Data study
These are the 10 best and worst fast food restaurants at America's airports, according to Google reviews
The McDonald's in the McNamara Terminal at Detroit Metropolitan Airport is the worst-rated airport fast food restaurant in America, averaging 2.33 stars from 532 Google reviews, and 51% of its reviews give a single star.
Data collected
Source: SEO Backlinks, https://seobacklinks.com/
Key findings
At the other end, the Chick-fil-A in the International Terminal at Houston's William P. Hobby Airport is the best-rated at 4.54 from 2,309 reviews, ahead of the Chick-fil-A in the Concourse D and E connector at Miami International Airport (4.36) and the Chick-fil-A in Terminal E at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport (4.30).
The average restaurant in the ranking scores 3.54, and McDonald's has five of the 10 lowest-rated. After Detroit come the McDonald's on Concourse E at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta (2.52) and the Subway on Concourse T at the same airport (2.52), then the Subway in Terminal D at Dallas Fort Worth (fourth), a McDonald's at Denver International Airport (fifth), the Chick-fil-A at Memphis airport (sixth), the McDonald's in Terminal 1 at O'Hare (seventh), the Chick-fil-A by Gate D7 at Washington Dulles (eighth), the McDonald's at Baltimore/Washington International (ninth) and the Subway in Terminal 3 at O'Hare (10th).
Chick-fil-A has nine of the 10 best-rated, including two at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta, on Concourse A (fifth) and Concourse C (seventh), and others at Reagan National (sixth), in the McNamara Terminal at Detroit (eighth), in the Main Terminal at Tampa (ninth) and at Pensacola (10th). The only other chain in the top 10 is the Five Guys on Concourse D at Reagan National, in fourth.
Every chain in the ranking scores lower at the airport than it does across the country. Chick-fil-A's 38 airport restaurants average 3.79, against 4.33 across all 3,066 US Chick-fil-A restaurants with at least 100 Google reviews, McDonald's 18 average 3.09, against 3.44, and Subway's 12 average 3.29, against 3.79. Five Guys and Pizza Hut each have two airport restaurants in the ranking, averaging 4.12 and 3.64, against 4.27 and 3.74 across the country.
Of the 10 airports with at least three restaurants in the ranking, O'Hare's average the lowest at 2.91, followed by Washington Dulles (3.07) and Denver (3.14), while Houston's George Bush Intercontinental has the highest at 4.00, ahead of Miami (3.93) and Orlando (3.71).
Chart
Worst and best 10 at a glance
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Method
How we did it
We used the DataForSEO Business Listings database to pull the Google Maps listings for McDonald's, Chick-fil-A, Subway, Five Guys and Pizza Hut restaurants across the US in early October 2026, then picked out the ones inside passenger terminals at commercial airports, using each listing's address, location and reviews. Taco Bell had no restaurant inside a terminal.
We kept the 72 airport restaurants that were open and had at least 100 Google reviews, 56,938 reviews in all, at 36 airports in 26 states: 38 Chick-fil-A, 18 McDonald's, 12 Subway, two Five Guys and two Pizza Hut. Restaurants near airports but outside the terminals, such as those in hotels, cell phone lots and on nearby roads, were left out.
Each restaurant was ranked by its exact average rating, worked out from its count of one, two, three, four and five-star reviews rather than the rounded score Google displays, so restaurants that show the same rating on Google are still put in order. Where two restaurants have exactly the same average, the one with the larger share of one-star reviews ranks lower. Every restaurant in the ranking was checked against its live Google listing on October 7, 2026.
Terminal and concourse names are shown only where the Google listing itself gives them. Airport averages give every restaurant equal weight and are shown for the 10 airports with at least three restaurants in the ranking.
National rankings
The worst and best 10 in America
The 10 worst-rated fast food restaurants at America's airports
| Rank | Restaurant | Average | Reviews |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McDonald's, McNamara TerminalDetroit Metropolitan Airport, Michigan532 reviews | 2.33 | 532 |
| 2 | McDonald's, Concourse EHartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Georgia1,632 reviews | 2.52 | 1,632 |
| 3 | Subway, Concourse THartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Georgia258 reviews | 2.52 | 258 |
| 4 | Subway, Terminal DDallas Fort Worth International Airport, Texas198 reviews | 2.56 | 198 |
| 5 | McDonald'sDenver International Airport, Colorado1,019 reviews | 2.68 | 1,019 |
| 6 | Chick-fil-AMemphis airport, Tennessee105 reviews | 2.70 | 105 |
| 7 | McDonald's, Terminal 1Chicago O'Hare International Airport, Illinois604 reviews | 2.72 | 604 |
| 8 | Chick-fil-A, Gate D7Washington Dulles International Airport, Virginia126 reviews | 2.72 | 126 |
| 9 | McDonald'sBaltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Maryland1,162 reviews | 2.76 | 1,162 |
| 10 | Subway, Terminal 3Chicago O'Hare International Airport, Illinois226 reviews | 2.79 | 226 |
The 10 best-rated fast food restaurants at America's airports
| Rank | Restaurant | Average | Reviews |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chick-fil-A, International TerminalWilliam P. Hobby Airport, Houston, Texas2,309 reviews | 4.54 | 2,309 |
| 2 | Chick-fil-A, Concourse D and E connectorMiami International Airport, Florida228 reviews | 4.36 | 228 |
| 3 | Chick-fil-A, Terminal EGeorge Bush Intercontinental Airport, Houston, Texas1,994 reviews | 4.30 | 1,994 |
| 4 | Five Guys, Concourse DRonald Reagan Washington National Airport, Virginia289 reviews | 4.27 | 289 |
| 5 | Chick-fil-A, Concourse AHartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Georgia4,107 reviews | 4.26 | 4,107 |
| 6 | Chick-fil-ARonald Reagan Washington National Airport, Virginia1,210 reviews | 4.25 | 1,210 |
| 7 | Chick-fil-A, Concourse CHartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Georgia2,857 reviews | 4.21 | 2,857 |
| 8 | Chick-fil-A, McNamara TerminalDetroit Metropolitan Airport, Michigan2,166 reviews | 4.18 | 2,166 |
| 9 | Chick-fil-A, Main TerminalTampa International Airport, Florida908 reviews | 4.17 | 908 |
| 10 | Chick-fil-APensacola International Airport, Florida1,281 reviews | 4.15 | 1,281 |
Averages are rounded to two decimal places. Where two restaurants show the same figure, the order comes from the unrounded average.
