AARoads Forum

Which fast food chains actually have the fastest service, in your experience?

McDonald's - very fast
Wendy's - very fast
Dairy Queen - so so
Dunkin' Donuts - so so
Taco Bell - slow

Carl's Jr./Hardees -- slow in the drive-thrus, even slower inside at the counter.

It depends on the workers, the time of day, and the family in front of you that apparently has never made an advanced decision in their life and are totally surprised their car took them to the restaurant which they are now stuck ordering at.

Some McDonalds are extremely fast at lunchtime.  Those same ones can make you wait 15 minutes in the Drive-Thru at midnight.

Dunkin for me overall is generally fast.  Although at some locations, they ignore the On-The-Go app orders, and their slip telling them what to make is still sitting there when I arrive.

Taco Bell is usually fine, as is BK. 

KFC is one that I've been sitting inside for a long time, while they churn out the Drive-Thru orders very quickly.

Chick-fil-a is usually very prompt, considering how many people are visiting there. 

Others, especially those I only visit on rare occasion (Bojangles, Cook-Out, etc) seem to be fine the few times I visit.

Fried chicken places are fast unless they just ran out of chicken and are cooking more.

I would say the slowest "fast food" outlet, in terms of time from placing your order to receiving your order, is In-N-Out Burger.

Most fast food restaurants are franchised, so how fast they go depends on how much the owner focuses on speed of service. There is usually a chain-wide speed of service goal–at Burger King it's 2m 30s in the drive thru and, IIRC, 3m inside–but depending on the restaurant and time of day that's either easy to hit or a laughable, pie-in-the-sky affair.

For example, if it's really busy, you can make five Whoppers and keep them on the heat chute and whenever someone orders one, just grab one and toss it in the bag. If it's 11pm and you're getting one order every ten minutes, you can't keep anything on the chute because it will go bad before anyone can order it. So everything has to be made to order, which is slower. Some chicken sandwiches take 6 minutes to cook from scratch, and you just can't get around that, etc. And of course sometimes shit happens like someone going to lunch and never coming back, which will definitely ruin your times.

Some restaurants may choose to focus more on order accuracy than speed of service. Bad order accuracy usually causes more problems than bad SOS, so it's a logical sacrifice to make.

Panda Express moves people through the lines extremely fast, probably the fastest of any chain I eat at somewhat regularly.

As Scott said, it depends on what you order. Had an Asiago Chicken Club Sandwich for lunch at Wendy's today, and the manager said "sorry for the delay, but we like to make it fresh", so an 8-minute wait indoors during the lunch rush was a little above average. But it was made just right.

For the number of vehicles in the usual lunch rush drive-though line, Chic-Fil-A is probably the quickest overall. In many locations, they'll have someone take you order instead of talking into a speaker, which improves accuracy and speed.

Quote from: formulanone on April 02, 2018, 09:31:21 PM
For the number of vehicles in the usual lunch rush drive-though line, Chic-Fil-A is probably the quickest overall. In many locations, they'll have someone take you order instead of talking into a speaker, which improves accuracy and speed.

Yep. The one in Hamilton NJ uses 2 order takers outside at lunch.

This is how things seem to appear in my own area:

In no particular order, the fastest fast food restaurants are:
1. McDonald's
2. Sonic
3. Captain D.'s

In no particular order, the slowest fast food restaurants are:
1. Chick-Fil-A (in proportion to the amount of customers at one time, they are pretty fast, but there's so many people that it is very slow to get through - there are two Chick-Fil-A locations here in Dalton, Georgia, one on GA SR 52 at I-75's Exit 333, and one also on GA SR 52, inside the Walnut Square Mall on the east side of town - but they desperately need a third location in the north side of town - either on I-75's Exit 336, or somewhere near the GA SR 71/US 41-US 76-GA 3 intersection)
2. Schlotzsky's (they have great food that is homeade, so that's probably why it takes so long)
3. Steak 'n' Shake (I don't know why they take so long most of the time, but their food (and shakes) is among the best in the world of Fast Food restaurants in my opinion, so I don't complain)

I would say Wendy's.

However I had both an extremely fast and bad experience at two family style restaurants this weekend. On Saturday night I went into a Steak N Shake in Auburn Hills, Michigan at about 2 in the morning and they had a total of 16 people in there I counted them, the server sat me down and says I'll be with you when I can and right away I thought this might not turn out to be too good. I sat there for about 10 minutes and the server was waiting on other tables, walked past me three times and after this third time I thought she hasn't even bothered to get my drink order yet I'm outta here and left.

The next day at a Cracker Barrel in Bay City, Michigan I walked in at 7:25pm and was walking out at 7:45pm. I got to the hostess stand the hostess sat me right away, the server came to the table right away and I already knew what I wanted so I put in my drink order and food order at the same time. About 4 minutes later I had my food. Now my Cracker Barrel experience is how it's suppose to be done.

And another one on Friday afternoon I went into the Turkey Roost at about 3:30. The Turkey Roost is a very popular restaurant in Kawkawlin, Michigan just north of Bay City which specializes in turkey and you get your food within 3 minutes or so of ordering it. While on Friday's they have fish and I ordered a half Perch plate with fries, it took them 25 minutes after I put my order in to get my food. The Turkey Roost generally serves you faster than McDonald's does.

I tend to order chicken strips at fast food joints (a stay over from my childhood). Arby's, Carl's Jr, and McDonald's strips/tenders are made to order. I usually wait 5-10 minutes at those places. Wendy's is very quick (less than 3 minutes, typically). Burger King doesn't screw around with their chicken fries (usually they're ready to go), although every so often I'm left waiting for 5+ minutes. Popeye's is also very fast, although their limited menu allows them to have most things ready to box up straight away. Chick-fil-A is also pretty damn fast. On several occasions, my food was ready before I finished paying. In fact, this is a regular occurrence, although that's probably the result of me ordering the chicken sandwich, arguably their most popular item (an item they always have ready to go). The slowest place is definitely Five Guys, although you could argue they aren't fast food.

Chick-Fil-A "cheats" by having their sandwich come with no condiments at all other than pickles. Thus they can just spam the default sandwich at everyone and not have to worry about "chicken sandwich, no mayo" orders because there's no mayo to take off in the first place.

The Arby's near me is usually quite fast; there are times that I have had my order ready before I was finished filling up my drink

Quote from: Scott5114 on April 02, 2018, 02:36:33 PM
Some restaurants may choose to focus more on order accuracy than speed of service. Bad order accuracy usually causes more problems than bad SOS, so it's a logical sacrifice to make.

I'd rather have it right than super speedy (and sitting out on a shelf half the damn day).

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on April 02, 2018, 06:55:40 PM
Panda Express moves people through the lines extremely fast, probably the fastest of any chain I eat at somewhat regularly.

I got food from a Panda Express at the Phoenix airport and it took an unbelievably long time to get through the line.  That may have been because everyone in line was talking on their cell phones, though.

I used to live across the street from a Panda Express, and every time I went there, it would take forever to get my food because they invariably needed to cook a fresh batch of crab Rangoon.

Quote from: Scott5114 on April 03, 2018, 04:37:07 AM
Chick-Fil-A "cheats" by having their sandwich come with no condiments at all other than pickles. Thus they can just spam the default sandwich at everyone and not have to worry about "chicken sandwich, no mayo" orders because there's no mayo to take off in the first place.

Same with White Castle; Sliders only come with pickles and onions.

Quote from: jeffandnicole on April 02, 2018, 10:41:33 AM
KFC is one that I've been sitting inside for a long time, while they churn out the Drive-Thru orders very quickly.

KFC! Ewww... The joint restaurant with Taco Bell and KFC in Greenwood, AR closed up shop recently and now it's just Taco Diarrhea.

KFC used to be good... not any more!

Quote from: jakeroot on April 03, 2018, 04:26:59 AM
The slowest place is definitely Five Guys, although you could argue they aren't fast food.

My mom and I were waiting for our food in a Five Guys recently (maybe a few weeks ago), and we were talking about the speed, and how it probably took longer than other places because they make everything fresh there (burgers, fries, etc.). The food is definitely worth the wait, and fresh, homeade stuff is much better than anything that is too processed. That's the way to go!  :nod:  :thumbsup:

Quote from: Brandon on April 03, 2018, 09:29:29 AM

Quote from: Scott5114 on April 02, 2018, 02:36:33 PM
Some restaurants may choose to focus more on order accuracy than speed of service. Bad order accuracy usually causes more problems than bad SOS, so it's a logical sacrifice to make.

I'd rather have it right than super speedy (and sitting out on a shelf half the damn day).

I agree with this as well! And if your order is wrong, then more time ends up being wasted in the end anyway, while it is being corrected.  :-/  :-D

Quote from: abefroman329 on April 03, 2018, 09:44:34 AM

Quote from: Scott5114 on April 03, 2018, 04:37:07 AM
Chick-Fil-A "cheats" by having their sandwich come with no condiments at all other than pickles. Thus they can just spam the default sandwich at everyone and not have to worry about "chicken sandwich, no mayo" orders because there's no mayo to take off in the first place.

Same with White Castle; Sliders only come with pickles and onions.

However, problems do arise with that when you highly dislike onions like me - this is why these days I usually just get the chicken sliders at Krystal (which is pretty much the "White Castle" down in my neck of the woods). I used to always get the burger sliders, but I would spend 20 minutes picking each and every onion off, so that got old after a decade of doing that every time I went to a Krystal (as they were bad about not leaving off the onions even though I asked that they were).  :-o  :-/  :-D

Quote from: adventurernumber1 on April 03, 2018, 10:38:50 AM
My mom and I were waiting for our food in a Five Guys recently (maybe a few weeks ago), and we were talking about the speed, and how it probably took longer than other places because they make everything fresh there (burgers, fries, etc.). The food is definitely worth the wait, and fresh, homemade stuff is much better than anything that is too processed. That's the way to go!  :nod:  :thumbsup:

They're already a chain and Chic-fil-a started out the same way with fresh ingredients, and then they wanted to have a consistent taste across the rest of the franchise and now look.

Quote from: adventurernumber1 on April 03, 2018, 10:38:50 AM

Quote from: abefroman329 on April 03, 2018, 09:44:34 AM

Quote from: Scott5114 on April 03, 2018, 04:37:07 AM
Chick-Fil-A "cheats" by having their sandwich come with no condiments at all other than pickles. Thus they can just spam the default sandwich at everyone and not have to worry about "chicken sandwich, no mayo" orders because there's no mayo to take off in the first place.

Same with White Castle; Sliders only come with pickles and onions.

However, problems do arise with that when you highly dislike onions like me - this is why these days I usually just get the chicken sliders at Krystal (which is pretty much the "White Castle" down in my neck of the woods). I used to always get the burger sliders, but I would spend 20 minutes picking each and every onion off, so that got old after a decade of doing that every time I went to a Krystal (as they were bad about not leaving off the onions even though I asked that they were).  :-o  :-/  :-D

That's because of the way the burgers are cooked at a White Castle/Krystal. They're cooked with the onions. It's difficult to remove them for that reason.

But that doesn't matter to me. I LOVE White Castle. I just wish the nearest location to me wasn't in the Twin Cities. (C'mon, there's gotta be a market for one somewhere in the Des Moines metro area...)

I haven't found any fast food places to be commendably fast. Of course, I tend to special order sandwiches that aren't pre-made. If I'm on the road and driving, I'll get any burger I order plain because I don't want to deal with sauces or condiments dripping onto my shirt. If I'm taking my food back to the office, or to a motel room if I'm traveling, I'll get a special order because I don't like pickles, onions, mayo or tomatoes, so if a burger comes with that stuff, I don't want it contaminating my sandwich.

Of the three burger places in the town where I work, Wendy's tends to be the fastest, and typically has the shortest drive-through line. The line at McDonald's is often long, and if I go by there to order lunch and the line is backed up, I'll turn around and go to Wendy's. Hardee's takes forever to prepare and serve food.

Around the Boise area, from fastest to slowest:

1. Jimmy Johns (I mean, it's almost cheating to put them here, that's their thing)
2. Chick-Fil-A (they are fast even when they're very busy)
3. Burger King (consistently fast, even though when I lived in Bend BK was the slowest)
4. McDonald's
5. Taco Time
6. Del Taco
7. Arby's
8. Taco John's
--- Above this line is what I consider good, below is inconsistent or bad ---
9. KFC/A&W (around me they are combined locations)
10. Sonic (they tend to be inconsistent, also varies by location a lot)
11. Carl's Jr
12. Taco Bell (very inconsistent)
13. Wendy's (I'm not sure why they are so poor around here, they just can't keep up with the lines)

Didn't put any restaurants I'm not too familiar with (like Popeye's), and didn't put Subway because that's fully dependent on how many people are there (moreso than the others).

Quote from: Flint1979 on April 03, 2018, 01:35:58 AM
The next day at a Cracker Barrel in Bay City, Michigan I walked in at 7:25pm and was walking out at 7:45pm. I got to the hostess stand the hostess sat me right away, the server came to the table right away and I already knew what I wanted so I put in my drink order and food order at the same time. About 4 minutes later I had my food. Now my Cracker Barrel experience is how it's suppose to be done.

That sounds highly dependent on what you ordered and whether it's feasible to pre-cook mass quantities of it, though.  If you ordered, say, soup, chicken and dumplings, and cornbread, I would expect it to come out in 4 minutes.

Quote from: abefroman329 on April 03, 2018, 12:40:03 PM

Quote from: Flint1979 on April 03, 2018, 01:35:58 AM
The next day at a Cracker Barrel in Bay City, Michigan I walked in at 7:25pm and was walking out at 7:45pm. I got to the hostess stand the hostess sat me right away, the server came to the table right away and I already knew what I wanted so I put in my drink order and food order at the same time. About 4 minutes later I had my food. Now my Cracker Barrel experience is how it's suppose to be done.

That sounds highly dependent on what you ordered and whether it's feasible to pre-cook mass quantities of it, though.  If you ordered, say, soup, chicken and dumplings, and cornbread, I would expect it to come out in 4 minutes.

Whenever my family goes to Cracker Barrel, it usually takes close to an hour (or 30 or 45 minutes). Usually, we eat breakfast there (though a few times we've been there for lunch and dinner, and I've gotten something like a cheeseburger with bacon on it). I get pancakes, bacon, eggs, and biscuits. It appears to be all homemade and delicious, and it is definitely worth the wait. I assumed that the fresh and high-quality food (and the quantity and type of food) was why it usually takes so long when I go there.

Quote from: adventurernumber1 on April 03, 2018, 01:19:04 PM

Quote from: abefroman329 on April 03, 2018, 12:40:03 PM

Quote from: Flint1979 on April 03, 2018, 01:35:58 AM
The next day at a Cracker Barrel in Bay City, Michigan I walked in at 7:25pm and was walking out at 7:45pm. I got to the hostess stand the hostess sat me right away, the server came to the table right away and I already knew what I wanted so I put in my drink order and food order at the same time. About 4 minutes later I had my food. Now my Cracker Barrel experience is how it's suppose to be done.

