As a non American: What are these people doing? Only time I’ve seen fast food personal outside around here is to empty the bins and pick up trash from the parking lot. Otherwise they are inside.
The early days of drive in was waiting in your car in the parking lot and wait for a server to come out to you to take your order. Then they return to your car with the food for you to eat in your car in the parking lot. They often had trays that hooked onto your window or trays that would sit in your lap to eat from. This food was diner style food and wasn’t quick to make like fast food today is.
These styles of restaurants fell out of style when cheap and quick fast food came along. This combined with Americans are usually only interested in the latest things or styles, many of these old style restaurants went under and disappeared into history. The Founder movie covers some of this when the McDonald’s brothers came along.
The ones that didn’t die like A&W adopted the eat inside model with a drive thru window for pickup abandoning the older model where their waitresses would roller skate out to your car to take your order and deliver food.
Then there are newer chains like Sonic in the US that have this old style pull up parking and a drive thru with outside seating. This is more of a nostalgia play for consumers and it worked as it was a trip to something that wasn’t around anymore so it was new again.
I assume this Chick Fil place is doing something similar in this photo or they are just delivering food during the pandemic to people that preordered ahead of time in the rain.
Chick-fil-A has a more or less normal drive through. You drive your car through and get the food at a standard pickup window. The people outside are taking orders on ipads, but not delivering food.
Kind of reminds me of Dutch Bros. Coffee. They have people out in the line for the drive thru with iPad taking orders. By the time you get to the window the orders are ready for pickup.
As a non American: What are these people doing? Only time I’ve seen fast food personal outside around here is to empty the bins and pick up trash from the parking lot. Otherwise they are inside.
They take the orders on iPads 80% instead of having you drive up to the speaker.
I think they do this to keep the kitchen constantly moving instead of waiting for an order to get finished. Also a personal touch.
if i ever want or need this from a fast food place please find me and shoot me
Welcome to Chick-fil-A, I love you
The early days of drive in was waiting in your car in the parking lot and wait for a server to come out to you to take your order. Then they return to your car with the food for you to eat in your car in the parking lot. They often had trays that hooked onto your window or trays that would sit in your lap to eat from. This food was diner style food and wasn’t quick to make like fast food today is.
These styles of restaurants fell out of style when cheap and quick fast food came along. This combined with Americans are usually only interested in the latest things or styles, many of these old style restaurants went under and disappeared into history. The Founder movie covers some of this when the McDonald’s brothers came along.
The ones that didn’t die like A&W adopted the eat inside model with a drive thru window for pickup abandoning the older model where their waitresses would roller skate out to your car to take your order and deliver food.
Then there are newer chains like Sonic in the US that have this old style pull up parking and a drive thru with outside seating. This is more of a nostalgia play for consumers and it worked as it was a trip to something that wasn’t around anymore so it was new again.
I assume this Chick Fil place is doing something similar in this photo or they are just delivering food during the pandemic to people that preordered ahead of time in the rain.
Chick-fil-A has a more or less normal drive through. You drive your car through and get the food at a standard pickup window. The people outside are taking orders on ipads, but not delivering food.
They are literally taking orders. They don’t deliver your food. Their drive thru ordering is literally hell.
Kind of reminds me of Dutch Bros. Coffee. They have people out in the line for the drive thru with iPad taking orders. By the time you get to the window the orders are ready for pickup.