So... they've now figured out how the first McDonalds worked. Next, they'll trim the menu down to just a burger, fries, and one brand of soda, and they'll have gone full circle.

The local Chick-fil-a has gone double drive through and has only about ten seats in the “dine in” area. The local Arby’s closes once in a while without enough staff.

The local Burger Kings are all folding up. Food not good, restaurant interiors dated and dirty.

Meanwhile, the true sit-down restaurants are charging $12-15 for a hamburger.

Our two closest MacDs are also no dine in.

The Taco Bell near us closes at 4 p.m. WTH?

Where I live,it's McDonalds that won't open their dining rooms. The local Firehouse Subs is open for a couple of weeks and then they close their dining room for a couple of weeks, and then they wash and repeat for no reason. All the other sandwich and fast food shops are open.

Most near me are not open inside and drive-thru is slow as molasses.

The other day there were only 2 cars in line so I pull in line and order on the app. The line moved really quick and the car ahead of me must have only ordered a coke. The speaker comes on and I say "mobile order." Speaker says "sorry, we're closed - no help." Shit! I already paid in the app and used a coupon.

There's customer service thing in the app and I almost immediately got an email that my order was refunded and here's a $5 we suck coupon.

I placed an order on the app while in Florida this summer and the order went to my local store in NC. BK's app doesn't know where you are like McD's does. Got an almost instant refund that time too.

EVERYTHING is open here... Except Zaxby's.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
The owner of one of the local fast-food franchises stated that she has no intention of reopening the eat-in portion of her operation.

Ever since closing the eat-in area and going to take-out and drive-through only, her total sales have not increased, but her profits are way up.

She does not have to have staff to keep the eating area clean, restroom maintenance is way down, no endless refills for soft drinks, no litter to pick up in the eating area, her business is much simpler and requires fewer employees.

NOTE: No link, this is not from a news source, it is from a personal conversation with the franchise owner.

That is I surmised many places have decided. Folks have been conditioned to drive through, making more money so won’t reopen indoor dining.

Their choice, if business is that good than they won’t be needing my money.

I don’t eat in my car and on the rare occasions I get fast food I am not going to take it home to be cold and soggy by the time I eat it.

quote:

Originally posted by 911Boss:
I don’t eat in my car and on the rare occasions I get fast food I am not going to take it home to be cold and soggy by the time I eat it.

I'm with you. If they go to drive thru only around here, I'll never go to a fast food place.

At the early point in the pandemic, the place I like to go did close dine in and I didn't even go near the place until they re opened it.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Flash-LB,

Y'all are slippin'. I can't believe no one has yet to post this...

Burger King has NEVER been good at drive through operations.

McDonalds has gotten way better and their new standard is dual ordering lanes and we all know CFA has it down to a science. BK has always taken forever to get you food via the drive through, it’s like they just don’t care.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

McDonalds has gotten way better and their new standard is dual ordering lanes and we all know CFA has it down to a science.

Setting food quality aside for discussion about apps and drive-through service, McDonald's is head and shoulders above Chick-Fil-A on these points.

Heresy, yeah, but using the Chick-Fil-A app to order ahead, it's still a hassle when I arrive there. Two choices:

1. Pick up the order at the drive-through window. What's the point? There is no time saved by using the app to pre-order and pre-pay, vs. just being a standard drive-through customer.
   
   
2. Park and go inside, to pick up the order. This might save a little time, depending on how many people are standing on line to place orders, but it's a hassle for me. I have hardware implants in my hip and thigh, I have lousy balance and walking is not easy, especially if I have to negotiate the step of a curb, so I try to use handicap parking. Many of the Chick-Fil-A location parking areas are laid out by idiots, such that you have to break through the line of vehicles for drive-through in order to get to handicap parking, and access is dependent on the courtesy of drivers in the drive-through lanes; this courtesy is frequently non-existent.

On the other hand, the McDonald's app is really thought out better, with three options when you arrive; go inside or use the drive-through, similar to Chick-Fil-A, or the third option, much better for those of us who are mobility limited, park in a designated slot, easy in and easy out, and a McDonald's worker brings the order to you.

Several years ago I ate at a Wendys. The side exit door led right into the drive thruough lane. Two steps that's all. Great planning there.