That sounds highly dependent on what you ordered and whether it's feasible to pre-cook mass quantities of it, though.  If you ordered, say, soup, chicken and dumplings, and cornbread, I would expect it to come out in 4 minutes.

Whenever my family goes to Cracker Barrel, it usually takes close to an hour (or 30 or 45 minutes). Usually, we eat breakfast there (though a few times we've been there for lunch and dinner, and I've gotten something like a cheeseburger with bacon on it). I get pancakes, bacon, eggs, and biscuits. It appears to be all homemade and delicious, and it is definitely worth the wait. I assumed that the fresh and high-quality food (and the quantity and type of food) was why it usually takes so long when I go there.

It takes so long because a) breakfast is prime time for the Cracker Barrel and b) at least two, possibly three, of those foods can't be cooked before you order them.

Quote from: Brandon on April 03, 2018, 09:29:29 AM

Quote from: Scott5114 on April 02, 2018, 02:36:33 PM
Some restaurants may choose to focus more on order accuracy than speed of service. Bad order accuracy usually causes more problems than bad SOS, so it's a logical sacrifice to make.

I'd rather have it right than super speedy (and sitting out on a shelf half the damn day).

Exactly most customers' point of view–forget to take pickles off a sandwich, and the person might call up and complain, and then you have to comp them a sandwich. Forget an entire sandwich, yeah, you're definitely going to hear back.

If the wait is six minutes the customer will probably forget by the time they make it to their driveway.

There are exceptions, of course. I have 30 minutes for lunch at work, and I've had to politely inform the manager that I'll either need my food immediately or my money back, because if it takes too much longer I won't have any time left to actually eat the food before I go back to work.

I find most fast food places to be, well, reasonably fast.  Among the slower places around here:

McDonald's, especially at breakfast.  McDonald's made a move on the hipster coffee Starbucks market and otherwise over-expanded its menu, which leads to long waits as complex coffee based drinks are made. 

KFC.  The KFC outlets around here seem to hire people with limitations that would prevent work elsewhere.  Slow and disorganized.

Captain D's.  The food has to be made to order by its nature, and you know that going in.

Bojangles.  Again similar to KFC.  Slow and disorganized.  Many limited employees. 

Popeye's is one of the faster fried chicken outlets...again, provided they're not out of chicken.

The slowest is Harold's Chicken Shack.  I think I once waited an hour for my order, although that was in the middle of the lunch rush at their Loop location.

Quote from: Scott5114 on April 04, 2018, 01:35:06 AM
There are exceptions, of course. I have 30 minutes for lunch at work, and I've had to politely inform the manager that I'll either need my food immediately or my money back, because if it takes too much longer I won't have any time left to actually eat the food before I go back to work.

I used to run into that problem, but fortunately, I get the option of taking an hour now, which I exploit when I decide to buy lunch.
Most people here with half an hour lunch will use all 30 minutes getting their food and then eat it on the job. But (from another post of yours) it doesn't sound like you have that option.

Fast: premade sandwich from the deli counter at Safeway.  Fast, but been sitting there for a long time.

Fastest around here is Jack in the Box; but about the only thing I order from them is a few orders of their (presently) $1.19/2 taco item (one of my guiltiest pleasures!).  Usually use the drive-through; even when I'm the only car in line, it takes usually less than 2 minutes waiting at the window (maybe 50 yards from the ordering location) before I've got a bag of tacos and a couple dozen packets of hot sauce (they pass them out by the fistful!).  Generally the process is 3-4 minutes total; a bit longer when there are cars in front of me. 

Quote from: webny99 on April 04, 2018, 01:40:25 PM

Quote from: Scott5114 on April 04, 2018, 01:35:06 AM
There are exceptions, of course. I have 30 minutes for lunch at work, and I've had to politely inform the manager that I'll either need my food immediately or my money back, because if it takes too much longer I won't have any time left to actually eat the food before I go back to work.

I used to run into that problem, but fortunately, I get the option of taking an hour now, which I exploit when I decide to buy lunch.
Most people here with half an hour lunch will use all 30 minutes getting their food and then eat it on the job. But (from another post of yours) it doesn't sound like you have that option.

Absolutely not–for a while there I wasn't allowed to have tape at my workstation, much less a cheeseburger!

It wouldn't be much of a good idea even if it were allowed, since my job is nothing but handling cash, so it wouldn't be sanitary to try to eat while working.

Locally, Dairy Queen I would say is glacial, and that is for an ice cream order of some kind, I'd never have enough time for a burger or something.

Arbies is slow, even for a shake at 3 in the afternoon.  I know their fish sandwiches aren't cooked till you order one, and that's fine, I LOVE 'em and they're worth the wait.

I actually think going into Subway is worthwhile, not that much longer and always an excellent sub.

As for our local McDonalds (drive thru only, never go in) they're faster than Arbies, but for reasons I cannot fathom, are cursed with the inability to chuck out even an easy order with out a mistake of some kind.  Recently had a Rolo McFlurry sans the caramel sauce, time before paid with a 20, received change for a 10, time before vanilla shake cup was barely 1/2 full.  Have heard from friends their recent double order station drive thru frequently results in wrong car getting wrong order.  Hasn't happened to me yet.  Same franchisee owns another McDonalds outlet about 10 miles further away and any time I've been to that one they've been fast enough and haven't mangled the order.  No idea how that happens . . .

Quote from: SP Cook on April 04, 2018, 10:38:15 AMMcDonald's made a move on the hipster coffee Starbucks market and otherwise over-expanded its menu, which leads to long waits as complex coffee based drinks are made.

In the UK, it's ad campaigns are about it not being like that

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kra1eWAiKvE

The again, they still have 8 options for hot coffee: https://www.mcdonalds.com/gb/en-gb/menu/mccafe.html

Quote from: Scott5114 on April 04, 2018, 11:04:32 PM
Absolutely not–for a while there I wasn't allowed to have tape at my workstation, much less a cheeseburger!

It wouldn't be much of a good idea even if it were allowed, since my job is nothing but handling cash, so it wouldn't be sanitary to try to eat while working.

Funny, because we have to use tape  :-D

Eating on the job may not be ideal no matter the specifics of your job... but sanitation isn't probably as high on the priority list for most people around here.

Quote from: Jardine on April 05, 2018, 12:10:12 AM
Arbies is slow, even for a shake at 3 in the afternoon.  I know their fish sandwiches aren't cooked till you order one, and that's fine, I LOVE 'em and they're worth the wait.

Totally agree... I actually like Arby's, but they're typically very slow even at the best of times.
Also, I enjoyed your hilarious spelling of it  ;-)

Quote from: jakeroot on April 03, 2018, 04:26:59 AM
The slowest place is definitely Five Guys, although you could argue they aren't fast food.

They aren't fast food, and I don't know of anyone around here who considers them to be fast food. I think the lack of table service gives people the illusion of fast food, but there's simply no comparison between Five Guys and a precooked Wendys/McDonalds/BK burger.

Quote from: AlexandriaVA on April 05, 2018, 04:40:35 PM

Quote from: jakeroot on April 03, 2018, 04:26:59 AM
The slowest place is definitely Five Guys, although you could argue they aren't fast food.

They aren't fast food, and I don't know of anyone around here who considers them to be fast food. I think the lack of table service gives people the illusion of fast food, but there's simply no comparison between Five Guys and a precooked Wendys/McDonalds/BK burger.

That's true. I think similarly of places like Subway and Panera Bread (they aren't formal sit-down restaurants, but they don't have everything a typical fast food place has such as drive-thrus). These places fall somewhere in between formal sit-down restaurants and fast food restaurants, but I'm not sure of the terminology of what we call them. And actually (while off-topic), interestingly, in my town (Dalton, GA), the Five Guys and Panera Bread here share the same building (which is off of GA SR 52 a little ways from I-75's Exit 333).

Quote from: adventurernumber1 on April 05, 2018, 04:54:55 PM

Quote from: AlexandriaVA on April 05, 2018, 04:40:35 PM

Quote from: jakeroot on April 03, 2018, 04:26:59 AM
The slowest place is definitely Five Guys, although you could argue they aren't fast food.

They aren't fast food, and I don't know of anyone around here who considers them to be fast food. I think the lack of table service gives people the illusion of fast food, but there's simply no comparison between Five Guys and a precooked Wendys/McDonalds/BK burger.

That's true. I think similarly of places like Subway and Panera Bread (they aren't formal sit-down restaurants, but they don't have everything a typical fast food place has such as drive-thrus). These places fall somewhere in between formal sit-down restaurants and fast food restaurants, but I'm not sure of the terminology of what we call them. And actually (while off-topic), interestingly, in my town (Dalton, GA), the Five Guys and Panera Bread here share the same building (which is off of GA SR 52 a little ways from I-75's Exit 333).

Places like Five Guys, Chipotle, Panera, etc are considered "fast casual" restaurants.

Jimmy John's has your sandwich done before you finish ordering it.  :bigass:

Quote from: webny99 on April 05, 2018, 04:16:55 PM

Quote from: Scott5114 on April 04, 2018, 11:04:32 PM
Absolutely not–for a while there I wasn't allowed to have tape at my workstation, much less a cheeseburger!

It wouldn't be much of a good idea even if it were allowed, since my job is nothing but handling cash, so it wouldn't be sanitary to try to eat while working.

Funny, because we have to use tape  :-D

The implication was that we could tape $100 bills to ourselves and sneak them out.

Likewise, the reason why a cheeseburger would not be allowed would be because we could put a $100 bill under the bun and sneak it out.

Staples are not allowed, but for a much more boring reason–they annoy the accounting department.

Quote from: Jordanes on April 05, 2018, 06:09:32 PM
Jimmy John's has your sandwich done before you finish ordering it.  :bigass:

Unfortunately it's a bland, boring sandwich made by a company whose founder gets his jollies shooting rhinos.

Quote from: abefroman329 on April 06, 2018, 10:00:31 AM

Quote from: Jordanes on April 05, 2018, 06:09:32 PM
Jimmy John's has your sandwich done before you finish ordering it.  :bigass:

Unfortunately it's a bland, boring sandwich made by a company whose founder gets his jollies shooting rhinos.

And overpriced for what you get. I tried them several years ago and was unimpressed.

Quote from: hbelkins on April 06, 2018, 11:23:33 AM

Quote from: abefroman329 on April 06, 2018, 10:00:31 AM

Quote from: Jordanes on April 05, 2018, 06:09:32 PM
Jimmy John's has your sandwich done before you finish ordering it.  :bigass:

Unfortunately it's a bland, boring sandwich made by a company whose founder gets his jollies shooting rhinos.

And overpriced for what you get. I tried them several years ago and was unimpressed.

Same here.  My biggest problem is they have one type of cheese: Provolone.  Why do they limit themselves to that? 

Fastest fast food consistently is chick-fil-a. And employees are usually very nice. I do get annoyed with the "my pleasure" required response to thank you.

Slowest is Krystal by far

Z981

Quote from: jeffandnicole on April 06, 2018, 11:34:54 AM

Quote from: hbelkins on April 06, 2018, 11:23:33 AM

Quote from: abefroman329 on April 06, 2018, 10:00:31 AM

Quote from: Jordanes on April 05, 2018, 06:09:32 PM
Jimmy John's has your sandwich done before you finish ordering it.  :bigass:

Unfortunately it's a bland, boring sandwich made by a company whose founder gets his jollies shooting rhinos.

And overpriced for what you get. I tried them several years ago and was unimpressed.

Same here.  My biggest problem is they have one type of cheese: Provolone.  Why do they limit themselves to that?

I'm almost positive that Subway only had white American* cheese when they first opened.  They're doing just fine.

*No need to tell me that American cheese is white in its natural state and they have to dye it yellow; therefore, it's improper to call it "white American cheese" and "American cheese" when it should be "American cheese" and "yellow American cheese."  I've already been told that.

OT:  I really dislike the preachy-ness of Subway and Panera.  Subway, like most any place, has a few "lighter" options, but the majority of its menu is filled with white bread, oils, cheese, and heavy dressings.  That is fine, but shut up with all the lose weight crap.  Panera, which plies the "natural means good" fraud tells me that is food is "clean" (despite the vastly greater likelihood that its food is contaminated over properly processed and treated food) and implies that other food is somehow "dirty".  All food has been regulated and thus, in the absence of a mistake, "clean" since the Roosevelt administration.  The Teddy Roosevelt administration. 

Quote from: abefroman329 on April 06, 2018, 12:59:53 PM
I'm almost positive that Subway only had white American* cheese when they first opened.  They're doing just fine.

Jimmie Johns didn't just open.

And for what it's worth, both chains exist and do well in areas where there's no great delis.  Both of them thrive in areas where there's no decent alternative.

Quote from: jwolfer on April 06, 2018, 12:30:28 PM
Fastest fast food consistently is chick-fil-a. And employees are usually very nice. I do get annoyed with the "my pleasure" required response to thank you.

They may have done away with that. I had Chick-Fil-A Tuesday night, and there was no "my pleasure" to be heard. And I was waiting for  and expecting it.

I did hear it somewhere else recently. I think possibly at a Zaxby's.

Do I ever miss Zaxby's.  They opened a Raisin' Cane's in my neighborhood, but it's just not the same.

Quote from: MNHighwayMan on April 05, 2018, 05:25:11 PM

Quote from: adventurernumber1 on April 05, 2018, 04:54:55 PM

Quote from: AlexandriaVA on April 05, 2018, 04:40:35 PM

Quote from: jakeroot on April 03, 2018, 04:26:59 AM
The slowest place is definitely Five Guys, although you could argue they aren't fast food.

They aren't fast food, and I don't know of anyone around here who considers them to be fast food. I think the lack of table service gives people the illusion of fast food, but there's simply no comparison between Five Guys and a precooked Wendys/McDonalds/BK burger.

That's true. I think similarly of places like Subway and Panera Bread (they aren't formal sit-down restaurants, but they don't have everything a typical fast food place has such as drive-thrus). These places fall somewhere in between formal sit-down restaurants and fast food restaurants, but I'm not sure of the terminology of what we call them. And actually (while off-topic), interestingly, in my town (Dalton, GA), the Five Guys and Panera Bread here share the same building (which is off of GA SR 52 a little ways from I-75's Exit 333).

Places like Five Guys, Chipotle, Panera, etc are considered "fast casual" restaurants.

Oh okay. I recognize that term now, but for some reason it had disappeared from my memory until you said that.  :-D

Thanks for the information!  :nod:  :thumbsup:

Quote from: AlexandriaVA on April 05, 2018, 04:40:35 PM

Quote from: jakeroot on April 03, 2018, 04:26:59 AM
The slowest place is definitely Five Guys, although you could argue they aren't fast food.

They aren't fast food, and I don't know of anyone around here who considers them to be fast food. I think the lack of table service gives people the illusion of fast food, but there's simply no comparison between Five Guys and a precooked Wendys/McDonalds/BK burger.

