• Cyburbia is a friendly big tent, where we share our experiences and thoughts about urban planning practice, the built environment, planning adjacent topics, and anything else that comes to mind. No ads, no spam, and it's free. It's easy to join!

Fast food restaurants going to drive-through only

michaelskis

michaelskis

Cyburbian
Messages
25,611
Points
74
I have seen more and more fast food restaurants completely do away with indoor seating and focus only on a drive-through operation.

As example, this has been circulating the rounds in the traffic engineering world:
1757428933937.jpeg


Has your community had any of these convert over? Is anyone putting anything into regulation to address this situation?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
mendelman said:
More likely they can't hire enough staff to man the indoor dining room.
Click to expand...

That's what I was thinking too. Interestingly, the one fast food place near me that I know of that has gone to drive thru or mobile order pick-up only is also a Taco Bell. It's in a pretty safe, upscale neighborhood so I don't think it's a crime thing. Before COVID they were always understaffed and and slow inside and would go to drive thru only after like 7:00 PM every evening. Once COVID hit they went to that format for quite a few years. Now I think they're open inside for lunch but the rest of the day it's drive or mobile pick-up only.

I imagine this is an effective way for a fast food place to cut back on a staff person or three and depending on the location they may have realized there isn't much financial incentive in keeping the dining room open.

FWIW, it's like going into a Subway or Jimmy Johns or some sandwich shop at like noon and then again at 6:30 PM. Those sandwich places are packed at lunchtime with people both eating in the dining area and also takeout orders. Go back at like 6:30 and they may be doing a brisk takeout business but, IME, almost nobody is eating there.

On a planning note... I wonder if switching to a drive-thru only format would be considered a change of use?
 
When 85% of sales go out the window on a regular basis, is there really that much fundamental difference going to 100% out the window?
 
We've had a couple of that have switched over when they can't staff them. A few of our restaurants only operate their lobbies during lunch now with breakfast and dinner being drive-thru only. I know Chick-fil-A has been increasing the number of drive-thru only restaurants fairly significantly. We've also seen an increase in the number of whole franchises that do not have a lobby.
 
michaelskis said:
I have seen more and more fast food restaurants completely do away with indoor seating and focus only on a drive-through operation.

As example, this has been circulating the rounds in the traffic engineering world:
View attachment 65315

Has your community had any of these convert over? Is anyone putting anything into regulation to address this situation?
Click to expand...
I guess that's their choice. What irks me about it, though, is how it makes it mandatory to have a car to even buy a drink. Because drive thru windows won't serve walk up customers here (for obvious safety/liability reasons).
 
michaelskis said:
Has your community had any of these convert over? Is anyone putting anything into regulation to address this situation?
Click to expand...
Haven't seen that yet. In fact, a McDonald's in the area returned to 24 hour dining in, and a few area Denny's are back to 24 hour service. Greek restaurants, which traditionally were open 24 hours in my area, are still closing early. Otherwise, it's hard to find any restaurant open past 9:00 PM in the suburbs, or 10/11 PM in Buffalo proper. (FWIW, there's not many Taco Bells in the Buffalo area. They're outnumbered by a local chain, Mighty Taco.)



There's only one truck stop in the metro, and it's a small independent business; nothing like a Pilot, Love's, or T of A. That truck stop shut down its restaurant entirely.

None of the hundreds of Tim Horton's in the ares stay open past 9:00 to 10:00 PM. Starbucks locations close between 8 and 9. Most independent coffee shops and local chain coffeehouses (Spot Coffee, Overwinter Coffee, etc.) close between 5:00 PM and 7:00 PM. One coffeehouse on Elmwood Avenue is open to midnight. The Yemeni coffeehouse/bakeries that are now popping up everywhere also stay open relatively late, compared to other locals.

New barber shops are popping up everywhere. Most are owned by Yemenis, and are open very late, compared to the old school Italian barbers.

Wegmans and Tops supermarkets close at midnight. Smaller local chains and Whole Foods closes at 9:00 PM.


Buffalo has a 4:00 AM last call. Outside of downtown, though, most bars in the area now close around midnight, if not before.

Fast food joints started prioritizing drive through customers years ago. There have been times when I got food from the drive through at McDonald's, and took it inside to eat
 
I wrote a zoning standard for our Ordinance (which was adopted) which requires all drive-through restaurants to, at minimum, have a walk-up window. They don't need to have a lobby, or even outdoor seating, but IMO, requiring someone to have a car in order to purchase food is discriminatory.
 
Back
Top