From what I have seen the double order lines at several different fast food operations have not been any improvement no matter the brand name of the operation because of the order takers cannot hear or speak clear English / cannot and do not seem to know how to operate the order computer / and if you do not give exact money payment the pay window operators they are totally lost because the computer did not give instruction as how much change to return.. and for the use of the dinning room kiosk for ordering is a copout for employees to not do their job.... when they put me on the payrool to do their job then maybe.... just like I tell them and other business who are forcing the customers to do their jobs by using the computers to save more money for profit and shareholders and not having to pay a employee wages and provide benefits.......... drill sgt.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Several years ago I ate at a Wendys. The side exit door led right into the drive thruough lane. Two steps that's all. Great planning there.

I read that and was amazed because a Wendy's one of my weekly shooting group adjourns to after shooting each week for coffee is exactly the same. Two steps and you're in the drive thru lane.

I'm wondering now if a lot of the Wendy's are built to a standard set of blueprints.

Probably.

I haven’t been to a Burger King in a year. Probably never will again. I just don’t see the point of patronizing a company so overtly opposed to my values while there are so many other, much better, choices available.

Burger King is promising to donate to an LGBTQ group for every chicken sandwich sold 'even on Sundays' amid calls to boycott Chick-fil-A

https://news.yahoo.com/burger-...lgbtq-124000997.html

Not really the point of the thread, but just thought I'd add that I believe that the Whopper with cheese was the best large chain burger. It never failed to deliver.

I hadn't had one in years though as we don't have fast food places in Podunkville. I was in the big city today though and got to thinking about this thread as I was driving by BK and thought I'd swing by for a Whopper.

Awful. Just plain awful. Stale bun, wafer thin hunk of meat that did not taste flame broiled, wilted lettuce, and tasteless tomato. My how far they have fallen. Good thing there is a local non-chain burger joint up there that makes a great cheeseburger. I won't be going back to BK.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
Setting food quality aside for discussion about apps and drive-through service, McDonald's is head and shoulders above Chick-Fil-A on these points.

Heresy, yeah, but using the Chick-Fil-A app to order ahead, it's still a hassle when I arrive there. Two choices:

1. Pick up the order at the drive-through window. What's the point? There is no time saved by using the app to pre-order and pre-pay, vs. just being a standard drive-through customer.
   
   
2. Park and go inside, to pick up the order. This might save a little time, depending on how many people are standing on line to place orders, but it's a hassle for me. I have hardware implants in my hip and thigh, I have lousy balance and walking is not easy, especially if I have to negotiate the step of a curb, so I try to use handicap parking. Many of the Chick-Fil-A location parking areas are laid out by idiots, such that you have to break through the line of vehicles for drive-through in order to get to handicap parking, and access is dependent on the courtesy of drivers in the drive-through lanes; this courtesy is frequently non-existent.

On the other hand, the McDonald's app is really thought out better, with three options when you arrive; go inside or use the drive-through, similar to Chick-Fil-A, or the third option, much better for those of us who are mobility limited, park in a designated slot, easy in and easy out, and a McDonald's worker brings the order to you.

The CFA’s around here all let you park and enter space number in the app, then bring to your car.

quote:

Originally posted by 911Boss:

The CFA’s around here all let you park and enter space number in the app, then bring to your car.

That's the way that it should work! McDonald's locations in this area do it that way; Chick-Fil-A does not, at least not at any of the locations that I have been to.

Maybe I'll send a V-Tail-gram to the Chick-Fil-A mother ship, if I can find an email address for them, and ask about it.

Wulp...all I gotta say is if drive-thru traffic is gonna increase 3 to 5 fold, then something needs to be done about the wait time. It's called "fast food"...with "FAST" being the operative word. I loves me some Whataburger, but it was EXTREMELY unacceptable to sit in a line of cars for 20+ minutes for my burger and fries today. At 2 o'clock in the afternoon!!!!! I could understand if it was the lunch hour rush.

These places are gonna have to re-design/re-engineer their drive thru plan if they desire to stay in business. Fortunately, Texas (at least in my area) isn't a land of stupidity and hasn't shut down indoor dining in most places...at least in the burger joints I visit on an infrequent basis, which is about once a month.