The difference is the preparation style, not the speed. Perhaps it takes slightly longer than a Wendy's or BK burger, but it still comes out of the kitchen the moment the meal is ready, which is the primary difference between it and sit-down table service restaurants (which might delay your food so they don't feel like they're rushing you).

As far as I'm concerned, Five Guys is plenty fast enough. It's still way faster than sitting down at Red Robin or Olive Garden. If Five Guys is too long of a wait for you, consider giving yourself more time for lunch.

I went to a Five Guys for the first time tonight and thought the food was pretty good, the service wasn't bad either. It seems like it takes awhile but it wasn't too bad to me.

Love Five Guys.  Better than In-N-Out.

Thoughts on these:

1. McDonald's has both fast and slow stores - seems to vary by  location (and presumably the people that own the franchise for that location).

2.  Five Guys is good, but not that fast, because I believe everything there is cooked to order.

3. Sonic is pretty good, and the service times seem consistent. 

4. In-N-Out has the best burgers and fries to be found in fast food land, but they can get rather slow when there are a lot of customers in line (in other words, they do not seem to be able to speed things up when a lot of people show up, perhaps due to how the line works in the stores). But people do not seem to mind waiting for In-N-Out, and I don't either.

5. Wendy's and Roy Rogers are similar in many ways.  They are usually pretty  fast, though there are times at certain stores (especially Wendy's - where things re extremely slow).  But Wendy's and Roy Rogers are consistently good at what they sell, rather like In-N-Out. 

Quote from: MNHighwayMan on April 05, 2018, 05:25:11 PM

Quote from: adventurernumber1 on April 05, 2018, 04:54:55 PM

Quote from: AlexandriaVA on April 05, 2018, 04:40:35 PM

Quote from: jakeroot on April 03, 2018, 04:26:59 AM
The slowest place is definitely Five Guys, although you could argue they aren't fast food.

They aren't fast food, and I don't know of anyone around here who considers them to be fast food. I think the lack of table service gives people the illusion of fast food, but there's simply no comparison between Five Guys and a precooked Wendys/McDonalds/BK burger.

That's true. I think similarly of places like Subway and Panera Bread (they aren't formal sit-down restaurants, but they don't have everything a typical fast food place has such as drive-thrus). These places fall somewhere in between formal sit-down restaurants and fast food restaurants, but I'm not sure of the terminology of what we call them. And actually (while off-topic), interestingly, in my town (Dalton, GA), the Five Guys and Panera Bread here share the same building (which is off of GA SR 52 a little ways from I-75's Exit 333).

Places like Five Guys, Chipotle, Panera, etc are considered "fast casual" restaurants.

So is Applebee's. I've heard that term used for them many times.

Not sure if it would also apply to similar restaurants like Chili's, O'Charley's, etc.

I'm no Applebee's fan, but I do like Chili's. I've only eaten at O'Charley's a couple of times, and it was OK.

Never had Ruby Tuesday's. I'm drawing a blank on the names of other, similar restaurants.

Quote from: hbelkins on April 07, 2018, 07:50:58 PM

Quote from: MNHighwayMan on April 05, 2018, 05:25:11 PM

Quote from: adventurernumber1 on April 05, 2018, 04:54:55 PM

Quote from: AlexandriaVA on April 05, 2018, 04:40:35 PM

Quote from: jakeroot on April 03, 2018, 04:26:59 AM
The slowest place is definitely Five Guys, although you could argue they aren't fast food.

They aren't fast food, and I don't know of anyone around here who considers them to be fast food. I think the lack of table service gives people the illusion of fast food, but there's simply no comparison between Five Guys and a precooked Wendys/McDonalds/BK burger.

That's true. I think similarly of places like Subway and Panera Bread (they aren't formal sit-down restaurants, but they don't have everything a typical fast food place has such as drive-thrus). These places fall somewhere in between formal sit-down restaurants and fast food restaurants, but I'm not sure of the terminology of what we call them. And actually (while off-topic), interestingly, in my town (Dalton, GA), the Five Guys and Panera Bread here share the same building (which is off of GA SR 52 a little ways from I-75's Exit 333).

Places like Five Guys, Chipotle, Panera, etc are considered "fast casual" restaurants.

So is Applebee's. I've heard that term used for them many times.

Not sure if it would also apply to similar restaurants like Chili's, O'Charley's, etc.

I'm no Applebee's fan, but I do like Chili's. I've only eaten at O'Charley's a couple of times, and it was OK.

Never had Ruby Tuesday's. I'm drawing a blank on the names of other, similar restaurants.

Applebee's and Chili's are both full restaurants.

Quote from: 1 on April 07, 2018, 07:52:36 PM

Quote from: hbelkins on April 07, 2018, 07:50:58 PM

Quote from: MNHighwayMan on April 05, 2018, 05:25:11 PM
Places like Five Guys, Chipotle, Panera, etc are considered "fast casual" restaurants.

So is Applebee's. I've heard that term used for them many times.

Not sure if it would also apply to similar restaurants like Chili's, O'Charley's, etc.

I'm no Applebee's fan, but I do like Chili's. I've only eaten at O'Charley's a couple of times, and it was OK.

Never had Ruby Tuesday's. I'm drawing a blank on the names of other, similar restaurants.

Applebee's and Chili's are both full restaurants.

Yes. One of the differences between fast casual places and full restaurants is that while both make your food to order, the former does not have assigned seating/waited tables while the latter does.

Quote from: MNHighwayMan on April 07, 2018, 08:33:26 PM

Quote from: 1 on April 07, 2018, 07:52:36 PM

Quote from: hbelkins on April 07, 2018, 07:50:58 PM

Quote from: MNHighwayMan on April 05, 2018, 05:25:11 PM
Places like Five Guys, Chipotle, Panera, etc are considered "fast casual" restaurants.

So is Applebee's. I've heard that term used for them many times.

Not sure if it would also apply to similar restaurants like Chili's, O'Charley's, etc.

I'm no Applebee's fan, but I do like Chili's. I've only eaten at O'Charley's a couple of times, and it was OK.

Never had Ruby Tuesday's. I'm drawing a blank on the names of other, similar restaurants.

Applebee's and Chili's are both full restaurants.

Yes. One of the differences between fast casual places and full restaurants is that while both make your food to order, the former does not have assigned seating/waited tables while the latter does.

Applebee's etc are "quick service" restaurants I think

Z981

Quote from: jwolfer on April 07, 2018, 10:48:31 PM

Quote from: MNHighwayMan on April 07, 2018, 08:33:26 PM

Quote from: 1 on April 07, 2018, 07:52:36 PM

Quote from: hbelkins on April 07, 2018, 07:50:58 PM

Quote from: MNHighwayMan on April 05, 2018, 05:25:11 PM
Places like Five Guys, Chipotle, Panera, etc are considered "fast casual" restaurants.

So is Applebee's. I've heard that term used for them many times.

Not sure if it would also apply to similar restaurants like Chili's, O'Charley's, etc.

I'm no Applebee's fan, but I do like Chili's. I've only eaten at O'Charley's a couple of times, and it was OK.

Never had Ruby Tuesday's. I'm drawing a blank on the names of other, similar restaurants.

Applebee's and Chili's are both full restaurants.

Yes. One of the differences between fast casual places and full restaurants is that while both make your food to order, the former does not have assigned seating/waited tables while the latter does.

Applebee's etc are "quick service" restaurants I think

Z981

Applebee's is not fast food.  Period.

Applebee's does not serve edible food in any matter.  Period.

Quote from: Rothman on April 07, 2018, 10:49:58 PM

Quote from: jwolfer on April 07, 2018, 10:48:31 PM

Quote from: MNHighwayMan on April 07, 2018, 08:33:26 PM

Quote from: 1 on April 07, 2018, 07:52:36 PM

Quote from: hbelkins on April 07, 2018, 07:50:58 PM

Quote from: MNHighwayMan on April 05, 2018, 05:25:11 PM
Places like Five Guys, Chipotle, Panera, etc are considered "fast casual" restaurants.

So is Applebee's. I've heard that term used for them many times.

Not sure if it would also apply to similar restaurants like Chili's, O'Charley's, etc.

I'm no Applebee's fan, but I do like Chili's. I've only eaten at O'Charley's a couple of times, and it was OK.

Never had Ruby Tuesday's. I'm drawing a blank on the names of other, similar restaurants.

Applebee's and Chili's are both full restaurants.

Yes. One of the differences between fast casual places and full restaurants is that while both make your food to order, the former does not have assigned seating/waited tables while the latter does.

Applebee's etc are "quick service" restaurants I think

Z981

Applebee's is not fast food.  Period.

Applebee's does not serve edible food in any matter.  Period.

I'm pretty sure that Applebee's would fall under Casual dining.

A Fast casual place is something like a Panera Bread or Five Guys.

I have only ever categorised restaurants into two groups: fast food, and sit-down. All this talk about "quick service" and "casual dining" seems unnecessarily specific.

Quote from: jakeroot on April 07, 2018, 11:20:29 PM
I have only ever categorised restaurants into two groups: fast food, and sit-down. All this talk about "quick service" and "casual dining" seems unnecessarily specific.

I wouldn't think of Five Guys or Panera Bread as either fast food or sit down really.

Quote from: Flint1979 on April 07, 2018, 11:22:19 PM

Quote from: jakeroot on April 07, 2018, 11:20:29 PM
I have only ever categorised restaurants into two groups: fast food, and sit-down. All this talk about "quick service" and "casual dining" seems unnecessarily specific.

I wouldn't think of Five Guys or Panera Bread as either fast food or sit down really.

...Right, which is precisely why the term "fast casual" came into being. It's a restaurant that serves food relatively quickly, though somewhat slower than typical "fast food," yet there's also no wait staff or any of the other formalities of a typical restaurant.

Quote from: MNHighwayMan on April 07, 2018, 11:36:20 PM

Quote from: Flint1979 on April 07, 2018, 11:22:19 PM

Quote from: jakeroot on April 07, 2018, 11:20:29 PM
I have only ever categorised restaurants into two groups: fast food, and sit-down. All this talk about "quick service" and "casual dining" seems unnecessarily specific.

I wouldn't think of Five Guys or Panera Bread as either fast food or sit down really.

...Right, which is precisely why the term "fast casual" came into being. It's a restaurant that serves food relatively quickly, though somewhat slower than typical "fast food," yet there's also no wait staff or any of the other formalities of a typical restaurant.

I understand the minor differences between fast casual and fast food, but fast casual is still just a variation of fast food. The same way a liftback is still a hatchback. I just don't get as specific as some seem to.

Quote from: Flint1979 on April 07, 2018, 12:19:28 AM
I went to a Five Guys for the first time tonight and thought the food was pretty good, the service wasn't bad either. It seems like it takes awhile but it wasn't too bad to me.

I found it to not only be unmemorable but incredibly expensive for the type of restaurant it is. I'd rather spend that kind of money at somewhere that warrants it.

Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on April 08, 2018, 01:18:32 AM

Quote from: Flint1979 on April 07, 2018, 12:19:28 AM
I went to a Five Guys for the first time tonight and thought the food was pretty good, the service wasn't bad either. It seems like it takes awhile but it wasn't too bad to me.

I found it to not only be unmemorable but incredibly expensive for the type of restaurant it is. I'd rather spend that kind of money at somewhere that warrants it.

I found it to be very expensive as well but the food was good so I didn't complain but it's not a place I'm going to frequent so I guess it had to do. My friend I was with bought it I was on my way home from Detroit and we drove around for awhile and couldn't decide on what we wanted to eat. We only were going as far south as 8 Mile so I didn't want to really trek into the city during rush hour. But we ended up at a Five Guys in Auburn Hills, Michigan and it seemed to be pretty steady for business on a Friday night not sure how busy they are at other times.

Quote from: MNHighwayMan on April 07, 2018, 11:36:20 PM

Quote from: Flint1979 on April 07, 2018, 11:22:19 PM

Quote from: jakeroot on April 07, 2018, 11:20:29 PM
I have only ever categorised restaurants into two groups: fast food, and sit-down. All this talk about "quick service" and "casual dining" seems unnecessarily specific.

I wouldn't think of Five Guys or Panera Bread as either fast food or sit down really.

...Right, which is precisely why the term "fast casual" came into being. It's a restaurant that serves food relatively quickly, though somewhat slower than typical "fast food," yet there's also no wait staff or any of the other formalities of a typical restaurant.

Culver's is another one and has some real good food. You just get your order and go sit down and wait for it to be made.

Quote from: jakeroot on April 08, 2018, 12:07:27 AM

Quote from: MNHighwayMan on April 07, 2018, 11:36:20 PM

Quote from: Flint1979 on April 07, 2018, 11:22:19 PM

Quote from: jakeroot on April 07, 2018, 11:20:29 PM
I have only ever categorised restaurants into two groups: fast food, and sit-down. All this talk about "quick service" and "casual dining" seems unnecessarily specific.

I wouldn't think of Five Guys or Panera Bread as either fast food or sit down really.

...Right, which is precisely why the term "fast casual" came into being. It's a restaurant that serves food relatively quickly, though somewhat slower than typical "fast food," yet there's also no wait staff or any of the other formalities of a typical restaurant.

I understand the minor differences between fast casual and fast food, but fast casual is still just a variation of fast food. The same way a liftback is still a hatchback. I just don't get as specific as some seem to.

Fast food is like McDonald's, Wendy's or Burger King where you just wait at the counter for your food and it's usually pretty quick. Fast casual is like Culver's, Panera Bread or Five Guys where you put in your order at the counter and go sit down and wait for it to be made, I can't remember if Five Guys or Panera Bread brings it out to you but Culver's does.

Quote from: Flint1979 on April 08, 2018, 01:53:55 AM

Quote from: jakeroot on April 08, 2018, 12:07:27 AM

Quote from: MNHighwayMan on April 07, 2018, 11:36:20 PM

Quote from: Flint1979 on April 07, 2018, 11:22:19 PM

Quote from: jakeroot on April 07, 2018, 11:20:29 PM
I have only ever categorised restaurants into two groups: fast food, and sit-down. All this talk about "quick service" and "casual dining" seems unnecessarily specific.

I wouldn't think of Five Guys or Panera Bread as either fast food or sit down really.

...Right, which is precisely why the term "fast casual" came into being. It's a restaurant that serves food relatively quickly, though somewhat slower than typical "fast food," yet there's also no wait staff or any of the other formalities of a typical restaurant.

I understand the minor differences between fast casual and fast food, but fast casual is still just a variation of fast food. The same way a liftback is still a hatchback. I just don't get as specific as some seem to.

Fast food is like McDonald's, Wendy's or Burger King where you just wait at the counter for your food and it's usually pretty quick. Fast casual is like Culver's, Panera Bread or Five Guys where you put in your order at the counter and go sit down and wait for it to be made, I can't remember if Five Guys or Panera Bread brings it out to you but Culver's does.

