# Fast Food Restaurants



## Beninmankato (Apr 26, 2017)

seem to want to keep their dining rooms closed forever. Lockdowns seem to have made so many workers lazy.


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## KevinJohnson (Mar 23, 2020)

They probably want to keep the sick from spreading germs inside their restaurant.


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## Guido-TheKillerPimp (Jan 4, 2021)

Beninmankato said:


> seem to want to keep their dining rooms closed forever. Lockdowns seem to have made so many workers lazy.


I sat down to have my lunch in the "closed" dining room of a Taco Bell the other day. Mrs. Manager abruptly approaches me and says: "I'm sorry sir, the dining room is closed." So with my mouth full of chalupa, I calmly replied: "I'm starving and not leaving 'till I'm done. If you that's a major problem, call the cops!"
She just stared at me for a second or two, and walked away. &#128526;


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## Uberdriver2710 (Jul 15, 2015)

They cut crews...so less people to clean up after dumb kids.


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## touberornottouber (Aug 12, 2016)

Beninmankato said:


> seem to want to keep their dining rooms closed forever. Lockdowns seem to have made so many workers lazy.


They are coming out ahead. Less employees, less expenses, business about the same or even better provided they have drive thru. The same for other companies like Walmart who reduced hours. The hours they reduced were low volume so now they are even more profitable.


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## Seamus (Jun 21, 2018)

Beninmankato said:


> seem to want to keep their dining rooms closed forever. Lockdowns seem to have made so many workers lazy.


It's smart for them. Less problems, less maintenance, and they're teaching people to order online = less workers, higher margin.


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## Beninmankato (Apr 26, 2017)

Well I for one refuse to wait in a Drive-Thru to deliver somebody else's food.


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## Mota-Driven (Nov 1, 2020)

Restaurant drive-through are designed exactly for that, —drive—>Through—. They don’t rely on having customers sit inside to generate revenue, when they’re completely engineered to push as many cars as they can through the drive-through line, so it’s not relevant to keep the indoors open, when it’s just more multitasking when unnecessary until things completely recover from the pandemic.


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## SHalester (Aug 25, 2019)

Beninmankato said:


> seem to want to keep their dining rooms closed forever.


huh, maybe it has more to do with what the country allows, aye?  &#129335;‍♂


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## Judge and Jury (Oct 19, 2019)

Guido-TheKillerPimp said:


> I sat down to have my lunch in the "closed" dining room of a Taco Bell the other day. Mrs. Manager abruptly approaches me and says: "I'm sorry sir, the dining room is closed." So with my mouth full of chalupa, I calmly replied: "I'm starving and not leaving 'till I'm done. If you that's a major problem, call the cops!"
> She just stared at me for a second or two, and walked away. &#128526;


Guido; from USA.

Guessing you are the reason that fast food joints from sea to shining sea are locking their dining room doors.

They heard you might be coming to a location near them soon.


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## Guido-TheKillerPimp (Jan 4, 2021)

Judge and Jury said:


> Guido; from USA.
> 
> Guessing you are the reason that fast food joints from sea to shining sea are locking their dining room doors.
> 
> They heard you might be coming to a location near them soon.


Quite possibly? &#128526;


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## BigJohn (Jan 27, 2016)

Guido-TheKillerPimp said:


> I sat down to have my lunch in the "closed" dining room of a Taco Bell the other day. Mrs. Manager abruptly approaches me and says: "I'm sorry sir, the dining room is closed." So with my mouth full of chalupa, I calmly replied: "I'm starving and not leaving 'till I'm done. If you that's a major problem, call the cops!"
> She just stared at me for a second or two, and walked away. &#128526;


Yep, some people, like you, just do not care at all about the law or safety or being courteous to others. It is all about you. SAD!


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## Guido-TheKillerPimp (Jan 4, 2021)

BigJohn said:


> Yep, some people, like you, just do not care at all about the law or safety or being courteous to others. It is all about you. SAD!


Ok, perhaps you're right. However, in my local area, some restaurants have the dining room open. It's the choice of the establishment. Are they being unsafe and discourteous too?


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## UberBastid (Oct 1, 2016)

Guido-TheKillerPimp said:


> I sat down to have my lunch in the "closed" dining room of a Taco Bell the other day.


I know an old guy that owned several pizza parlors.
He told me that "Take out is about 20% more right on the profit line. Don't have to hire people to serve them, clean up after their pig kids, wash dishes, wipe tables. Just give em the food and push them out the door. Next!"



BigJohn said:


> Yep, some people, like you, just do not care at all about the law or safety or being courteous to others. It is all about you. SAD!


And, SOME people just won't be pushed around like a punk either.

