As Costa turns 50, new research has found it’s still at the top of people’s priority list as it’s the second-most popular drive-thru in the UK, losing out the golden arches of McDonald’s.

Pentagon Motor Group reached its ranking of our favourite drive-thrus, by using Google search data to see how many people have been looking for drive-thru options over the past year. They discovered more than 11 million searches looking for drive-thru options in the UK, and McDonald’s reigns supreme with nearly double the number of searches of its nearest competitor, Costa.

The UK’s Top 10 Most Popular Drive-Thrus

McDonald’s
Costa
Starbucks
KFC
Burger King
Krispy Kreme
Greggs
Taco Bell
Subway
Tim Hortons
Costa Coffee first opened its doors in 1971 by Italian brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa; since they opened their first coffee shop in Lambeth, London, there are now over 2,100 outlets around the UK and over 40 drive-thru stores with many more on the way. McDonald’s was the first drive-thru to grace the UK, way back in 1986 and it remains the nation’s favourite, churning out Big Mac after Big Mac to delighted customers. Most surprisingly, Greggs is beaten by US doughnut emporium Krispy Kreme, with the iconic bakers playing catch up after only opening its first drive-thru in 2017.

Drive-Thru Capitals of the UK

Watford is crowned drive-thru capital of the UK based on the number of drive-thru searches per person, closely followed by seaside resort Bournemouth with North West town Stockport in third place. Although the research covered all of the UK, only English towns and cities featured in the top 20. The first city outside of England on the list is Glasgow, in 24th place whilst the Welsh cities of Cardiff, Swansea and Newport are some of the least drive-thru loving places in the UK.

The UK’s Top 10 Drive-Thru Capitals

Watford
Bournemouth
Stockport
Chester
Solihull
Salford
Crawley
Bristol
Oxford
Newcastle upon Tyne
Where are the Top 5 Drive-Thru Brands Most Popular?

The research also looked at which UK town or city takes the crown as the biggest fan of each drive-thru brand, by looking at the numbers of searches adjusted for population size. Watford features heavily on the list as the biggest fan of no less than four of the top five chains – McDonald’s, Costa and KFC. Whilst Bournemouth clearly loves its Big Macs, Whoppers and bargain buckets, coming in as the second city for McDonald’s, KFC and Burger King. An honourable mention should also go to Salford, which is in the top three for six different brands – Starbucks, Krispy Kreme, Greggs, Taco Bell, Subway and Tim Hortons.