I think Panera does, but Five Guys definitely doesn't. On the other hand, Carl's Jr/Hardee's and Chick-fil-A also bring your food to your table, and most consider them "fast food". These discrepancies are why I prefer to use either "fast food" or "sit-down". Every restaurant, be it fast food or sit-down, has it's own little way of operating. The important differentiating feature between sit-down and fast food really should just be whether or not your food is prepared immediately after you order it, and is given to you the moment it's finished...or not. This is how everything from Five Guys to BK to Panera to Wendy's operates. On the other hand, virtually all sit-down restaurants delay your food in some capacity, bring out appetizers and menus, and so on.

I'm not trying to argue that the term "fast casual" shouldn't exist. I'm just saying that it's not an equal term with "fast food" or "sit-down". It's subordinate to "fast food". Five Guys and Panera are "fast casual fast food", if you will.

Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on April 08, 2018, 01:18:32 AM

Quote from: Flint1979 on April 07, 2018, 12:19:28 AM
I went to a Five Guys for the first time tonight and thought the food was pretty good, the service wasn't bad either. It seems like it takes awhile but it wasn't too bad to me.

I found it to not only be unmemorable but incredibly expensive for the type of restaurant it is. I'd rather spend that kind of money at somewhere that warrants it.

Such as?

What throws me about Five Guys is the menu being a bit complicated, just putting one of their big burgers together. Some items are listed in red. Some listed in black. There's one on West 34th Street, a block west of Madison Square Garden/Penn Station. Pretty pricey as one would expect. It was good though! I was on the grounds of one in South Portland, ME last year. Took a pass on it. Just on Maine Mall Road alone you have them, Friendly's, Wendy's and a couple of others.

I like Five Guys, although I would prefer that their fries be less soggy/floppy and more crunchy/crisp. (I once heard a rant about the word "crispy" and why it should not exist, because "crisp" means the same thing with one less letter.) It is expensive, which is why the novelty has worn off a bit for me since the first time I dined there.

I've discovered that a number of places have burgers just as good as Five Guys, and usually less expensive (Culver's and Cook Out.)

I have yet to experience In N Out. I'm not impressed whatsoever with Smashburger or Whataburger.

Whataburger was ok not something I was overly impressed with though. I was in Austin and saw one and had heard about it so I tried it. Like I said it was alright nothing special really though.

McDonalds- extremely face

Taco Bell- fairly fast

Wendys- in-between

Taco Bell or anything else- so and so

Quote from: jakeroot on April 08, 2018, 02:28:28 AM
I think Panera does, but Five Guys definitely doesn't.

I've seen both with Panera, but having the food brought to the table has been much more common in my travels.

Quote from: Rothman on April 07, 2018, 10:49:58 PM
Applebee's is not fast food.  Period.

Applebee's does not serve edible food in any matter.  Period.

I am not a major fan of Applebee's, but on the other hand, I have not experienced a bad meal there either. 

Maybe not great, but not bad (and I have patronized them from coast-to-coast at times).

I don't get what is so bad about Applebee's. Anytime I've been to one they've seemed to be alright and they are usually busy. I wouldn't want to work at one though.

Applebee's is great if you want to eat microwaved food in a sit-down restaurant atmosphere.

^Similar to Olive Garden.  While there's no question that it's sit down, as opposed to fast food or even fast-casual; the concept of shitty microwaved food played off and presented to be an authentic home cooked meal is the same.  I avoid both it and Applebee's unless absolutely necessary.

Glad someone brought up Olive Garden.  Knew a "cook" there that confirmed that all they did was warm up frozen meals shipped to them.

And yet, it remains one of the most popular restaurants here in upstate NY. *sigh*

Quote from: Rothman on April 09, 2018, 02:00:30 PM
Glad someone brought up Olive Garden.  Knew a "cook" there that confirmed that all they did was warm up frozen meals shipped to them.

And yet, it remains one of the most popular restaurants here in upstate NY. *sigh*

That is the absolute truth.  I know several former employees of Olive Garden; notice how all the ones that I know are former employees.  Its popularity in northern NJ makes me scratch my head too.  It's not like we're short on real Italian places around these parts.  That's the same way that I feel about Dominos or Pizza Hut here in northern NJ, but I'm straying OT.

I've never had Olive Garden, and I don't really have a desire to, either. Second comments that Applebees is overrated. Sit-down and high-quality were once synonyms, but they seem to be straying apart these days.

---

Back on topic...
KFC is often slow. They don't strike me as true "fast food"... more in the "fast casual" camp. It's one of those places where the drive-thru is mostly for lazy customers, since there will always be somewhat of a wait.

Arby's seems to be struggling to find their niche, and don't seem to be marketing successfully. Never busy, yet the wait time is still atrocious - never a good sign for "fast food". I actually like a lot of their menu items (curly fries, vanilka shakes, etc.) but they aren't really a top player in the fast food industry, and I wouldn't be surprised if they're on the skids in the long-term.

Dunkin Donuts is pretty good, but when you consider how small most orders are (coffee, coolatta, donuts) then they could definitely expedite things even more. Tim Hortons surprisingly has them beat for fast-moving lines, but then again Tim's doesn't get the volume that Dunkin does.

I, for one, try to prevent the cashier from having to make change (either pay by card or with exact change). I often wonder how fast lines would move if everyone paid exact change. Some mornings at Dunkin I exchange my $3.01 for my iced coffee without even coming to a complete stop. :-P

I paid $85 (including tip) for a frozen meal at Olive Garden for me and my family?  Wow.  I don't think I will be going back there.

Quote from: webny99 on April 09, 2018, 07:47:47 PM
Arby's seems to be struggling to find their niche, and don't seem to be marketing successfully. Never busy, yet the wait time is still atrocious - never a good sign for "fast food". I actually like a lot of their menu items (curly fries, vanilka shakes, etc.) but they aren't really a top player in the fast food industry, and I wouldn't be surprised if they're on the skids in the long-term.

Last couple times I've been to an Arby's it was packed (both inside and the drive-thru) and while of course that meant there was a bit of a wait for my order, it wasn't an unreasonable wait given the volume they were pushing.

Like all nationwide chain restaurants, the quality of service is going to be dictated by the franchisee and the competence of the management staff of each restaurant.

Quote from: webny99 on April 09, 2018, 07:47:47 PM
I, for one, try to prevent the cashier from having to make change (either pay by card or with exact change). I often wonder how fast lines would move if everyone paid exact change.

As a professional cashier, I can have 94¢ (the worst amount to have to hand out, as it involves all four denominations of coins) out of my drawer faster than most of our customers can find a single quarter. So "slower, probably" would be my answer. Granted, casino cashiers operate on a whole other level than fast-food cashiers, but even when I was a fast-food cashier I often wished people would pay with a round dollar amount so I could give them change and get to the next person, rather than watch them ineffectively pick through a handful of mixed change trying to be "helpful".

Keep in mind that most customers seem to have a vested interest in staring vapidly at the menu board for an unreasonable amount of time and not even bothering to get their money or credit card out until after they've arrived at the window and been told the total due the second time, as well.

Quote from: hbelkins on April 08, 2018, 03:22:17 PM
I like Five Guys, although I would prefer that their fries be less soggy/floppy and more crunchy/crisp. (I once heard a rant about the word "crispy" and why it should not exist, because "crisp" means the same thing with one less letter.) It is expensive, which is why the novelty has worn off a bit for me since the first time I dined there.

I've discovered that a number of places have burgers just as good as Five Guys, and usually less expensive (Culver's and Cook Out.)

I have yet to experience In N Out. I'm not impressed whatsoever with Smashburger or Whataburger.

Appreciate the comment about 5 Guys fries, I found them so soft and greasy as to be inedible.  Wondered if I am just too picky, or if there is an issue with their fries.

:wow:

I've personally never found such problems with the fries from Five Guys. And actually, the fries from there are among my favorites from restaurants. They might taste, look, or feel unusual, because IIRC, they are fried in peanut oil (like the chicken is from Chick-Fil-A). I love it, and a lot of times, the fries are actually quite crunchy and full of flavor. I may be in the minority, though, it seems.  :-D

Quote from: Jardine on April 10, 2018, 10:16:39 AM
Appreciate the comment about 5 Guys fries, I found them so soft and greasy as to be inedible.  Wondered if I am just too picky, or if there is an issue with their fries.

I think it's just the way they fix them. I read on one of those "secret menu" sites that you can ask for the fries to be well-done, which means they'll cook a bit longer.

I guess it varies based on location and personal preference, but I would take Five Guys fries over almost any.  Possibly the best order of fries I've had anywhere came from the Five Guys off Northway exit 15 in Wilton.

Quote from: MNHighwayMan on April 10, 2018, 04:13:50 AM
Last couple times I've been to an Arby's it was packed (both inside and the drive-thru) and while of course that meant there was a bit of a wait for my order, it wasn't an unreasonable wait given the volume they were pushing.

I just haven't been to a busy Arby's in a really long time. I'm not denying that they can be busy, but they sure don't seem to be around here. Not even comparable to the customer volume of, say McDonald's or even Wendy's.

Quote from: Scott5114 on April 10, 2018, 04:14:16 AM
As a professional cashier, I can have 94¢ (the worst amount to have to hand out, as it involves all four denominations of coins) out of my drawer faster than most of our customers can find a single quarter. So "slower, probably" would be my answer. Granted, casino cashiers operate on a whole other level than fast-food cashiers, but even when I was a fast-food cashier I often wished people would pay with a round dollar amount so I could give them change and get to the next person, rather than watch them ineffectively pick through a handful of mixed change trying to be "helpful".

Keep in mind that most customers seem to have a vested interest in staring vapidly at the menu board for an unreasonable amount of time and not even bothering to get their money or credit card out until after they've arrived at the window and been told the total due the second time, as well.

Cashiers (not you, of course  :-P) aren't always particularly on the ball either, though it's certainly helpful when they are. I always decide where I'm eating out strictly based on what I want to eat, so there's not really a lot of decision-making for me at the menu board. I also (1) pay attention to the total they give me when they take my order, and (2) keep change readily available, so as long as there's at least one car in front of me, I have time to collect it and get it ready before I even reach the window. If there's not, and I roll up and have to pick through change, it's a fairly rare case at a non-busy time period when seconds don't matter as much.

I sympathize with cashiers, in that they can do their best to expedite the line, but certain customers just aren't good at making decisions, finding change, etc., very quickly  :rolleyes:

I frequent Arby's more often than I should and my wife likes stopping there on road trips.  I can't remember having been at one that I'd call packed (maybe a couple of people ahead of us, but that's it).  In fact, more often than not, we are the only one in line.

Had a Five Guys burger just yesterday.  It was great.

Also, Shake Shack = In-N-Out in my book.

I'm an Arby's fan, dating back to when there was one on the surface-route portion of New Circle Road on the northeast side of Lexington that had the old style cowboy hat sign that can still be found in a few locations. We often ate there, or at a place called Lott's Roast Beef on North Broadway/Paris Pike (US 27/68) near the interstate. I'm not really fond of the curly (seasoned) fries, but I like the roast beef. Their chicken/bacon/swiss sandwiches are good as well.

Shake Shack opened in Lexington, but it's in a busy area off Nicholasville Road that I avoid at all costs because of the traffic and the crowds. Guess it will be awhile before I try them out unless I encounter one somewhere in my travels.

Quote from: webny99 on April 10, 2018, 12:17:03 PM

Quote from: MNHighwayMan on April 10, 2018, 04:13:50 AM
Last couple times I've been to an Arby's it was packed (both inside and the drive-thru) and while of course that meant there was a bit of a wait for my order, it wasn't an unreasonable wait given the volume they were pushing.

I just haven't been to a busy Arby's in a really long time. I'm not denying that they can be busy, but they sure don't seem to be around here. Not even comparable to the customer volume of, say McDonald's or even Wendy's.

Quote from: Scott5114 on April 10, 2018, 04:14:16 AM
As a professional cashier, I can have 94¢ (the worst amount to have to hand out, as it involves all four denominations of coins) out of my drawer faster than most of our customers can find a single quarter. So "slower, probably" would be my answer. Granted, casino cashiers operate on a whole other level than fast-food cashiers, but even when I was a fast-food cashier I often wished people would pay with a round dollar amount so I could give them change and get to the next person, rather than watch them ineffectively pick through a handful of mixed change trying to be "helpful".

Keep in mind that most customers seem to have a vested interest in staring vapidly at the menu board for an unreasonable amount of time and not even bothering to get their money or credit card out until after they've arrived at the window and been told the total due the second time, as well.

Cashiers (not you, of course  :-P) aren't always particularly on the ball either, though it's certainly helpful when they are. I always decide where I'm eating out strictly based on what I want to eat, so there's not really a lot of decision-making for me at the menu board. I also (1) pay attention to the total they give me when they take my order, and (2) keep change readily available, so as long as there's at least one car in front of me, I have time to collect it and get it ready before I even reach the window. If there's not, and I roll up and have to pick through change, it's a fairly rare case at a non-busy time period when seconds don't matter as much.

I sympathize with cashiers, in that they can do their best to expedite the line, but certain customers just aren't good at making decisions, finding change, etc., very quickly  :rolleyes:

I'll pull up experiences from my toll taking days, and echo Scott's comments.  Now, granted, on the NJ Turnpike we have the ticket system.  Working weekends when it was people that rarely used the Turnpike, they wouldn't comprehend the toll fares on the ticket (and this was before the tickets showed rates for all classes of vehicles!).  But, that said, for most people, they could easily pull out a $20 and hand that in with the ticket, or have it ready for when I tell them the amount.

Most people though would sit in traffic at the toll plaza. They pull up.  They don't have their ticket in their hand.  I ask them for their toll ticket.  They look around, finally find it, and hand it to me (twice, people handed me their speeding tickets! lol). I then tell them the amount.  They pull out their wallet and look for the money.  They'll count up their ones.  They finally pull out a $20 anyway because they didn't have enough ones.  They'll hand it to me.  I take the money, grab their change, and hand it back to them.  They don't take it, because they're still looking thru their cup holders trying to pull out the odd change they owed.  When they finally grab it and turn to me, I'm sitting there with their change in hand.  They give me the attitude of why am I in a hurry.  And then they'll also give the attitude of why are the toll lines so long.  Exhibit A: You! 

If you multiply this by every driver over and over again, you can see why toll lanes are so backed up sometimes.

Now, unless you have worked in a toll booth, you won't see nor understand the other side of things.  From a motorists' point of view, it's the toll taker that's slow.  But even if that motorist took that time to pull out their wallet, it would speed things up. If they took the time to pull the money out of their wallet, nearly half the wait time is gone.  Same thing in a store, or in a drive-thru.  People insist on waiting until they are at the window, or they're told the exact amount they owe, before they even reach for their money.

Of course, there's some awfully slow toll takers as well, no doubt about that.  But when you have a slow customer combined with a slow employee, you might as well set up camp for the night.  It's gonna be a while!

Quote from: hbelkins on April 10, 2018, 03:01:22 PM
Shake Shack opened in Lexington, but it's in a busy area off Nicholasville Road that I avoid at all costs because of the traffic and the crowds. Guess it will be awhile before I try them out unless I encounter one somewhere in my travels.

