads every minute, which adds up to enough subs in a year to wrap around the Earth six times, rising to the top of the menu is not an easy feat, but it is one that only “the sandwich to conquer all hunger” can do.

The “Big Meaty Tasty” sub, also known as the Italian B.M.T., has won over taste buds around the world with its layers of salami, pepperoni and ham. Customers can further customize the taste of this fan-favorite Subway sub by choosing from a selection of different breads and by adding cheese, vegetables and seasonings.

Wendy’s

As one of the original five menu items since the chain first opened its doors in 1969, the Frosty has solidified its spot on the list of best fast food menu items ever. The chain’s own take on the chocolate milkshake, roughly 300 million Frostys are sold each year.

The chain is also known for its fresh, never frozen hamburger patties, something it frequently touts on Twitter. While the classic burger remains a staple to the menu, it is the mouthwatering Baconator , consisting of two burger patties piled with bacon, mayonnaise, and cheese, that has customers clamoring for more.

Arby’s

The signature roast beef sandwich has held its ground at the top of most popular menu item at Arby’s since the fast food chain opened in 1964. The burger helped Arby’s find its place in the midst of the “burger craze,” thin sliced roast beef sandwiches quickly becoming a fan favorite and a standout dish among the others.

Chick-fil-A

Chik-fil-A’s menu may have expanded over the years to include a roster of new items, but it’s most popular food remains the original Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich, which features a pressure-fried chicken breast with pickle slices on top, served between a buttered bun.

It comes as no surprise that the chicken sandwich is the chain’s most popular menu item, as many have credited founder Truett Cathy with its invention.

Also a popular menu choice is the fast food chain’s iconic waffle fries.

Taco Bell

With odd takes on Mexican dishes like the Quesalupa, Crunchwrap Supremes, and Crispy Lava Chicken Chips, Taco Bell has become a go-to late-night drive-thru destination. But while the odd additions make for interesting food choices, it is the classic hardshell Crunchy Taco that reigns supreme, with roughly 2 billion being sold each year.

Reaching as far as Guam, Guatemala, Ecuador, Asia, Europe, and the Philippines, Taco Bell, which opened in 1962,  serves about 2 billion customers each year. That adds up to roughly 3.8 billion tortillas, 62 million pounds of pinto beans, 106 million pounds of cheese, and 295 million pounds of ground beef every year, according to HowStuffWorks.

Burger King

Flame broiling its burgers instead of cooking them on the griddle in order to give them a “home-grilled flavor” has proven successful for Burger King, with the fast food chain coming in as the second most popular fast food restaurant. BK owes much of its success to the infamous Whopper, a quarter-pound beef patty between a sesame seed bun, topped with mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, pickles, ketchup, and sliced onion.

McDonald’s

Inarguably the most popular fast food chain, the Golden Arches boasts a menu with items so popular that it is nearly impossible to imagine that a single item could beat out the others, but one menu item is not only the most popular at McDonald’s, but the most popular among all fast food franchises. The Big Mac, with its two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, and onion all served on a sesame seed bun, reigns supreme among all others. The iconic burger is so infamous that 560 million Big Macs are sold each year, despite that they are only available in 13,700 of McDonald’s 31,000 stores.

Also popular at the Golden Arches are the golden crispy fries. However, sometime the French fries disappoint when they are delivered soggy. Customers can utilize a certain hack to guarantee a fresh batch, though. By ordering fries without salt, a new batch of fries will have to be made, promising that they will be fresh.