I've done the same thing with bathroom availability. "Your bathroom is closed? For everyone? Including employees? If you can't point out a place for me to piss in the next 90 seconds, I will find a place - and I can guarantee you won't like it. Any suggestions?"
As I a made a motion to unzip she points to the bathroom and hands me a key.
"Thank you."

How's _that_ for concern for the law, safety and health standards?

When this old **** has gotta piss, it IS going to happen.
And, I won't piss my pants ... so guess what ...


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## Guido-TheKillerPimp (Jan 4, 2021)

UberBastid said:


> And, SOME people just won't be pushed around like a punk either.
> 
> I've done the same thing with bathroom availability. "Your bathroom is closed? For everyone? Including employees? If you can't point out a place for me to piss in the next 90 seconds, I will find a place - and I can guarantee you won't like it. Any suggestions?"
> As I a made a motion to unzip she points to the bathroom and hands me a key.
> "Thank you."


Absolutely!!! Well said. Thank you &#128077;


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## ANT 7 (Oct 14, 2018)

The Starbucks I frequent, well, all of them in fact as I was told it's a corporate decision, have closed their seating areas, and with it, the bathrooms. Looks like they cut staff by half as well.

In protest I walk out back, hide in the bushes, and piss on their wall when I need to go. Seriously, no security cameras or lines of sight to be found. If a business is allowed to profit from my discomfort, I will find a way to even it out.


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## UberBastid (Oct 1, 2016)

ANT 7 said:


> The Starbucks I frequent, well, all of them in fact as I was told it's a corporate decision, have closed their seating areas, and with it, the bathrooms. Looks like they cut staff by half as well.
> 
> In protest I walk out back, hide in the bushes, and piss on their wall when I need to go. Seriously, no security cameras or lines of sight to be found. If a business is allowed to profit from my discomfort, I will find a way to even it out.


THAT'S not getting even.
Even is pissing ON THE FRONT DOOR.

(Wear a mask, and a hat pulled down -- be Covid safe out there)


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## ThrowInTheTowel (Apr 10, 2018)

Beninmankato said:


> seem to want to keep their dining rooms closed forever. Lockdowns seem to have made so many workers lazy.


There seems to be quite a few businesses that prefer to work under the new covid-19 protocols. In my area many of the 24 hour Walmarts are closed by 11, many pharmacies close early, rest rooms in restaurants closed to the public, dine in areas closed, and only self checkout registers open in many stores. I even think working from home is here to stay for many office employees.


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## SHalester (Aug 25, 2019)

ANT 7 said:


> have closed their seating areas, and with it, the bathrooms. Looks like they cut staff by half as well.


here, ie US, sit down has been closed for a year; bathrooms open. For a spell only 50% were open; now back to 100% open. Outside seating is available if one doesn't mind < 50 degrees and a rain drop or 2. I go daily.


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## UberBastid (Oct 1, 2016)

SHalester said:


> here, ie US, sit down has been closed for a year; bathrooms open. For a spell only 50% were open; now back to 100% open. Outside seating is available if one doesn't mind < 50 degrees and a rain drop or 2. I go daily.


Wow, and up here in Northern California we been open for a month officially.
In reality ... if you were a local we were never closed.


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## AndyP21502 (Dec 17, 2018)

I was told similar to what others on this post have said. An employee of a certain fast food restaurant in my town, after I asked when the dining room is going to open back up, said that its more profitable to stay with drive through and carry out. He said that they may open dining area in the summer.


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## ntcindetroit (Mar 23, 2017)

Last evening, I went through two different drive-thru's. Both take about one hour to get thru. 

Is fast food become SLOW pickup? or was it work slowdown by the overworked, underpaid employee(s) ?


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## Mota-Driven (Nov 1, 2020)

AndyP21502 said:


> I was told similar to what others on this post have said. An employee of a certain fast food restaurant in my town, after I asked when the dining room is going to open back up, said that its more profitable to stay with drive through and carry out. He said that they may open dining area in the summer.


There's been rumored discussion in our state, once we reach 'herd immunity', drive through restaurants will reopen their lobbies, in my opinion, that's probably a safe bet until then.


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## FLKeys (Dec 27, 2018)

In my area the dining rooms are closed because they can't get enough help to keep them open. People would rather sit on their butt and collect cheese than work.


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## The Jax (Apr 17, 2018)

I WILL SAY THIS.

I do consulting in addition to driving, for those that do not know me.

I am ABSOLUTELY sick of some of my clients who are crying how Covid is making them fall on hard times while absolutely bank rolling in the money. I read a lot of your comments. I have clients with multi-unit franchise restaurants with drive thru's. They absolutely refuse to open the dining room. THEN there are long lines in drive thru. I look at the numbers. The numbers absolutely support more labor hours. They choose to use the "McDonalds Overnight" method and run a skeleton crew. I have advised them that if they do that, they will have more drive thru traffic so they need to staff for it. They refuse. I advise them to offer a pay differential for employees working in drive thru when the dining room is closed so they get more money and work harder and feel valued. Nope! That was shot down too. They do not care.