Find a time when traffic and crowds are not a concern.  Or fight the traffic and crowds.  It's worth the trip.

Quote from: jeffandnicole on April 10, 2018, 03:22:22 PM
Most people though would sit in traffic at the toll plaza. They pull up.  They don't have their ticket in their hand.  I ask them for their toll ticket.  They look around, finally find it, and hand it to me (twice, people handed me their speeding tickets! lol). I then tell them the amount.  They pull out their wallet and look for the money.  They'll count up their ones.  They finally pull out a $20 anyway because they didn't have enough ones.  They'll hand it to me.  I take the money, grab their change, and hand it back to them.  They don't take it, because they're still looking thru their cup holders trying to pull out the odd change they owed.  When they finally grab it and turn to me, I'm sitting there with their change in hand.  They give me the attitude of why am I in a hurry.  And then they'll also give the attitude of why are the toll lines so long.  Exhibit A: You!

Exactly this, even down to having the change out before they can get whatever they were hunting for out of their pocket. Most of the time they'll be rooting around for whatever change and look up and I'll have everything, change and bills, laid out on the counter for them. It's honestly faster to do that and then if they do find the coin they wanted, color it up to a bill afterward, because most of the time they can't find it.

One frustrating situation that you probably didn't have to deal with is when someone has several dollars in mixed change that they want to exchange for bills they can use, and they insist on holding it in their palm and picking the quarters out of it one by one. Just toss it on the counter and let me handle it–I do this nine hours a day, I can get everything counted, including your pennies so you are left with more quarters, faster than you can!

A few times I've had people give me the "why are you in such a hurry" attitude, to which I respond with "Our customers come to the casino to gamble, not to stand at the cashier cage," which you can't really argue with.

Quote from: webny99 on April 10, 2018, 12:17:03 PM
I always decide where I'm eating out strictly based on what I want to eat, so there's not really a lot of decision-making for me at the menu board. I also (1) pay attention to the total they give me when they take my order, and (2) keep change readily available, so as long as there's at least one car in front of me, I have time to collect it and get it ready before I even reach the window. If there's not, and I roll up and have to pick through change, it's a fairly rare case at a non-busy time period when seconds don't matter as much.

I sympathize with cashiers, in that they can do their best to expedite the line, but certain customers just aren't good at making decisions, finding change, etc., very quickly  :rolleyes:

You're an example of the right way to do it. I assure you that the staff at the Dunkin you visit regularly is happy that you help them get their drive-thru times down.

Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on April 08, 2018, 01:18:32 AM

Quote from: Flint1979 on April 07, 2018, 12:19:28 AM
I went to a Five Guys for the first time tonight and thought the food was pretty good, the service wasn't bad either. It seems like it takes awhile but it wasn't too bad to me.

I found it to not only be unmemorable but incredibly expensive for the type of restaurant it is. I'd rather spend that kind of money at somewhere that warrants it.

I agree.  Not fast enough to be fast food, not good enough to be casual dining.

To each his own, of course, but my burger and fries from Five Guys a bit earlier this evening were each top notch, and my $10 was well spent.

I also think the price equals the quality at Five Guys.  $7 is less expensive than a diner or crap chain, like Applebee's. :D

Quote from: Scott5114

Quote from: webny99
I always decide where I'm eating out strictly based on what I want to eat, so there's not really a lot of decision-making for me at the menu board. I also (1) pay attention to the total they give me when they take my order, and (2) keep change readily available, so as long as there's at least one car in front of me, I have time to collect it and get it ready before I even reach the window. If there's not, and I roll up and have to pick through change, it's a fairly rare case at a non-busy time period when seconds don't matter as much.

I sympathize with cashiers, in that they can do their best to expedite the line, but certain customers just aren't good at making decisions, finding change, etc., very quickly  :rolleyes:

You're an example of the right way to do it. I assure you that the staff at the Dunkin you visit regularly is happy that you help them get their drive-thru times down.

Well, thanks  :D

I should mention that there really isn't any one Dunkin I visit on a regular basis. My usual strategy is to find a Dunkin I haven't been to and then travel there (on a morning when I can fit it in), taking the opportunity to clinch new roads and get some highway mileage in. It's amazing how many Dunkin's (and Tim Hortons) there are within a 30 mile radius. I haven't exhausted them yet!

Of course, there are certainly still some I visit more than others; same applies to Wendy's and Taco Bell. The most conveniently located branch gets my business only when I don't have time for a more interesting alternative in terms of roadgeeking.

So, with all that said, maybe someday Dunkin employees statewide will be thanking me  :-D

Quote from: Rothman on April 10, 2018, 06:43:40 PM
I also think the price equals the quality at Five Guys.  $7 is less expensive than a diner or crap chain, like Applebee's. :D

I don't even have to pick sides here - I think both Five Guys and Applebees are overrated (and overpriced)  :-P

Can't beat Taco Bell (which, hey, is actually fast food!) when it comes to value.

Really.  You are going with Taco Bell.  The sludge factory.

Quote from: Rothman on April 10, 2018, 08:39:01 PM
Really.  You are going with Taco Bell.  The sludge factory.

The day they stopped offering nacho fries was almost the apocalypse. Crunchwraps are good. And you can't deny they have good value even if you want to call some stuff "sludge". $5 for two tacos, nacho fries, and a medium drink? I'm not complaining.

Quote from: webny99 on April 10, 2018, 08:50:19 PM

Quote from: Rothman on April 10, 2018, 08:39:01 PM
Really.  You are going with Taco Bell.  The sludge factory.

The day they stopped offering nacho fries was almost the apocalypse. Crunchwraps are good. And you can't deny they have good value even if you want to call some stuff "sludge". $5 for two tacos, nacho fries, and a medium drink? I'm not complaining.

They stopped selling nacho fries? It is indeed the apocalypse, my friend! That stuff was good, and it was an incredible deal. Taco Bell has a bad habit of getting you excited about these big deals and special items, but then it's hardly any time before they take them away.  :-(  :-D

I love Taco Bell. It may not be as good as authentic mexican food, but it suffices and impresses for a fast food restaurant, IMHO. And speaking of this thread, I believe that from my experience, Taco Bell is actually typically pretty fast in service as well.

However, I do have to laugh, and would have a hard time arguing with, the running joke online that the "worst job in the world" is the bathroom attendant at Taco Bell. Now that's pretty funny.  :paranoid:  :rofl:

People actually praising Taco Bell.  Reason #1,431 for why I am losing my faith in humanity.

I mean, Taco Bell is not remotely the same as legitimate Mexican food, but it's not meant to be, any more than McDonald's is meant to be the best of American food. You can get a tremendous amount of food for very little money, however, and it's not awful-tasting.

Fastest to slowest:

1. Wendys, Chic-fil-A (tie)
2. Dunkin' Donuts
3. Burger King
3. McDonalds (Super quick during rush hours, late nite is always slow near me.  Might be because they switch to made-to-order)
4. Dairy Queen (Only get ice cream there, but usually quick)
5. Sonic (car-hop service is reasonably fast, but MAN is drive-thru notoriously slow.  They are all made-to-order there I think and that may be why it can take a while sometimes)

Quote from: webny99 on April 10, 2018, 08:50:19 PM

Quote from: Rothman on April 10, 2018, 08:39:01 PM
Really.  You are going with Taco Bell.  The sludge factory.

The day they stopped offering nacho fries was almost the apocalypse. Crunchwraps are good. And you can't deny they have good value even if you want to call some stuff "sludge". $5 for two tacos, nacho fries, and a medium drink? I'm not complaining.

You're 18. 30 years from now when you are going steady with your Gastroenterologist you will be.  :sombrero:

Quote from: abefroman329 on April 10, 2018, 03:23:44 PM

Quote from: hbelkins on April 10, 2018, 03:01:22 PM
Shake Shack opened in Lexington, but it's in a busy area off Nicholasville Road that I avoid at all costs because of the traffic and the crowds. Guess it will be awhile before I try them out unless I encounter one somewhere in my travels.

Find a time when traffic and crowds are not a concern.  Or fight the traffic and crowds.  It's worth the trip.

Are they any different than Steak n Shake?

Quote from: adventurernumber1 on April 10, 2018, 09:06:11 PM
They stopped selling nacho fries? It is indeed the apocalypse, my friend! That stuff was good, and it was an incredible deal. Taco Bell has a bad habit of getting you excited about these big deals and special items, but then it's hardly any time before they take them away.  :-(  :-D

Yes, they did indeed  :rolleyes:
A lot of people I know were bummed. I was too, especially because I only got to enjoy them a few times  :-D

Quote from: Scott5114 on April 10, 2018, 11:26:56 PM
I mean, Taco Bell is not remotely the same as legitimate Mexican food, but it's not meant to be, any more than McDonald's is meant to be the best of American food. You can get a tremendous amount of food for very little money, however, and it's not awful-tasting.

QuoteI love Taco Bell. It may not be as good as authentic mexican food, but it suffices and impresses for a fast food restaurant, IMHO. And speaking of this thread, I believe that from my experience, Taco Bell is actually typically pretty fast in service as well.

Yeah, I agree with all that. Taco Bell isn't really fine dining, but it's very cheap for what you get, hence my comments about value. Also, it's not terrible-tasting (even though it doesn't compare to true Mexican food, or even Chipotle).

They also have some really good menu items that aren't even remotely related to Mexican food, such as Cinnabon Delights and Breakfast Crunchwraps.

Quote from: slorydn1 on April 11, 2018, 04:26:56 AM

Quote from: webny99 on April 10, 2018, 08:50:19 PM

Quote from: Rothman on April 10, 2018, 08:39:01 PM
Really.  You are going with Taco Bell.  The sludge factory.

The day they stopped offering nacho fries was almost the apocalypse. Crunchwraps are good. And you can't deny they have good value even if you want to call some stuff "sludge". $5 for two tacos, nacho fries, and a medium drink? I'm not complaining.

You're 18. 30 years from now when you are going steady with your Gastroenterologist you will be.  :sombrero:

Or your heart specialist.
:banghead:

Quote from: kkt on April 11, 2018, 12:39:10 PM

Quote from: slorydn1 on April 11, 2018, 04:26:56 AM

Quote from: webny99 on April 10, 2018, 08:50:19 PM

Quote from: Rothman on April 10, 2018, 08:39:01 PM
Really.  You are going with Taco Bell.  The sludge factory.

The day they stopped offering nacho fries was almost the apocalypse. Crunchwraps are good. And you can't deny they have good value even if you want to call some stuff "sludge". $5 for two tacos, nacho fries, and a medium drink? I'm not complaining.

You're 18. 30 years from now when you are going steady with your Gastroenterologist you will be.  :sombrero:

Or your heart specialist.
:banghead:

Just remember: The mortality rate of the healthiest 1% of the world's population: 100%.

Obviously, everything in moderation. 

Quote from: hbelkins on April 11, 2018, 10:27:28 AM

Quote from: abefroman329 on April 10, 2018, 03:23:44 PM

Quote from: hbelkins on April 10, 2018, 03:01:22 PM
Shake Shack opened in Lexington, but it's in a busy area off Nicholasville Road that I avoid at all costs because of the traffic and the crowds. Guess it will be awhile before I try them out unless I encounter one somewhere in my travels.

Find a time when traffic and crowds are not a concern.  Or fight the traffic and crowds.  It's worth the trip.

Are they any different than Steak n Shake?

Oh yes.  The burgers are cooked in a similar manner, but they're bigger and thicker.  The buns are also bigger and the toppings are fresher.  The fries are completely different, they're thick crinkle-cut fries and cooked longer than Steak 'n' Shake's.  Can't speak to the shakes, I'm not familiar enough with the shakes at either restaurant.

Shake Shack's shakes > Steak 'N Shake's shakes.

Decent burger at either place;  Shake Shack's burger is very much like In 'N Out, though.  Not sure which I like better between Shake Shack and Steak 'N Shake, though.  Five Guys beats them both, anyway.

I thought Shake Shack was exclusive to the NYC metro.  They're a national chain?

Quote from: RobbieL2415 on April 12, 2018, 12:35:53 AM
I thought Shake Shack was exclusive to the NYC metro.  They're a national chain?

They're definitely a chain. I don't know exactly how many locations they have, but it must be a good bit. I've been to two Shake Shacks. The first time, I went to a Shake Shack which is in the "Buckhead" (more affluent and fancier) section of downtown Atlanta, Georgia. I also went to Shake Shack when I was in New York City at the very beginning of 2015. From both of those experiences, I really, really enjoyed Shake Shack. The food was absolutely incredible (burgers, fries, everything I had). Unfortunately, I never had the chance to try their shakes, but I know for a fact they would have been amazing. My mouth is almost starting to water right now just thinking about Shake Shack.  :love:  :spin:

Quote from: RobbieL2415 on April 12, 2018, 12:35:53 AM
I thought Shake Shack was exclusive to the NYC metro.  They're a national chain?

When the hype hit a few years back, they took advantage and expanded:

https://www.shakeshack.com/locations/

This is off-topic, but something absolutely hilarious just happened (regarding a fast food restaurant). My mom and I were in the drive-thru at Captain D.'s, and suddenly, something happened. My mom was ordering, but all of a sudden, several wasps or hornets (or whatever they were) started flying around her window (where she was speaking out of). She had to roll up that window (because they wouldn't leave), and she had to roll down the back window. Then, she proceeded to shout our order, and the person could hardly hear us. Because of the whole mess, there were some missed things in our order (though it wasn't their fault this time - it was those flying, stinging demons!). After the whole mess was over, we absolutely died laughing about it. I'm cracking up right now thinking about it.   :-D   :rofl:

Quote from: adventurernumber1 on April 12, 2018, 03:46:37 PM
This is off-topic, but something absolutely hilarious just happened (regarding a fast food restaurant). My mom and I were in the drive-thru at Captain D.'s, and suddenly, something happened. My mom was ordering, but all of a sudden, several wasps or hornets (or whatever they were) started flying around her window (where she was speaking out of). She had to roll up that window (because they wouldn't leave), and she had to roll down the back window. Then, she proceeded to shout our order, and the person could hardly hear us. Because of the whole mess, there were some missed things in our order (though it wasn't their fault this time - it was those flying, stinging demons!). After the whole mess was over, we absolutely died laughing about it. I'm cracking up right now thinking about it.   :-D   :rofl:

If you were bubbling and/or if this will still crack you up when you're 45 then I know a guy who might be your spirit animal.

Stinging insects in the car are no laughing matter, at least not where I'm concerned. I'm not one of those who is terribly allergic to stings, and have to carry a candy bar or some medicine around in case I get stung, but I don't want one in the car with me while I'm driving. I went to high school with a girl who was deathly allergic to stings. She carried a candy bar at all times to eat if she got stung; that would supposedly keep her from suffering difficulties until proper medicine could be administered.

They tend to congregate around trash cans at restaurants and gas stations in the fall, when they're looking for nutrients and are attracted to sugar in discarded pop bottles or cans.

