Drive-thrus boomed last year as sit-down eateries closed or pivoted — but which ones grew in popularity the most?
Auto insurance company Confused studied search volumes and trends to see the most-searched-for restaurants in each state over the past 12 months. Here’s what they found:
- Burger King grew most in popularity in 6 states, including Colorado, Connecticut, Missouri, North Carolina, Utah, and Hawaii. In Hawaii, BK saw a 600% increase in searches.
- In South Carolina and Alabama, KFC saw a 100% increase in searches.
- White Castle’s tiny burgers won out in 5 states, including California, Nevada, Florida, and New Jersey. In Indiana, search demand was up 600%.
Restaurants that saw a decline in searches over the past year included Tim Hortons, Boston Market, and Starbucks.
But despite a decline in searches, Starbucks was still the top-searched drive-thru in 48 states in Confused’s study, netting an average of ~33.1k+ per month nationwide.
Pentagon Motor Group did a similar study using search data from February 2020 to January 2021. In that period, Starbucks reigned in 46 states.
Guess nothing beats that morning latte.
