The end of the late-night drive-thru?

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Super S
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The end of the late-night drive-thru?

Post by Super S »

I have been noticing more and more fast food restaurants are closing the whole facility, including the drive-thru, at 10PM now, including many McDonald's, Jack In The Box, Wendy's, Arby's, and Burger King locations. About the only one that seems to not be closing early is Taco Bell, but even in the best of times they usually have long drive-thru lines, which have only gotten longer since others have been closing.

It looks like this could be the result of staffing shortages and/or supply issues. Or maybe business just fell off during the pandemic and never recovered, even though the drive-thru is what allowed many to stay open when indoor dining was not allowed. What is interesting though is that some locations are drive-thru only with the lobby closed, and have been since last year.
Last edited by Super S on November 2nd, 2021, 10:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
Alpha8472
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Re: The end of the late-night drive-thru?

Post by Alpha8472 »

Many restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area have reduced drive thru hours. However, it is really random. Some locations close at 10 while others are open 24 hours. It depends on staffing. There is a 24 hour Jack In The Box in a sleepy suburban town near me, while the busy one near me closes at 2 AM. I do not know what they do between midnight and 6 AM when I assume they have virtually no customers. Maybe one person works alone. I saw the parking lot of my local Jack In The Box filled with delivery boxes at night. It looks like it would take them hours to unpack all of that.

Some weeknights in the middle of the week are very slow. I have been seeing zero cars in the drive thru at my local Taco Bell at 10 PM. It used to be packed with cars late into the night before the pandemic. People simply are not going out as much at night as before.
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Re: The end of the late-night drive-thru?

Post by storewanderer »

In N Out continues to be open late and stays very busy well past Midnight.

Jack in the Box seems to be trying to keep some locations open late but their franchisee in the Reno area seems to have some pretty major staffing problems. However I have seen them open with good sized drive through lines past 10 PM at some locations. Some other locations still close at 5 PM.

Taco Bell's Nevada Franchisee is having major problems even opening locations some days. Multiple locations just don't open at all some days, or close at 5 PM. Most of the Reno locations did not re-launch breakfast as the chain did the relaunch earlier this month because they are either not open during breakfast or could not staff it so they didn't bother to offer it (they do have a few locations offering breakfast). They have closed to go at all locations and are drive through only at all locations.

There are some 24 hour McDonalds around Reno which seem to be maintaining those hours but they aren't in areas I venture into often late at night.
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Re: The end of the late-night drive-thru?

Post by veteran+ »

Perhaps this could be the genesis of "death food's" demise?

Unexpected bonus: We live longer?

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


Just teasing ;)
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Re: The end of the late-night drive-thru?

Post by BillyGr »

Alpha8472 wrote: October 31st, 2021, 12:15 pm Many restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area have reduced drive thru hours. However, it is really random. Some locations close at 10 while others are open 24 hours. It depends on staffing. There is a 24 hour Jack In The Box in a sleepy suburban town near me, while the busy one near me closes at 2 AM. I do not know what they do between midnight and 6 AM when I assume they have virtually no customers. Maybe one person works alone. I saw the parking lot of my local Jack In The Box filled with delivery boxes at night. It looks like it would take them hours to unpack all of that.
Maybe that's what they figure will work - have one person there basically to re-stock supplies, but they can stop and make something for the occasional customer that stops by?

I know grocery stores here that used to do that - if you went in late at night, one register light was on, but the employee was off stocking (mostly things that were in close proximity to the front) and would stop when a customer came to check out.
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Re: The end of the late-night drive-thru?

Post by Bagels »

For a lot of restaurants, late night drive through service was more for convenience than profit. Employees could clean the restaurant and prepare for the next day while taking a few orders. But with labor costs swelling, it's no longer an attractive option.
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