I've never heard of treating a wasp sting with a candy bar.  Do you eat it, or crush it and apply it to the sting?

Dang, Burger King is so f**king slow when it comes to home delivery. Domino's (Still known as Domino's Pizza in Spain, and in my hometown is right across the street from Burger King) is far faster at this, as well as the largest non-American pizza chain, the Spanish Telepizza. McDonald's doesn't have home delivery in my area.

Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on April 13, 2018, 05:19:05 PM
Dang, Burger King is so f**king slow when it comes to home delivery. Domino's (Still known as Domino's Pizza in Spain, and in my hometown is right across the street from Burger King) is far faster at this, as well as the largest non-American pizza chain, the Spanish Telepizza. McDonald's doesn't have home delivery in my area.

Is the home delivery handled by the restaurant itself, or a separate company? Home deliveries are only a thing in the US now with Uber Eats, which allows you to place an order at almost every restaurant with a take-away option, and have another person pick it up and deliver it to you. I've never done it, but I've heard it's decently quick.

Quote from: kkt on April 13, 2018, 04:57:56 PM
I've never heard of treating a wasp sting with a candy bar.  Do you eat it, or crush it and apply it to the sting?

I can't find anything on Google about it either. Wive's tale?

Quote from: jakeroot on April 13, 2018, 05:50:33 PM
Is the home delivery handled by the restaurant itself, or a separate company? Home deliveries are only a thing in the US now with Uber Eats, which allows you to place an order at almost every restaurant with a take-away option, and have another person pick it up and deliver it to you. I've never done it, but I've heard it's decently quick.

In all cases the home delivery is done by the restaurants themselves. I've spotted many Burger King and Domino's bikes in my hometown since they first opened (in 2012 and 2016 respectively).

Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on April 13, 2018, 06:00:27 PM

Quote from: jakeroot on April 13, 2018, 05:50:33 PM
Is the home delivery handled by the restaurant itself, or a separate company? Home deliveries are only a thing in the US now with Uber Eats, which allows you to place an order at almost every restaurant with a take-away option, and have another person pick it up and deliver it to you. I've never done it, but I've heard it's decently quick.

In all cases the home delivery is done by the restaurants themselves. I've spotted many Burger King and Domino's bikes in my hometown since they first opened (in 2012 and 2016 respectively).

Interesting. The only restaurants in the US that deliver on their own are, generally, pizza places.

I suspect delivery via motorcycle would be more popular in the US if lane filtering was permitted (outside of California). Outside of places like Jimmy Johns, most delivery systems are by car. No fun in traffic!

Quote from: spooky on April 13, 2018, 08:19:22 AM

Quote from: adventurernumber1 on April 12, 2018, 03:46:37 PM
This is off-topic, but something absolutely hilarious just happened (regarding a fast food restaurant). My mom and I were in the drive-thru at Captain D.'s, and suddenly, something happened. My mom was ordering, but all of a sudden, several wasps or hornets (or whatever they were) started flying around her window (where she was speaking out of). She had to roll up that window (because they wouldn't leave), and she had to roll down the back window. Then, she proceeded to shout our order, and the person could hardly hear us. Because of the whole mess, there were some missed things in our order (though it wasn't their fault this time - it was those flying, stinging demons!). After the whole mess was over, we absolutely died laughing about it. I'm cracking up right now thinking about it.   :-D   :rofl:

If you were bubbling and/or if this will still crack you up when you're 45 then I know a guy who might be your spirit animal.

Quote from: hbelkins on April 13, 2018, 11:02:59 AM
Stinging insects in the car are no laughing matter, at least not where I'm concerned. I'm not one of those who is terribly allergic to stings, and have to carry a candy bar or some medicine around in case I get stung, but I don't want one in the car with me while I'm driving. I went to high school with a girl who was deathly allergic to stings. She carried a candy bar at all times to eat if she got stung; that would supposedly keep her from suffering difficulties until proper medicine could be administered.

They tend to congregate around trash cans at restaurants and gas stations in the fall, when they're looking for nutrients and are attracted to sugar in discarded pop bottles or cans.

I truly, sincerely apologize for that. I only found it funny since my mother and I are not allergic to these things whatsoever, so in this case there was very little potential for serious harm, and for us, it was only chaotic (but not very dangerous) for a short moment. If this happened to someone to was deathly allergic to these insects, I would find it horrifying and not funny at all. The main thing my mom and I were laughing about was the fact that she was shouting our order through the back window, and the employee could hardly hear what we were saying, as a result. Thankfully, these demons never actually entered our car, but they were flying around the side of the car (2 or 3 of them). I feel absolutely terrible about this, so please do accept my apologies.

Quote from: adventurernumber1 on April 13, 2018, 06:31:18 PM

Quote from: hbelkins on April 13, 2018, 11:02:59 AM
Stinging insects in the car are no laughing matter, at least not where I'm concerned.

I truly, sincerely apologize for that. I only found it funny since my mother and I are not allergic to these things whatsoever, so in this case there was very little potential for serious harm, and for us, it was only chaotic (but not very dangerous) for a short moment.

Don't apologise to HB. Your job is not to feel bad for him or anyone else allergic to bee stings. In your case, what you experienced was funny because A) there was no real harm to you, and B) the situation was chaotic. I personally laughed when I read your post, although I found it funny in a sort of black comedy way, since the situation you describe actually sounds frightening to me.

This whole discussion has reminded me of Dr. Bees:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYtXuBN1Hvc

Quote from: jakeroot on April 13, 2018, 06:44:53 PM

Quote from: adventurernumber1 on April 13, 2018, 06:31:18 PM

Quote from: hbelkins on April 13, 2018, 11:02:59 AM
Stinging insects in the car are no laughing matter, at least not where I'm concerned.

I truly, sincerely apologize for that. I only found it funny since my mother and I are not allergic to these things whatsoever, so in this case there was very little potential for serious harm, and for us, it was only chaotic (but not very dangerous) for a short moment.

Don't apologise to HB. Your job is not to feel bad for him or anyone else allergic to bee stings. In your case, what you experienced was funny because A) there was no real harm to you, and B) the situation was chaotic. I personally laughed when I read your post, although I found it funny in a sort of black comedy way, since the situation you describe actually sounds frightening to me.

I laughed too, it was just a funny experience; not like you were laughing at the actual bees themselves.

Also, since you included the quote from spooky above, I think he was inferring that bandit957 might be your spirit animal. Of course, that isn't even remotely close to the truth, and not something you should have to apologize for :-D

Quote from: webny99 on April 13, 2018, 11:56:17 PM
Also, since you included the quote from spooky above, I think he was inferring that bandit957 might be your spirit animal.

He implied it. You (and anyone else who picked up on it) were the one(s) who inferred it.

Quote from: signalman on April 14, 2018, 01:34:00 AM

Quote from: webny99 on April 13, 2018, 11:56:17 PM
Also, since you included the quote from spooky above, I think he was inferring that bandit957 might be your spirit animal.

He implied it. You (and anyone else who picked up on it) were the one(s) who inferred it.

And I was definitely not one of the people who picked up on it. I thought "bubbling" was used in the context of me having exhilaratingly positive joy, and that he was saying some evil person was my spirit animal (I had no idea he was referring to bandit957, and that "bubbling" was used in the context of blowing bubbles with bubble gum). I took it as I was being scolded.

This reminds me of how pessimistic I am when it comes to myself (having a perceptual set to perceive everything that happens to me as negative, including what people say to me, even if it is actually not), and how horrific I am at picking up on things and hints (usually).

:pan:   :ded:   :rofl:

Quote from: jakeroot on April 13, 2018, 06:06:04 PM

Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on April 13, 2018, 06:00:27 PM

Quote from: jakeroot on April 13, 2018, 05:50:33 PM
Is the home delivery handled by the restaurant itself, or a separate company? Home deliveries are only a thing in the US now with Uber Eats, which allows you to place an order at almost every restaurant with a take-away option, and have another person pick it up and deliver it to you. I've never done it, but I've heard it's decently quick.

In all cases the home delivery is done by the restaurants themselves. I've spotted many Burger King and Domino's bikes in my hometown since they first opened (in 2012 and 2016 respectively).

Interesting. The only restaurants in the US that deliver on their own are, generally, pizza places.

And Chinese restaurants.

Quote from: signalman on April 14, 2018, 01:34:00 AM

Quote from: webny99 on April 13, 2018, 11:56:17 PM
Also, since you included the quote from spooky above, I think he was inferring that bandit957 might be your spirit animal.

He implied it. You (and anyone else who picked up on it) were the one(s) who inferred it.

Huh. This caused me to google "imply vs infer", and I found out, of course, that you are indeed correct. That was an interesting vocabulary lesson because I always thought they were synonyms (not opposites).

In any case, the main inference I actually wanted to make is that spooky probably did this as humor, not as scolding or admonishment (though it would be easy to accidentally take it the wrong way, since it didn't sound very complimentary). But we are way off topic by now, so back to fast food... :-D :pan:

Quote from: webny99 on April 14, 2018, 12:57:15 PM
Huh. This caused me to google "imply vs infer", and I found out, of course, that you are indeed correct. That was an interesting vocabulary lesson because I always thought they were synonyms (not opposites).

Sorry for calling you out and I certainly hope that I didn't offend you.  What you did is a common mistake, and it just irks me to no end. Another common phrase that I quickly call out is "I could care less," when in reality they mean they couldn't care less.  I always ask how much less they can care, often resulting in a rather confused look.  FWIW, I didn't know who spooky was referencing at first either.  That being said, thank you for clearing that one up for me.

Now back to the topic at hand.  Sorry for veering OT once again.

Quote from: Scott5114 on April 14, 2018, 05:37:08 AM

Quote from: jakeroot on April 13, 2018, 06:06:04 PM

Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on April 13, 2018, 06:00:27 PM

Quote from: jakeroot on April 13, 2018, 05:50:33 PM
Is the home delivery handled by the restaurant itself, or a separate company? Home deliveries are only a thing in the US now with Uber Eats, which allows you to place an order at almost every restaurant with a take-away option, and have another person pick it up and deliver it to you. I've never done it, but I've heard it's decently quick.

In all cases the home delivery is done by the restaurants themselves. I've spotted many Burger King and Domino's bikes in my hometown since they first opened (in 2012 and 2016 respectively).

Interesting. The only restaurants in the US that deliver on their own are, generally, pizza places.

And Chinese restaurants.

There are a number of small-town restaurants that will deliver within a short distance of their location. I know of at least two where I work.

As for the stinging insect thing -- no, I'm not allergic, but I find being stung to be an unpleasant situation to avoid at all costs. And you ingest the candy bar.

And I got the bandit reference. I knew exactly who was being referred to.

Quote from: Scott5114 on April 14, 2018, 05:37:08 AM

Quote from: jakeroot on April 13, 2018, 06:06:04 PM

Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on April 13, 2018, 06:00:27 PM

Quote from: jakeroot on April 13, 2018, 05:50:33 PM
Is the home delivery handled by the restaurant itself, or a separate company? Home deliveries are only a thing in the US now with Uber Eats, which allows you to place an order at almost every restaurant with a take-away option, and have another person pick it up and deliver it to you. I've never done it, but I've heard it's decently quick.

In all cases the home delivery is done by the restaurants themselves. I've spotted many Burger King and Domino's bikes in my hometown since they first opened (in 2012 and 2016 respectively).

Interesting. The only restaurants in the US that deliver on their own are, generally, pizza places.

And Chinese restaurants.

That's true. Teriyaki in my area, mostly. Although most of the restaurants will only deliver if you order enough to make it worth while. At Happy Teriyaki #3 in Tacoma, the minimum delivery order is $20.

Quote from: hbelkins on April 14, 2018, 04:05:13 PM
you ingest the candy bar.

What does this do?

Quote from: jakeroot on April 14, 2018, 05:48:49 PM

What does this do?

I have no idea. And I'm not in contact any longer with the school friend who did this so I can't ask.

Quote from: signalman on April 14, 2018, 02:11:51 PM

Quote from: webny99 on April 14, 2018, 12:57:15 PM
Huh. This caused me to google "imply vs infer", and I found out, of course, that you are indeed correct. That was an interesting vocabulary lesson because I always thought they were synonyms (not opposites).

Sorry for calling you out and I certainly hope that I didn't offend you.

Another common phrase that I quickly call out is "I could care less," when in reality they mean they couldn't care less.  I always ask how much less they can care, often resulting in a rather confused look.

Heck no, nothing of the sort. Learn something new every day... and I'm one for preferring knowledge to ignorance, so I'm more than OK with standing corrected  :)
I've always regarded "could care less" as the sarcastic version. I know what is meant - that the subject doesn't have strong feelings on the issue... so tend not to correct, as it's possible that "could care less" (even non-sarcastically) also applies.

QuoteNow back to the topic at hand.  Sorry for veering OT once again.

We still haven't reached, or even come close to, the off-topic level of the "Eating in the Car" thread (which, for the unaware, has morphed into "Wildlife Mitigation Strategies")  :-D

---

Anyways, Jimmy John's is another restaurant that delivers themselves, but I'm not sure if other sub shops do this or not.

Quote from: hbelkins on April 14, 2018, 06:10:20 PM

Quote from: jakeroot on April 14, 2018, 05:48:49 PM

What does this do?

I have no idea. And I'm not in contact any longer with the school friend who did this so I can't ask.

Oooooh. So you don't personally practice this? I think I misunderstood your previous post. My bad.

I would imagine that the candy bar is to cause a blood sugar spike for some reason, though I'm not well-versed in medicine enough to understand why that would be a desirable effect in that situation.

Quote from: jakeroot on April 14, 2018, 07:20:17 PM

Quote from: hbelkins on April 14, 2018, 06:10:20 PM

Quote from: jakeroot on April 14, 2018, 05:48:49 PM

What does this do?

I have no idea. And I'm not in contact any longer with the school friend who did this so I can't ask.

Oooooh. So you don't personally practice this? I think I misunderstood your previous post. My bad.

No. I'm not allergic to stings. They just hurt like heck and are to be avoided if possible.

When I was young, I got stung three times on the back by hornets. I only felt the first one.

I've come up with a new and rather intuitive way to measure "fastest" fast food. It depends on the chance of the line at the pick-up window backing up into the line at the order point. If it does, the restaurant probably has a chronic problem with slow service*.

For example, one of the Dunkin's I visit regularly has capacity for only two cars between the order point and the pick-up window. At busy times, they'll take three orders fairly quickly, which fills all the available space between the two points. Then the fourth car pulls forward and orders. If the first car hasn't cleared the pick-up window, the fourth car is stuck, with nowhere to pull forward. Now both lines are waiting on the car at the window, and no more orders can even be taken until he clears.

Contrast that to Wendy's; I noticed, waiting in line to order the other day, that every car in the line had space to pull forward once they ordered; in other words, orders were being taken and processed at equal rates. When the guy in front of me ordered and pulled forward, simultaneously, a car pulled away from the pick-up window, so then I was guaranteed space to pull up before I'd even finished ordering. That's what I call efficiency.

