2026-03-14 | data, chains, safety, rankings
Is Your Favorite Chain Clean? Chicago Fast Food Safety Rankings
16 chains, 2,300+ inspections, ranked by pass rate
Every fast food location in Chicago gets inspected by the same department, same criteria, same codes. Ninety-five McDonald's all running the same corporate playbook. The inspection results tell you how well that playbook works.
Two years of data. Sixteen chains. Every location, every inspection.
The Rankings
Chipotle leads at 77% across 41 locations. After the 2015 E. coli disaster they rebuilt their food safety program. It shows.
KFC at 69%. McDonald's and Taco Bell tied at 67%.
Bottom: Domino's at 43%. Panda Express at 45%. Both failing more often than the average independent restaurant (51% pass rate). The independent taqueria with no corporate safety program is outperforming Domino's.
Centralized food safety management programs at the corporate level are the single strongest predictor of franchise-level inspection outcomes.
| Rank | Chain | Locations | Pass Rate | Fails (2yr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chipotle | 41 | 77% | 14 |
| 2 | KFC | 22 | 69% | 12 |
| 3 | McDonald's | 95 | 67% | 18 |
| 4 | Taco Bell | 41 | 67% | 8 |
| 5 | Burger King | 47 | 65% | 11 |
| 6 | Chick-fil-A | 13 | 65% | 4 |
| 7 | Wingstop | 32 | 65% | 17 |
| 8 | Portillo's | 3 | 64% | 2 |
| 9 | Starbucks | 110 | 62% | 24 |
| 10 | Subway | 202 | 60% | 82 |
| 11 | Dunkin' | 172 | 58% | 53 |
| 12 | Wendy's | 27 | 57% | 25 |
| 13 | Jimmy John's | 44 | 55% | 17 |
| 14 | Popeyes | 37 | 52% | 47 |
| 15 | Panda Express | 14 | 45% | 5 |
| 16 | Domino's | 29 | 43% | 7 |
How we calculate safety verdicts
What Separates Top from Bottom
The 34-point gap between Chipotle (77%) and Domino's (43%) isn't location quality. Both are scattered across the city. The difference is operational.
Popeyes: 37 locations, 47 failures. More than one per location. Violations cluster around temperature control and sanitation. Staffing and training problems. Building is fine. Procedures aren't followed.
After their 2015 E. coli outbreak, Chipotle invested over $100 million in food safety infrastructure.
Popeyes safety report | Chipotle safety report
The Subway Problem
Biggest chain in the city. 202 locations. 60% pass rate. 82 failures in two years.
Small footprint, low rent, one employee doing everything. Most common violations: temperature control (cold cuts sitting out) and sanitation (same gloves for food, cash, and counter). 60% is above average. Not dangerous. But if you're picking between two sandwich shops, the odds slightly favor the other one.
Full Subway safety report | What does 'Pass with Conditions' mean?
Your specific McDonald's might be spotless while another across town is failing. Chain averages are starting points. Check your location on Chispections.