• by Todd Wasserman , October 14, 2022

Chick-fil-A once again topped the semiannual Taking Stock With Teens spending survey from investment bank Piper Sandler companies, as it has for several years.

Chick-fil-A (chosen by 18%) narrowly beat out Starbucks (17%) to uphold the top ranking with teens. Chipotle is No. 3 with 13%. McDonald’s and Olive Garden rounded out the top five.

The firm’s 44^th semiannual report showed that for upper-income teens, food was the No. 1 wallet priority for male spending, at 23%.

The survey catalogued the discretionary spending trends and brand preferences from 14,500 teens across 47 U.S. states with an average age of 15.8 years. The survey took place between Aug. 12 and Sept. 23.

Chick-fil-A has led in the survey for four years. In 2021, Starbucks and Chipotle also held on to their No. 2 and No. 3 rankings, though Dunkin’ came in at No. 4 and In-N-Out and McDonald’s tied for the No. 5 spot.

One reason for Chick-fil-A’s ranking is that the chain was able to keep its foot traffic relatively steady compared with pre-pandemic visit numbers, according to Placer.ai.

The researcher noted in a June post that Chick-fil-A’s store expansion is boosting pre-pandemic numbers, but monthly average visits per venue were 8% to 20% lower between January 2022 and May 2022, “which may indicate that the brand is opening venues a little faster than it can fill them.”

Chick-fil-A currently has more than 2,600 restaurants across 47 states, Washington, D.C., Canada and Puerto Rico.