I had a nice long talk the other day with a guy from corporate franchise operations who was less than pleased with a franchisee, who is my client, after the continuous customer complaints about long drive thru wait times and rude employees and employees messing up orders.

In my professional opinion, this will all stop eventually. The big corps that own the brand for these franchised fast food restaurants are noticing a major decrease in revenue because they are receiving less royalties from their franchises due to lower sales volume, which is directly related to keeping the doors locked, forcing everyone to use drive thru, and long wait times. It is also tarnishing their brand reputation getting customers talking about not wanting to go there because of it being a hassle.

At some point, big corp will step in and order the franchisees to unlock the doors and properly staff or risk being in default of their franchise agreement and either forcing them to close or taking over their franchise. Big corp doesn't like the franchisees bank rolling at the expense of their customers and the corps reputation.


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## Seamus (Jun 21, 2018)

Drive thru lines suck with 1 exception, Chick-fil-A. It's amazing how fast they can move those lines.


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## ParkingPermit (Jan 22, 2021)

Seamus said:


> Drive thru lines suck with 1 exception, Chick-fil-A. It's amazing how fast they can move those lines.


Can you pick up delivery orders through the drive thru?


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## KevinJohnson (Mar 23, 2020)

Seamus said:


> Drive thru lines suck with 1 exception, Chick-fil-A. It's amazing how fast they can move those lines.


Which begs the question. If one can have superior performance why do all the others refuse to match it. This isn't exactly rocket science.


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## FLKeys (Dec 27, 2018)

KevinJohnson said:


> Which begs the question. If one can have superior performance why do all the others refuse to match it. This isn't exactly rocket science.


Because it is labor intensive. Chick-fil-A is willing to spend the labor to accomplish this. They have order takers outside in up to 4 lanes taking orders well in advance. They have a person repositioning the orders in the computer to match how the cars are flowing into the final lane. They have multiple people delivering food to cars farther back in line than the car at the window. All things to make the line move fast.

The Chick-fil-A I watched for a while had 5 order takers working 4 lines, always giving one a 5-7 minute break while rotating lines. They had a person taking credit card payments and marking the proper order of the cars merging into the final lane. They had a person at the first window taking cash payments and handing out credit card receipts to those that paid at the first person outside. They had 2 people running orders out to cars behind the lead car so they could just pass by the window when the first car was done. They had one person working the second order handing out food to the next car that did not get their food earlier.

That was a total of 10 employees dealing with customers face to face. Not including the employees in the back making food, drinks, and packing orders. Those 10 employees is more than most fast food restaurants have working in the entire place at the same peak times.

During one week day lunch period I counted 53 cars leave the drive thru in 15 minutes. That equates to 212 cars an hour that is a car every 17 seconds. Their lunch period is like that for a good 2 hours every day.


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## The Jax (Apr 17, 2018)

Seamus said:


> Chick-fil-A. It's amazing how fast they can move those lines.





FLKeys said:


> Chick-fil-A is willing to spend the labor to accomplish this. They have order takers outside in up to 4 lanes taking orders well in advance. They have a person repositioning the orders in the computer to match how the cars are flowing into the final lane. They have multiple people delivering food to cars farther back in line than the car at the window. All things to make the line move fast.


I was at a conference about 2 years ago in St Louis (of all places) that was about delivery systems and drive thru systems and the analytics of drive thru times and customer service. It was one of those you had to pay to go to but you meet interesting people and learn a lot.

Anyway, I met two franchisees there from Chikfila in addition to many others. You know how these things go. You meet people and click and you are friends for the duration of the event.

So the Chikfila franchisees were explaining to me that corporate has a no tolerance policy on bad customer service and they take the reputation of their brand very seriously. That is where the "my pleasure" comes from. They told me their franchises could be penalized greatly for not fixing issues or if they have ongoing issues not addressed. So this is why, during Covid, you see Chikfila still chugging along with great customer service while you see the "other guys" do whatever they want because they get a pass from corporate.


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## ParkingPermit (Jan 22, 2021)

The Jax said:


> I was at a conference about 2 years ago in St Louis (of all places) that was about delivery systems and drive thru systems and the analytics of drive thru times and customer service. It was one of those you had to pay to go to but you meet interesting people and learn a lot.
> 
> Anyway, I met two franchisees there from Chikfila in addition to many others. You know how these things go. You meet people and click and you are friends for the duration of the event.
> 
> So the Chikfila franchisees were explaining to me that corporate has a no tolerance policy on bad customer service and they take the reputation of their brand very seriously. That is where the "my pleasure" comes from. They told me their franchises could be penalized greatly for not fixing issues or if they have ongoing issues not addressed. So this is why, during Covid, you see Chikfila still chugging along with great customer service while you see the "other guys" do whatever they want because they get a pass from corporate.