If I ran a fast-food place, it would be my worst nightmare to have the line for the pick-up window back up into the line to order. If you can take four orders faster than you can process one, something's a little messed up.

*Or maybe, the design of the drive-thru lacked adequate forethought. Or maybe both; the two often seem to accompany each other!

Bad metric. You'll often go 10 minutes or so with no orders at all and then get four or five people pull in at once. This could be due to stoplights metering traffic, something happening like a shift ending at a nearby business, etc.

It seems like the places around here are hit or miss. Wendy's for example during their lunch hour can be quick but any other time of the day they tend to be slower service which is still decent speed for a fast food restaurant but I can't count how many times I've been in the Wendy's by my house where people would stand in line and turn around and walk back out the door because they knew it was going to take awhile and people complain a lot too.

I haven't ate at a Burger King in over 10 years but remember that place being quite slow with service.

I also remember when Hot N Now was open we use to call it Cold N Later for well you get the idea.

It becomes extremely frustrating at the McDonald's by my house, it's open 24 hour dining room and drive thru. You wait for 5 minutes almost any time you go in there in the middle of the night.

Arby's around here is pretty quick.

Quote from: Scott5114 on June 21, 2018, 01:07:03 AM
Bad metric. You'll often go 10 minutes or so with no orders at all and then get four or five people pull in at once. This could be due to stoplights metering traffic, something happening like a shift ending at a nearby business, etc.

Yes, but it's always a bad sign when the two lines run into each other. No matter how fast people arrive, you should be able to process the first order (unless it's an exceptionally big order) and have that car clear the pick-up window before you've taken three more orders. This doesn't apply as much during slow periods; it's only noticeable when there's a line at the order point. That's the only time it matters, anyways (or at least, that's the only time I care about speed of service - when there's a long line!).

It depends on order size, too; orders usually are smaller at Dunkin' compared to other fast food places, which may explain why this happens. They can take orders faster, but processing them doesn't really take less time; certain motions have to be gone through no matter how big the order is.

It appears your entire matrix is based upon the length of the space between the order speaker and the pickup window.   If there's room for 10 vehicles, a vehicle comes once every 5 minutes, and it takes 30 minutes to pick up an order, you consider that faster because there's still room to immediately pull up to the speaker than people paying and getting their meal in 10 seconds because there was only room for 2 vehicles and there was already a car at the speaker.

Quote from: webny99 on June 21, 2018, 08:38:32 AM

Quote from: Scott5114 on June 21, 2018, 01:07:03 AM
Bad metric. You'll often go 10 minutes or so with no orders at all and then get four or five people pull in at once. This could be due to stoplights metering traffic, something happening like a shift ending at a nearby business, etc.

Yes, but it's always a bad sign when the two lines run into each other. No matter how fast people arrive, you should be able to process the first order (unless it's an exceptionally big order) and have that car clear the pick-up window before you've taken three more orders. This doesn't apply as much during slow periods; it's only noticeable when there's a line at the order point. That's the only time it matters, anyways (or at least, that's the only time I care about speed of service - when there's a long line!).

It depends on order size, too; orders usually are smaller at Dunkin' compared to other fast food places, which may explain why this happens. They can take orders faster, but processing them doesn't really take less time; certain motions have to be gone through no matter how big the order is.

You can also get someone at the pickup window that insists they review their bag before they leave, or maybe they start arguing that they ordered a hamburger and not a cheeseburger, and they want that hamburger.  Even if this was truly the fault of the customer, it's not the restaurants fault that it was suddenly slow.  And while some restaurants do have people pull up or park to wait for their meal, not all of them do this.

Quote from: jeffandnicole on June 21, 2018, 08:56:50 AM
You can also get someone at the pickup window that insists they review their bag before they leave

I've had so many orders that have been wrong that I won't fault anyone for doing this, and I should be doing this more often.

And to think that the people who can confuse a simple order for a giant roast beef combo for a beef and cheddar with two cookies think they deserve to earn $15 an hour. (Happened to me at the Arby's in Frankfort, Ky., not long ago; I didn't realize the error until I was well away from the restaurant and didn't have time to go back.)

Quote from: webny99 on June 20, 2018, 09:00:11 PM
I've come up with a new and rather intuitive way to measure "fastest" fast food. It depends on the chance of the line at the pick-up window backing up into the line at the order point. If it does, the restaurant probably has a chronic problem with slow service*.

For example, one of the Dunkin's I visit regularly has capacity for only two cars between the order point and the pick-up window. At busy times, they'll take three orders fairly quickly, which fills all the available space between the two points. Then the fourth car pulls forward and orders. If the first car hasn't cleared the pick-up window, the fourth car is stuck, with nowhere to pull forward. Now both lines are waiting on the car at the window, and no more orders can even be taken until he clears.

Contrast that to Wendy's; I noticed, waiting in line to order the other day, that every car in the line had space to pull forward once they ordered; in other words, orders were being taken and processed at equal rates. When the guy in front of me ordered and pulled forward, simultaneously, a car pulled away from the pick-up window, so then I was guaranteed space to pull up before I'd even finished ordering. That's what I call efficiency.

If I ran a fast-food place, it would be my worst nightmare to have the line for the pick-up window back up into the line to order. If you can take four orders faster than you can process one, something's a little messed up.

*Or maybe, the design of the drive-thru lacked adequate forethought. Or maybe both; the two often seem to accompany each other!

I'm not sure if this is what you're describing, but I think "long wait to order and/or long wait between order and pickup + few/no cars in front of you in line" is a better indicator of poor wait times than a long line.  It's possible to have a long line and a short wait to order and receive your order.

I one time sat second in line behind a car that took 8 minutes at the drive thru window at Wendy's one time. I was not happy and kept saying come the fuck on hurry the hell up jesus Wendy's. The driver of the car in front of me goes the guy behind me is all pissed off. I was though 8 freaking minutes to get an order at a Wendy's drive thru window?

Another time about 6 or so years ago it was about 4am and I was on my way to Chicago for a few days I stopped at a McDonald's in East Lansing, Michigan and just got a breakfast sandwich. Upon getting my sandwich everything was burnt, the bun, the egg, the sausage everything. So I went and pounded on the window to get their attention and told them I either want a new one or my money back. I got a new one because I wasn't about to go looking for another McDonald's at 4am. That didn't have anything to do with the speed of their service though.

I hate trying to eat while driving.  I pretty much always stop and go inside.  If I'm in a hurry, I will eat the sandwich and fries (or whatever finger food) and then take the drink with me to sip while on the road.

I'm the only driver in the family and have a manual transmission, which might have something to do with it.

Quote from: kkt on June 21, 2018, 12:38:52 PM
I hate trying to eat while driving.  I pretty much always stop and go inside.  If I'm in a hurry, I will eat the sandwich and fries (or whatever finger food) and then take the drink with me to sip while on the road.

I'm the only driver in the family and have a manual transmission, which might have something to do with it.

I'll just pull into a parking spot and eat and then get back on the road if I have to eat in my car.

Quote from: hbelkins on June 21, 2018, 10:26:49 AM

Quote from: jeffandnicole on June 21, 2018, 08:56:50 AM
You can also get someone at the pickup window that insists they review their bag before they leave

I've had so many orders that have been wrong that I won't fault anyone for doing this, and I should be doing this more often.

No. Pull ahead of the window/into the parking lot to review your order for accuracy. This way, you allow the person behind you to complete their transaction, rather than making them wait while you rummage around making sure your order of a giant triple cheeseburger with 5x pickles and no ketchup was made correctly. It seems selfish to me to sit at the window while checking your order because you're making everyone else behind you wait for no good reason.

Besides, I much prefer going inside if the restaurant has screwed up my order, as it allows me to better verify that they re-do it correctly.

I've tried McDonald's online ordering app, which should speed up the order by ordering it in advance.  When you get to the store, the app recognizes you're there (via GPS), and the order automatically displays on their screens inside and they start making it.  So far, that part seems to have worked flawlessly, and in fact they've even commented about it.  Normally, I choose the option that I'll just go inside to pick up the order (so I can get extra napkins, sweet and sour sauce, etc).  Once, I chose the 'Park at the signed location and wait' option.  It took much longer, and when the order came out, the soda was a inch from the top and an item completely missing from the bag.  I mentioned it to the person outside who didn't appear to be in any way caring to take care of the issue...so I wound up going inside anyway.

Quote from: hbelkins on June 21, 2018, 10:26:49 AM

Quote from: jeffandnicole on June 21, 2018, 08:56:50 AM
You can also get someone at the pickup window that insists they review their bag before they leave

I've had so many orders that have been wrong that I won't fault anyone for doing this, and I should be doing this more often.

I do it too...but quickly.  If I got 2 burgers, 2 fries and 2 sodas, I usually glance to see that the basic options are all in the bag.  If the order is a bit more custom-made, maybe I'll glance for a few seconds longer, or as mentioned I'll pull up and out of the way to make sure it's right.

QuoteAnd to think that the people who can confuse a simple order for a giant roast beef combo for a beef and cheddar with two cookies think they deserve to earn $15 an hour. (Happened to me at the Arby's in Frankfort, Ky., not long ago; I didn't realize the error until I was well away from the restaurant and didn't have time to go back.)

I had the situation somewhat recently where I went inside to order a takeout meal (ironically at an Arby's).  They bagged most of the order but had to wait on one item.  In the meantime, a patron pulled up to the drive-thru window.  The bag got shifted over to the drive-thru window, handed out, and the patron left.  When they went to put my final item in the bag, the person noticed the existing bag (meant for the drive-thru customer) was still there, and realized what they did.  At least they noticed, but that meant a longer wait for me.  So I can understand how it appears they totally screwed up your order hbelkins! LOL

I have to say, I've gotten orders where they fucked up a special order (gave me everything but ketchup instead of only ketchup, for example), I've gotten orders where they forgot something, and I've gotten orders where they gave me something i didn't order at all, but I've never gotten someone else's order.

Quote from: MNHighwayMan on June 21, 2018, 01:57:03 PMyour order of a giant triple cheeseburger with 5x pickles and no ketchup

:-D

Also, I think we've learned our lesson about trying to stop for fast food on the South Side.  We thought it was just Hardees that was slow as fuck, but no, it's everywhere.

Quote from: abefroman329 on June 21, 2018, 03:20:22 PM
Also, I think we've learned our lesson about trying to stop for fast food on the South Side.  We thought it was just Hardees that was slow as fuck, but no, it's everywhere.

My nearest Hardee's (SW 9th St and Army Post Rd) is busy quite often, and actually was recently renovated. Every time I've been there, service has been great. It must be the difference between competent employees/management and/or franchisee, or one or neither of those. Either that, or the residents of Des Moines' south side really love their Hardee's.

Quote from: MNHighwayMan on June 21, 2018, 04:39:45 PM

Quote from: abefroman329 on June 21, 2018, 03:20:22 PM
Also, I think we've learned our lesson about trying to stop for fast food on the South Side.  We thought it was just Hardees that was slow as fuck, but no, it's everywhere.

My nearest Hardee's (SW 9th St and Army Post Rd) is busy quite often, and actually was recently renovated. Every time I've been there, service has been great. It must be the difference between competent employees/management and/or franchisee, or one or neither of those. Either that, or the residents of Des Moines' south side really love their Hardee's.

Oh, it was my first and, to date, only bad experience with a Hardee's.  You can take forever to serve my food, OR you can serve me bad food, but if you do both at the same time, that's the only time you'll do that.

Quote from: jeffandnicole on June 21, 2018, 08:56:50 AM
It appears your entire matrix is based upon the length of the space between the order speaker and the pickup window.   If there's room for 10 vehicles, a vehicle comes once every 5 minutes, and it takes 30 minutes to pick up an order, you consider that faster because there's still room to immediately pull up to the speaker than people paying and getting their meal in 10 seconds because there was only room for 2 vehicles and there was already a car at the speaker.

That's why I added the asterisk with the comment about the design of the drive-thru. Generally, most places have a pretty standard spacing; two or maybe three or four cars can fit.

Maybe I was foolish for calling it a metric. It might be better just to say I've observed that if a restaurant can take orders a lot faster than they can process them, they'll run into problems. I think it goes without saying that if both lines are waiting on the guy at the pick-up window, there's some chronic speed-of-service issues, and potentially not enough space between the two lines.

Quote from: Flint1979 on June 21, 2018, 02:00:44 AMIt becomes extremely frustrating at the McDonald's by my house, it's open 24 hour dining room and drive thru. You wait for 5 minutes almost any time you go in there in the middle of the night.

The Mcdonalds nearest to my home won't even talk to you inside unless you go to the goddamn kiosk first and place your own order.  If I have to push my own buttons at Mcdonalds, I expect to pay the employee rate for my food.

Quote from: renegade on June 21, 2018, 07:04:49 PM

Quote from: Flint1979 on June 21, 2018, 02:00:44 AMIt becomes extremely frustrating at the McDonald's by my house, it's open 24 hour dining room and drive thru. You wait for 5 minutes almost any time you go in there in the middle of the night.

The Mcdonalds nearest to my home won't even talk to you inside unless you go to the goddamn kiosk first and place your own order.  If I have to push my own buttons at Mcdonalds, I expect to pay the employee rate for my food.

Ha! For some reason, I remember when a perk of flying first class or having status on an airline was not having to use the kiosk and to go straight to a real life ticket agent. Then they started steering those passengers towards kiosks in the name of "speed,"  and that perk went the way of the dodo

Most taco bells I go to are fast.   We used to live between 3 Sonics that were all incredibly slow and moved and live by one that is amazingly fast.  Whataburger is like watching paint dry even if you are the only one in there. Raising Caines-all they do is chicken fingers, still 15 minutes.  Jack in the box I've had both.  There are 4 Arbys by us, the two owned by the same owner are always really fast and fresh food and the other two slow and dry.  McD & BK fast, the BK we used to live by always took less than a minute.

Quote from: abefroman329 on April 02, 2018, 12:59:01 PM
Fried chicken places are fast unless they just ran out of chicken and are cooking more.

I would say the slowest "fast food" outlet, in terms of time from placing your order to receiving your order, is In-N-Out Burger.

plus they call you a guest, so annoying

There's a Hardee's in Owosso and it's really the only one I know of anywhere in Michigan for some reason.

Quote from: webny99 on June 21, 2018, 08:38:32 AM

Quote from: Scott5114 on June 21, 2018, 01:07:03 AM
Bad metric. You'll often go 10 minutes or so with no orders at all and then get four or five people pull in at once. This could be due to stoplights metering traffic, something happening like a shift ending at a nearby business, etc.

Yes, but it's always a bad sign when the two lines run into each other. No matter how fast people arrive, you should be able to process the first order (unless it's an exceptionally big order) and have that car clear the pick-up window before you've taken three more orders.

As someone who did this as a profession I can tell you that that is simply not how it works.

