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Fast-food drive-thrus may not be getting much faster, but they’re getting smarter — and friendlier staff might still matter more than artificial intelligence, a new report found.

The 25th Annual Drive-Thru Study, conducted by Intouch Insight and QSR magazine, examined 13 fast-food brands across three categories: classic, chicken and beverage. The research was based on 165 undercover visits per brand, conducted by trained evaluators posing as regular customers between June and July of this year, for a total of more than 2,000 visits across the U.S.

Overall, the average total drive-thru time was five minutes and 35 seconds — slightly slower than 2024 but 3 seconds faster when excluding brands that were just added to the st

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