This top fast food burger chain’s ranking just slipped. The CEO is blaming ‘quality degradation’

2026 has already seen Wendy’s shutter hundreds of locations and slash its dividends. Now, the fast food restaurant has officially fallen from its second-place standing among burger joints. After six consecutive quarters of declining sales and traffic, Wendy’s lost its status as the second-largest burger chain in the U.S. by systemwide sales. Instead, Burger King has reclaimed that No. 2 spot, six years after it lost it to Wendy’s in 2020. While Wendy’s sales shrunk over the past two years,…