Airport ranking
Airports by their fast food restaurants, best to worst
The average Google score of the ranked restaurants at each airport, with every restaurant given equal weight. Only the 10 airports with at least three ranked restaurants are included.
| Rank | Airport | Restaurants | Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Houston4 restaurants | 4 | 4.00 |
| 2 | Miami International Airport3 restaurants | 3 | 3.93 |
| 3 | Orlando International Airport3 restaurants | 3 | 3.71 |
| 4 | Detroit Metropolitan Airport3 restaurants | 3 | 3.47 |
| 5 | Dallas Fort Worth International Airport7 restaurants | 7 | 3.46 |
| 6 | Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport7 restaurants | 7 | 3.46 |
| 7 | Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport3 restaurants | 3 | 3.23 |
| 8 | Denver International Airport4 restaurants | 4 | 3.14 |
| 9 | Washington Dulles International Airport3 restaurants | 3 | 3.07 |
| 10 | Chicago O'Hare International Airport4 restaurants | 4 | 2.91 |
Airport by airport
The best and worst rated fast food restaurant at each airport
The highest and lowest scoring restaurant at each of the 15 airports with at least two ranked restaurants. The other 21 airports in the ranking have one each.
| Airport | Best rated | Worst rated |
|---|---|---|
| Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport3 restaurants ranked | Chick-fil-AMaryland, 416 reviews 3.81 | McDonald'sMaryland, 1,162 reviews 2.76 |
| Chicago O'Hare International Airport4 restaurants ranked | McDonald's, Terminal 3Illinois, 699 reviews 3.13 | McDonald's, Terminal 1Illinois, 604 reviews 2.72 |
| Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport2 restaurants ranked | Chick-fil-AKentucky, 459 reviews 3.87 | SubwayKentucky, 173 reviews 3.27 |
| Dallas Fort Worth International Airport7 restaurants ranked | Chick-fil-A, Terminal ETexas, 1,611 reviews 3.91 | Subway, Terminal DTexas, 198 reviews 2.56 |
| Denver International Airport4 restaurants ranked | Chick-fil-A, Concourse BColorado, 1,209 reviews 4.13 | McDonald'sColorado, 1,019 reviews 2.68 |
| Detroit Metropolitan Airport3 restaurants ranked | Chick-fil-A, McNamara TerminalMichigan, 2,166 reviews 4.18 | McDonald's, McNamara TerminalMichigan, 532 reviews 2.33 |
| George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Houston4 restaurants ranked | Chick-fil-A, Terminal ETexas, 1,994 reviews 4.30 | Subway, Terminal CTexas, 236 reviews 3.82 |
| Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport7 restaurants ranked | Chick-fil-A, Concourse AGeorgia, 4,107 reviews 4.26 | McDonald's, Concourse EGeorgia, 1,632 reviews 2.52 |
| Miami International Airport3 restaurants ranked | Chick-fil-A, Concourse D and E connectorFlorida, 228 reviews 4.36 | Subway, Concourse EFlorida, 316 reviews 3.68 |
| Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport2 restaurants ranked | Chick-fil-AMinnesota, 1,369 reviews 3.97 | McDonald'sMinnesota, 858 reviews 3.57 |
| Orlando International Airport3 restaurants ranked | Chick-fil-A, South TerminalFlorida, 102 reviews 3.88 | Chick-fil-AFlorida, 670 reviews 3.58 |
| Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport2 restaurants ranked | McDonald'sArizona, 1,172 reviews 3.24 | Chick-fil-AArizona, 132 reviews 2.93 |
| Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport2 restaurants ranked | Five Guys, Concourse DVirginia, 289 reviews 4.27 | Chick-fil-AVirginia, 1,210 reviews 4.25 |
| Tampa International Airport2 restaurants ranked | Chick-fil-A, Main TerminalFlorida, 908 reviews 4.17 | Chick-fil-A, Airside AFlorida, 519 reviews 4.08 |
| Washington Dulles International Airport3 restaurants ranked | Subway, Concourse CVirginia, 180 reviews 3.50 | Chick-fil-A, Gate D7Virginia, 126 reviews 2.72 |
Scores are the exact average of every star rating on the restaurant's Google listing, rounded to two decimal places.
Using this research
Citing these figures
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How to cite
SEO Backlinks, "The best and worst fast food restaurants at America's airports", data collected October 7, 2026: https://seobacklinks.com/
This study comes from SEO Backlinks, which runs data-led digital PR campaigns built on public data like Google reviews.