That's the amount the NPD Group says we spend to buy food that’s quickly thrown together and put in a wrapper, then held in one hand and downed in record time with a soda chaser while driving our cars.

This is 'Merica. That's how we roll.

In a land of 316 million people, $254 billion last year works out to $800 for every man, woman and child, or around $2.20 a day, enough to buy you only half a Big Mac.

But you already knew that. You already eat a lot of Big Macs. Your iPhone map app has been instructed to find every Golden Arch within five miles of your GPS position at any given moment.

McDonald's is by far the most successful fast food chain in the known universe. QSR magazine said Americans bought more than $35 billion worth of Mickey D's in 2012, nearly three times more than second place finisher Subway, at $12 billion.

 What other fast food joints are succeeding, and which ones still have too much bun and not enough burger, financially speaking? Where does pizza fit in, and when will chicken wings finally get some respect?