Del Taco was named the top U.S. fast-food chain, nabbing the title from Chick-fil-A in the process.
The California-based Mexican fast-food chain received the No. 1 spot on this year’s edition of USA Today’s "Best Fast Food Restaurant" list, which was decided by a reader vote.
The outlet highlighted the diverse food options, including its breakfast and plant-based menus, available at Del Taco as part of its ranking.
The chain was not on last year’s "Best Fast Food Restaurants" list.
Last year's holder of the top spot, Chick-fil-A, was ranked No. 3 this year.
USA Today creates its "Best Fast Food Restaurant" ranking through a process that involves editors deciding on a narrowed-down group of nominees to put to a reader vote, it said.
The 10 fast-food chains on the outlet’s reader-based ranking this year include:
In this photo illustration, a soft drink cup is displayed with the Del Taco logo at a Del Taco restaurant on Dec. 6, 2021, in Fairfield, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Food at a KFC restaurant on April 4, 2018, in Orangeburg, South Carolina. (Moses Robinson/Getty Images for KFC / Getty Images)
A Chick-fil-A logo and sign over a restaurant in New York City. (Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images / Getty Images)
An In-N-Out Burger restaurant located in Azusa, California, on April 1, 2024. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images / Getty Images)
An exterior view of a Hardee's restaurant. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images / Getty Images)
A Captain D's seafood restaurant in Hudson, North Carolina, on Nov. 2, 2019. (iStock / iStock)
A Taco Bell sign pictured above a restaurant. (Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images / Getty Images)
A Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen restaurant. (iStock / iStock)
The exterior of a Zaxby's fast food restaurant in Gastonia, North Carolina. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The exterior of an Arby's restaurant. (Aimee Dilger/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images / Getty Images)
USA Today released the 2024 "Best Fast Food Restaurants" list as part of its wider yearly 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards.
Some of the biggest fast-food brands like McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s that ranked among the top 10 chains last year were not in this year’s ranking.