Restaurants Switching Over To No Dining Room

[Alpha8472]

Many of these chains are building new drive thru restaurants with no dining room.

https://www.eatthis.com/news-fast-food- ... ing-rooms/

[Bradford011]

It will be interesting to see how this affects sales...

[TW-Upstate NY]

This is actually a return of sorts to the roots of fast food because that's how McDonald's started albeit without a drive thru but rather a walk up window. And so did the early ice cream franchise concepts.

[cjd]

I don't really like this idea at all, seems to push more toward little to no interaction in society. Let's live life virtually and little to no public contact. Sigh.

[storewanderer]

There was a Wendys built in Carmichael, CA at the corner of Manzanita and Winding (45 degrees from the Chevron) over a decade ago that was of the drive through only model but had a tiny walk in area as well; no tables, no self serve drinks, etc. This was a corporate Wendys as Sacramento was a corporate operated market at that time (isn't anymore). The location did not last long despite there being no Wendys nearby and despite this being a fairly busy intersection and an area where Wendys should have done well in my opinion (lots of retirees in the area; retirees seem to like Wendys).

The building is now a Dutch Bros.

[mjhale]

I like being able to eat-in at a fast food restaurant if I'm on a long trip and need to stretch my legs and get out of the car. I don't want to eat my food in the car after having been driving the car for several hours. I like that Sheetz has been putting seating areas in their stores for a while with larger ones in their recent builds. I often see people and families who look like they are on a trip eating their food and just kind of hanging out. This is along with locals who are doing the same. I agree about how this might affect sales. If you are in the store eating and want something else you'll get it. If you are forced into drive through or carry out only you loose the follow up sales like "Mommy/Daddy, I waaannnttt dessert!!!" Perhaps fast food should be selective as to which stores or what times they do carry out and drive through only. For instance there is a strip mall near the local high school where the fast food restaurants attract a good number of kiddos after dismissal. They hang out and never cause much problem. But what they do is make multiple purchases while they are there. I wasn't surprised when the fast food chains in this strip mall reopened for interior dining right when school started in August 2021 even though my state had reopened for interior dining long before that.

[jamcool]

Jack In The Box started as a drive-thru chain with only a few outside tables. Easier to clean, easier to operate.

[pseudo3d]

Most of the fast food restaurants (including McDonald's) have experimented with drive-through only/"express" locations over the years, and ironically, most of the last of the old "Express" stores (and another concept called "McDonald's Classic") have closed in the last few years.

Trying out new concepts is always good. I don't see this being a long-term option, especially as pre-COVID there had been a trend in some cities (citing environmental reasons, among others) to ban drive-throughs in new construction.

[storewanderer]

Most of the fast food restaurants (including McDonald's) have experimented with drive-through only/"express" locations over the years, and ironically, most of the last of the old "Express" stores (and another concept called "McDonald's Classic") have closed in the last few years.

Trying out new concepts is always good. I don't see this being a long-term option, especially as pre-COVID there had been a trend in some cities (citing environmental reasons, among others) to ban drive-throughs in new construction.

Yes, it will be interesting to see if that trend to ban drive throughs continues or slows down. I am afraid many of the folks who like the idea of banning drive throughs, also love their drive through Starbucks.

Also we are seeing chains like Panera who did not do drive through before add drive throughs in. I think consumer demand for drive through is increasing. All it would take is a media that decided to focus on all of the pollution that drive throughs cause, as well as inability for special individuals (handicapped, homeless with no car, trucks/RVs, etc.) to gain access to the business due to not being able to go inside, and you would see consumer attitude toward drive throughs turn on a dime.

Personally- I hate drive throughs. I resent being forced to use one if I want to patronize a given business, but it is their business and their decision. And it is my decision to not patronize said businesses. Also if you advertise you are open inside then I arrive and see drive through only, I will cancel my order. This has happened to me a couple times with Jack in the Box lately, and when you cancel the order they actually email you a survey asking why you canceled. One of the pre-populated responses is "the location was not open when I arrived to pick the order up." The resolution I observed a week later when I was near that location, was for them to post a large A-frame plastic sign blocking the entry door, which was something along the lines of "nobody wants to work, be patient with the employees who came to work, we are short staffed" so you could not even attempt to pull the door open. I haven't bothered to even try them again.

The other irony I see is these places are short staffed and say they are hiring. Given these are franchises they handle job applications all different ways. Some do online on the chain's website, some have a franchisee-specific job application website, some still do paper. I have seen McDonalds and KFC that still have paper employment applications in the past month which was surprising. If someone is looking for a job, do you think they are going to screw around waiting in a drive through line trying to get an application? No, they are going to move on to the retailer or other business in the parking lot where they can walk in and ask about employment opportunities and be taken care of.

[Super S]

There was a Wendys built in Carmichael, CA at the corner of Manzanita and Winding (45 degrees from the Chevron) over a decade ago that was of the drive through only model but had a tiny walk in area as well; no tables, no self serve drinks, etc. This was a corporate Wendys as Sacramento was a corporate operated market at that time (isn't anymore). The location did not last long despite there being no Wendys nearby and despite this being a fairly busy intersection and an area where Wendys should have done well in my opinion (lots of retirees in the area; retirees seem to like Wendys).

The building is now a Dutch Bros.

About 10-15 years ago, there was a McDonald's north of here(in the Fort Lewis vicinity) that had a tall freeway sign that had another permanent one on the pole that red "DRIVE-THRU ONLY" I am not sure what this was exactly as I never stopped at this one, but will say that the DRIVE-THRU ONLY part was removed in recent years. I have not seen McDonald's do this elsewhere. But I can imagine that we could see more of these in the not too distant future.