Chick fillet uses MSG that's why it's so addictive


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## The Jax (Apr 17, 2018)

ParkingPermit said:


> Chick fillet uses MSG that's why it's so addictive


That is also a fact


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## Toby2 (Jun 16, 2018)

I finally had a chick-fil-a. I wasn’t impressed. I definitely believe that employees will throttle down the drive through so they can work at a slower pace. Also Popeyes and KFC uses MSG


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## SHalester (Aug 25, 2019)

Toby2 said:


> I finally had a chick-fil-a. I wasn't impressed.


me too. Wondered what all the hype was about. Well, it's called hype for a reason. I wasn't impressed either. Kinda bland and boring; glad wife unit suffered the line vs me.


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## Judge and Jury (Oct 19, 2019)

The Jax said:


> I WILL SAY THIS.
> 
> I do consulting in addition to driving, for those that do not know me.
> 
> ...


Seems you are a consultant that takes no tip orders to new Jack City.
Why?.


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## The Jax (Apr 17, 2018)

Judge and Jury said:


> Seems you are a consultant that takes no tip orders to new Jack City.
> Why?.


Incorrect, and not relevant. I am here to help. What are you here for?


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## Seamus (Jun 21, 2018)

SHalester said:


> me too. Wondered what all the hype was about. Well, it's called hype for a reason. I wasn't impressed either. Kinda bland and boring; glad wife unit suffered the line vs me.


You gotta have the Chick-fil-A Sauce on it! I can tell by the bland comment you didn't have your chicken sandwich with the sauce!


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## UberBastid (Oct 1, 2016)

SHalester said:


> me too. Wondered what all the hype was about. Well, it's called hype for a reason. I wasn't impressed either. Kinda bland and boring; glad wife unit suffered the line vs me.


Agree.
And, I have never tasted food SO good that is worth a quarter mile long line.
I don't have the patience for that - or the time to waste (I don't have that much left).


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## Rickos69 (Nov 8, 2018)

The vast majority of the posters here do not have Portillo's in their area.
I have actually parked and watched the guys outside taking orders from the wrap around the block line at the drive thru.
It is impressive. I have yet to accept an order from there because I don't know what priority delivery drivers are given.
As for our CFA, I had to yell at the guys directing traffic to get the drivethru cars out of the traffic lanes. You couldn't turn into the strip mall.

The McD in my area has 2 drivethrus and 24/7/365 open lobby for carryout. They are NEVER late. Sometimes down to the wire, but never late. And always polite. Every now and then they give me coupons for free meals. For our Delivery Drivers, as the coupon says.I'm thinking this is from the franchise owner.


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## FLKeys (Dec 27, 2018)

Rickos69 said:


> The vast majority of the posters here do not have Portillo's in their area.
> I have actually parked and watched the guys outside taking orders from the wrap around the block line at the drive thru.
> It is impressive. I have yet to accept an order from there because I don't know what priority delivery drivers are given.
> As for our CFA, I had to yell at the guys directing traffic to get the drivethru cars out of the traffic lanes. You couldn't turn into the strip mall.
> ...


I got two fast food joints that always offer me a free drink.


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## The Jax (Apr 17, 2018)

FLKeys said:


> I got two fast food joints that always offer me a free drink.


Yea? But you are in Florida. That is kind of a given. I notice when I deliver in the Tampa area, just about every restaurant offers platform drivers free water and fountain drinks if you bring you own cup. You got to stay hydrated.

When I deliver in the northeast, unless you have developed a relationship with the employees, you have to ask and it is hit or miss.


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## jjminor82 (Oct 25, 2019)

UberBastid said:


> I know an old guy that owned several pizza parlors.
> He told me that "Take out is about 20% more right on the profit line. Don't have to hire people to serve them, clean up after their pig kids, wash dishes, wipe tables. Just give em the food and push them out the door. Next!"
> 
> And, SOME people just won't be pushed around like a punk either.
> ...


And the government is the new bully.
To get things done sometimes you just have to push.


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## jjminor82 (Oct 25, 2019)

The Jax said:


> I WILL SAY THIS.
> 
> I do consulting in addition to driving, for those that do not know me.
> 
> ...


Thank you for the input. I have stopped delivering for certain restaurants due partially to the long lines, but even more so to the rude employees.


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## ntcindetroit (Mar 23, 2017)

ParkingPermit said:


> Can you pick up delivery orders through the drive thru?


You have to. Most places do that to delivery orders. I tried Mcfastfood after midnight, after 30 to 40 minutes wait getting to the order station, then finally reached the pick up window, the lady with an accent told me to get lost, we don't have your order in our system or terminal.

I should have asked to see their terminal like some ask to see my phone.


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