Study Shows These Are the Top 10 Fast Food Chains in KY

If you're like me, you seek out local restaurants when you travel...even short distances. Naturally, when I do real VACATION travel, I'm on the hunt. But if we're talking Evansville, Louisville, Lexington--you know...close to home--I also want local.

But here's the thing...sometimes when you're traveling, you don't have time for a sit-down experience and, instead, need a drive-through for the sake of expediency. It happens. And, honestly, it just makes sense. How time-consuming would it be to plan to eat locally for EVERY meal?

The Fast Food Chains With the Most Kentucky Locations

Nobody does that, usually preferring, instead, to save those "special" meals for, say, dinnertime. For the first two meals, we're probably on the go and looking for something quick. And we'll likely see the following 10 fast food chains more than any others in Kentucky. The number crunchers at Stacker have secured some data and compiled the top fast food chains in the Commonwealth. First, a clarification...these aren't necessarily the most POPULAR fast food chains; these are simply the ones that Kentucky has more of than any others. Let's take a look.

10. Papa Johns Pizza

The Kentucky-based pizza chain has 97 locations within the Commonwealth.
This writer's favorite? Garlic knots.

8 (tie). KFC

There are 104 KFC restaurants in Kentucky. I might have thought there would be more, considering what the "K" stands for, but, oh well.
This writer's favorite? Chicken pot pie.

8 (tie): Burger King

You can have it your way 104 times...that IS if you hit all the locations Kentucky has to offer.
This writer's favorite? The Impossible King.

7. Arby's

Arby's has the meats and checks in with 115 Kentucky locations.
This writer's favorite? Buffalo chicken sliders.

6. Pizza Hut

Before we go on, I have to tell you that I have never considered any pizza place a "fast food" restaurant. But the data is the data and pizza places are obviously included. In Kentucky, you'll find 134 Pizza Huts.
This writer's favorite? Breadsticks.

5. Dairy Queen

When you want to DQ something different, you'll have no shortage of opportunities in the Commonwealth; there are 135 Dairy Queens here.
This writer's favorite? The chicken strip basket.

4. Wendy's

The late Dave Thomas would be happy to know there are 146 Wendy's locations in Kentucky.
This writer's favorite? The single with ketchup, mustard, and onions.

3. Taco Bell

When you're "thinking outside the bun," you'll have your pick of 154 Taco Bell restaurants.
This writer's favorite? The Chicken Power Bowl.

2. McDonald's

I bet you already knew the Golden Arches would rank highly on this list. Or ANY list, for that matter. If you were to visit every McDonald's in Kentucky, you'd have to make 254 stops.
This writer's favorite? French fries.

1. Subway

This did not surprise me at all. While most restaurants have a population requirement in order to build in certain cities and towns, the Subway cutoff has to be very generous. I see them everywhere. When there are a whopping 407 Subways in one state, that's not hard to do.
This writer's favorite? TIE: Either the sweet onion chicken teriyaki or the tuna.

Do any of these surprise you? They don't me. One day, we'll have to find data that shows what the most POPULAR among these is. Until such time, bon appetit.