The pandemic and its afterburn decimated restaurants. Only one sector has been a bright spot: fast food.
Fast-food joints like McDonald's, Chick-fil-A, Wendy's, and Taco Bell are still popular, thanks to convenience and value.
We Americans love our fast food, but that convenience comes at a cost not reflected in the price tag.
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When you look at the nutritional data from many of the most popular fast-food chains, what you see is alarming, especially when you consider that 19.7% of children ages 2-19 years in the U.S. are obese.
But the problem isn't just calories. Fast food contains fat, sodium, and added sugar that contribute to serious health problems like heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.
Those fries, Frostys and bacon-laden burgers are definitely delicious, but a single meal from a fast-food chain often contains more calories than a person needs for a whole day.
If you're trying to decide between a handful of your favorite spots, you might want to check out World Atlas' recent comparison of fast-food chains. They found that when it comes to unhealthy menu items, a couple of chains stand out from the rest.
World Atlas covers restaurants, sociology, demography, environment, economics, politics, and travel.
Image source: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Fast-food chains like Wendy’s continue to thrive, despite health concerns
In their ranking, World Atlas looked at the nutritional data from nearly a dozen popular menu items.
The survey factored in calories, saturated fat, sodium, and sugar.
According to the findings, Wendy's is one of the unhealthiest chains in the U.S., but the legacy fast-food chain has plenty of company.
Sonic Drive-In, Popeyes, McDonald's, Five Guys, Dairy Queen, and Carl's Jr. are also on the list of the worst for you.
While Wendy's has made an effort to use and promote fresh ingredients, like its “Fresh never frozen beef” promise, and offers a variety of green salads prepared daily, its signature sandwich, the Baconator, rings in at more than 900 calories. When packaged with an order of medium fries and a medium Frosty, the tally jumps to than 1,600 calories.
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The fat and sodium levels in this one meal are above daily recommended limits, yet Wendy's marketing embraces indulgence. Slogans like “You know you want it” and “Baconator. Resistance is futile,” give off a “We know you can't help yourself” kind of energy.
It's hard to beat the quick-service convenience and the fact that the Wendy's Baconator meal is just $12 (where I live in Nevada).
A similar meal — bacon cheeseburger, fries, chocolate shake — at a sit-down restaurant like Red Robin will set you back more than $24.
The 10 most unhealthy fast-food chains in the United States
- 10: Chick-fil-a
- 9: Little Caesars
- 8: SmarshBurger
- 7: McDonald's
- 6: Quiznos
- 5: KFC
- 4: Dairy Queen
- 3: Taco Bell
- 2: Sonic
- 1: Wendy's
“Wendy's square burgers and Frosty desserts create a caloric minefield. A Triple Baconator meal with large fries and medium Frosty hits about 2,160 calories, 54 g saturated fat and 3,400 mg sodium, exceeding most daily limits in one sitting. Seasonal beasts like the Pretzel Bacon Pub Triple top 1,500 calories by themselves. Breakfast croissant combos, Biggie Bag bargains and late-night hours foster oversized, frequent visits, landing Wendy's firmly atop America's most waist-widening, heart-straining chains,” World Atlas shared.
Consumer trends show taste beats health when it comes to fast-food sales
The bottom line is that fast-food chains are thriving, even as concerns around Americans' overall health grow.
The one thing all the names on the unhealthiest list have in common is fiercely loyal fan bases, and appearing on lists like World Atlas' doesn't appear to hurt business much.
Wendy's posted $2.9 billion in sales Q1 2025, down only slightly from the same time in 2024. Quick-service restaurants, including fast food chains, are popular and profiting because they offer value pricing and digital ordering and convenience.
Customers also rate fast-food restaurants higher in terms of satisfaction than they do full-service restaurants. The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) 2025 report indicates that customer satisfaction with quick-service restaurants is higher than that of full-service restaurants.
It can also be difficult for healthier restaurant chains to compete with the fast service and extended hours offered by national chains. So, even though healthier chains like Sweetgreen and Cava are popular in urban markets, traditional fast-food brands still dominate everywhere else.
Turns out we want our food fast and cheap, no matter how many calories are in the bag.
Related: McDonald's secures honor no restaurant wants