Quote from: abefroman329 on June 21, 2018, 10:02:31 PM

Quote from: renegade on June 21, 2018, 07:04:49 PM

Quote from: Flint1979 on June 21, 2018, 02:00:44 AMIt becomes extremely frustrating at the McDonald's by my house, it's open 24 hour dining room and drive thru. You wait for 5 minutes almost any time you go in there in the middle of the night.

The Mcdonalds nearest to my home won’t even talk to you inside unless you go to the goddamn kiosk first and place your own order.  If I have to push my own buttons at Mcdonalds, I expect to pay the employee rate for my food.

Ha! For some reason, I remember when a perk of flying first class or having status on an airline was not having to use the kiosk and to go straight to a real life ticket agent. Then they started steering those passengers towards kiosks in the name of “speed,” and that perk went the way of the dodo.

It's a bit grating when the airline counter can't take care of a simple bag-drop-and-dash and allow the other passengers to "think it over" for a few minutes before deciding on one of two sub-optimal choices. Some airlines and airports have an automated counter for this task; but like the option of self-checkout at the local market, it's a nice option yet there's that feeling you just killed off another job and the ability for light chit-chat with a local.

Quote from: Scott5114 on June 22, 2018, 03:32:44 AM

Quote from: webny99 on June 21, 2018, 08:38:32 AM

Quote from: Scott5114 on June 21, 2018, 01:07:03 AM
Bad metric. You'll often go 10 minutes or so with no orders at all and then get four or five people pull in at once. This could be due to stoplights metering traffic, something happening like a shift ending at a nearby business, etc.

Yes, but it's always a bad sign when the two lines run into each other. No matter how fast people arrive, you should be able to process the first order (unless it's an exceptionally big order) and have that car clear the pick-up window before you've taken three more orders.

As someone who did this as a profession I can tell you that that is simply not how it works.

That's the gist of the service curtain between The Stage and Backstage: there's a lot that goes on which prevents any two similar orders from being treated exactly the same.

Quote from: renegade on June 21, 2018, 07:04:49 PM

Quote from: Flint1979 on June 21, 2018, 02:00:44 AMIt becomes extremely frustrating at the McDonald's by my house, it's open 24 hour dining room and drive thru. You wait for 5 minutes almost any time you go in there in the middle of the night.

The Mcdonalds nearest to my home won't even talk to you inside unless you go to the goddamn kiosk first and place your own order.  If I have to push my own buttons at Mcdonalds, I expect to pay the employee rate for my food.

I'd hate to see your reaction when they got rid of elevator operators.  "What do you mean I have to select my own floor?  Why don't we all just work on the 1st floor then??"

Quote from: formulanone on June 22, 2018, 08:46:06 AMIt's a bit grating when the airline counter can't take care of a simple bag-drop-and-dash and allow the other passengers to "think it over" for a few minutes before deciding on one of two sub-optimal choices. Some airlines and airports have an automated counter for this task; but like the option of self-checkout at the local market, it's a nice option yet there's that feeling you just killed off another job and the ability for light chit-chat with a local.

American is getting close with the self-tag option, but then you still have to have an agent check that your ID matches the bag tag, confirm that you didn't put lithium batteries or e-cigarettes in your bag, etc., etc.  It'd be lovely if you could just throw your bag on the belt and be done with it.

Quote from: Scott5114 on June 22, 2018, 03:32:44 AM

Quote from: webny99 on June 21, 2018, 08:38:32 AM

Quote from: Scott5114 on June 21, 2018, 01:07:03 AM
Bad metric. You'll often go 10 minutes or so with no orders at all and then get four or five people pull in at once. This could be due to stoplights metering traffic, something happening like a shift ending at a nearby business, etc.

Yes, but it's always a bad sign when the two lines run into each other. No matter how fast people arrive, you should be able to process the first order (unless it's an exceptionally big order) and have that car clear the pick-up window before you've taken three more orders.

As someone who did this as a profession I can tell you that that is simply not how it works.

You'll have to explain how it does work, then. I can think of no scenario in which it's a good thing to have two separate lines both waiting on the second one; it's basically the definition of inefficiency, and I say that having just learned a few things about efficiency from The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt. If something kills wait times, it's also killing the speed of service; you can't separate the two!

The rate at which people arrive is 100% irrelevant if there's already a line ten cars long, which is what happens at the Dunkin I mentioned originally.

Quote from: webny99 on June 22, 2018, 10:34:06 AM

Quote from: Scott5114 on June 22, 2018, 03:32:44 AM

Quote from: webny99 on June 21, 2018, 08:38:32 AM

Quote from: Scott5114 on June 21, 2018, 01:07:03 AM
Bad metric. You'll often go 10 minutes or so with no orders at all and then get four or five people pull in at once. This could be due to stoplights metering traffic, something happening like a shift ending at a nearby business, etc.

Yes, but it's always a bad sign when the two lines run into each other. No matter how fast people arrive, you should be able to process the first order (unless it's an exceptionally big order) and have that car clear the pick-up window before you've taken three more orders.

As someone who did this as a profession I can tell you that that is simply not how it works.

You'll have to convince me, then. I can think of no scenario in which it's a good thing to have two separate lines both waiting on the second one; it's basically the definition of inefficiency, and I say that having just learned a few things about efficiency from The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt.

The rate at which people arrive is 100% irrelevant if there's already a line ten cars long, which is what happens at the Dunkin I mentioned originally.

You could always get a job at a fast food restaurant or a DD and see it from the other side.

As far as 'The Goal' goes, does it go into detail of land use and zoning, property sizes, taxes, land cost, parking spot availability, fire lane access, entry and exit points, and a whole lot of other municipal/county/state permitting issues?  You could design the perfect drive-thru scenario, but if you need a 5 acre property to accomplish it, the largest plot of land within the area which the store wants to build is only 3 acres, and the cost of that land is so expensive that the owner couldn't afford to build there, all that 'The Goal' theory goes out the window.

The biggest problem with optimal scenarios is that it goes against most regulations and prudent costs.  Every store out there has their ideal prototype of what they would love to build in an optimal situation, but they can rarely achieve it. 

Quote from: jeffandnicole on June 22, 2018, 10:53:28 AM

Quote from: webny99 on June 22, 2018, 10:34:06 AM

Quote from: Scott5114 on June 22, 2018, 03:32:44 AM

Quote from: webny99 on June 21, 2018, 08:38:32 AM

Quote from: Scott5114 on June 21, 2018, 01:07:03 AM
Bad metric. You'll often go 10 minutes or so with no orders at all and then get four or five people pull in at once. This could be due to stoplights metering traffic, something happening like a shift ending at a nearby business, etc.

Yes, but it's always a bad sign when the two lines run into each other. No matter how fast people arrive, you should be able to process the first order (unless it's an exceptionally big order) and have that car clear the pick-up window before you've taken three more orders.

As someone who did this as a profession I can tell you that that is simply not how it works.

You'll have to convince me, then. I can think of no scenario in which it's a good thing to have two separate lines both waiting on the second one; it's basically the definition of inefficiency, and I say that having just learned a few things about efficiency from The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt.

The rate at which people arrive is 100% irrelevant if there's already a line ten cars long, which is what happens at the Dunkin I mentioned originally.

You could always get a job at a fast food restaurant or a DD and see it from the other side.

As far as 'The Goal' goes, does it go into detail of land use and zoning, property sizes, taxes, land cost, parking spot availability, fire lane access, entry and exit points, and a whole lot of other municipal/county/state permitting issues?  You could design the perfect drive-thru scenario, but if you need a 5 acre property to accomplish it, the largest plot of land within the area which the store wants to build is only 3 acres, and the cost of that land is so expensive that the owner couldn't afford to build there, all that 'The Goal' theory goes out the window.

The biggest problem with optimal scenarios is that it goes against most regulations and prudent costs.  Every store out there has their ideal prototype of what they would love to build in an optimal situation, but they can rarely achieve it.

And then there are what consumers actually prefer.  You also can't obtain the above without premade food, and McDonalds has been taking it on the chin for selling premade sandwiches for decades.

Quote from: MNHighwayMan on June 21, 2018, 01:57:03 PM

Quote from: hbelkins on June 21, 2018, 10:26:49 AM

Quote from: jeffandnicole on June 21, 2018, 08:56:50 AM
You can also get someone at the pickup window that insists they review their bag before they leave

I've had so many orders that have been wrong that I won't fault anyone for doing this, and I should be doing this more often.

No. Pull ahead of the window/into the parking lot to review your order for accuracy. This way, you allow the person behind you to complete their transaction, rather than making them wait while you rummage around making sure your order of a giant triple cheeseburger with 5x pickles and no ketchup was made correctly. It seems selfish to me to sit at the window while checking your order because you're making everyone else behind you wait for no good reason.

Besides, I much prefer going inside if the restaurant has screwed up my order, as it allows me to better verify that they re-do it correctly.

If you have a special order (even if it's "Make it Plain"), it's ALWAYS better to go into the restaurant to order the food than going through the drive-thru.

Quote
The McDonalds nearest to my home won't even talk to you inside unless you go to the goddamn kiosk first and place your own order.  If I have to push my own buttons at McDonalds, I expect to pay the employee rate for my food.

As one who places a special order most of the time (I detest nearly all condiments), I consider the kiosks a godsend.  At least for me, I find using them to be faster than dealing with a cashier.  It also eliminates the inevitable "cashier trying to anticipate my order or make suggestions I don't want" factor, not to mention having to repeat my order more than once.  These things are a pet peeve of mine, and only serve (pardon the pun) to SLOW down placing my order.

Since the local Mickey's put the kiosks in about six months ago, I have NEVER had an order screwed up.  Prior to that, the "failure" rate on orders was about one time out of five.

However, there have been times when the cashier on duty tells people to use the kiosk, even if the store isn't busy and/or they are not occupied with other duties.  While newer technology is nice for those of us who understand it and are willing to use it, I totally agree with you that it should never be forced on your customers.

Quote from: roadman on June 22, 2018, 01:46:51 PM
As one who places a special order most of the time (I detest nearly all condiments), I consider the kiosks a godsend.  At least for me, I find using them to be faster than dealing with a cashier.  It also eliminates the inevitable "cashier trying to anticipate my order or make suggestions I don't want" factor, not to mention having to repeat my order more than once.  These things are a pet peeve of mine, and only serve (pardon the pun) to SLOW down placing my order.

Since the local Mickey's put the kiosks in about six months ago, I have NEVER had an order screwed up.  Prior to that, the "failure" rate on orders was about one time out of five.

I would have expected that the problems would come from the person making the order, not taking it. There have been several times when the order-taker has read my order back to me, "One Bacon SuperBurger without mayo," only for me to discover that nasty stuff on my sandwich.

I've even had a Sheetz get my order wrong a few times, and they're the gurus of the touch-screen ordering system. The good thing about that is you can go on the Sheetz site to complain, or fill out the survey on your receipt, and get free food.

At McDonald's, a "plain" Filet O Fish does not have tartar sauce. Plain does not mean no cheese.

Give me that Filet-O-Fish...

Quote from: hbelkins on June 22, 2018, 01:54:39 PM

Quote from: roadman on June 22, 2018, 01:46:51 PM
As one who places a special order most of the time (I detest nearly all condiments), I consider the kiosks a godsend.  At least for me, I find using them to be faster than dealing with a cashier.  It also eliminates the inevitable "cashier trying to anticipate my order or make suggestions I don't want" factor, not to mention having to repeat my order more than once.  These things are a pet peeve of mine, and only serve (pardon the pun) to SLOW down placing my order.

Since the local Mickey's put the kiosks in about six months ago, I have NEVER had an order screwed up.  Prior to that, the "failure" rate on orders was about one time out of five.

I would have expected that the problems would come from the person making the order, not taking it. There have been several times when the order-taker has read my order back to me, "One Bacon SuperBurger without mayo," only for me to discover that nasty stuff on my sandwich.

I've found that past problems are usually not with the person making the order, but with the cashier inputting the wrong options when they take the order.  This was exacerbated by the fact that for many years, the order input on Mickey's cash registers did not have a simple "make it plain" button.  Rather, the cashier had to specifically indicate "NO XX" for each of the condiments and add-ons that normally came on the sandwich.

Even after the single "make it plain" button was added to the cash registers, there are still cashiers who will occasionally revert to the "old" method.  Occasionally, they will miss stating "NO" for a specific item.

Quote from: 1 on June 22, 2018, 01:57:20 PM
At McDonald's, a "plain" Filet O Fish does not have tartar sauce. Plain does not mean no cheese.

Ayup.  I learned a long time ago (in 1969, on a family trip) that, when ordering a Filet O Fish, to always state "No tartar sauce, no cheese."  Of course, I'm still trying to figure out who thought putting cheese on a fish sandwich should be the standard way of serving it was a good idea.

Haven't tried ordering a Filet O Fish from a kiosk yet, so I don't know if the "Make it Plain" button removes both the tartar sauce AND the cheese from the order.  Might try that and see what happens the next time I'm in the mood for fast food.

Quote from: roadman on June 22, 2018, 02:18:03 PM

Quote from: 1 on June 22, 2018, 01:57:20 PM
At McDonald's, a "plain" Filet O Fish does not have tartar sauce. Plain does not mean no cheese.

Ayup.  I learned a long time ago (in 1969, on a family trip) that, when ordering a Filet O Fish, to always state "No tartar sauce, no cheese."  Of course, I'm still trying to figure out who thought putting cheese on a fish sandwich should be the standard way of serving it was a good idea.

It's so they don't mix it up with the Apple Pie.

Quote from: roadman on June 22, 2018, 01:46:51 PM
As one who places a special order most of the time (I detest nearly all condiments), I consider the kiosks a godsend.  At least for me, I find using them to be faster than dealing with a cashier.  It also eliminates the inevitable "cashier trying to anticipate my order or make suggestions I don't want" factor, not to mention having to repeat my order more than once.  These things are a pet peeve of mine, and only serve (pardon the pun) to SLOW down placing my order.

Since the local Mickey's put the kiosks in about six months ago, I have NEVER had an order screwed up.  Prior to that, the "failure" rate on orders was about one time out of five.

I have to admit, that's one of the things I've been wondering about with the kiosks: whether special orders would still be possible, or if everyone would be relegated to the standard regulation menu.

I've also heard that you have to specify things like ketchup there too, though maybe that's just for to go?  I've never actually used one myself.  I'm not at McDonalds often these days (Wawa, Panera Bread, Wegmans, Stewarts, Sheetz, and Subway (in that order) generally have priority when I'm on the road), and the one I had dinner at when staying in the Nashville area coming back from Florida didn't have them yet.

Quote from: vdeane on June 22, 2018, 02:22:17 PM

Quote from: roadman on June 22, 2018, 01:46:51 PM
As one who places a special order most of the time (I detest nearly all condiments), I consider the kiosks a godsend.  At least for me, I find using them to be faster than dealing with a cashier.  It also eliminates the inevitable "cashier trying to anticipate my order or make suggestions I don't want" factor, not to mention having to repeat my order more than once.  These things are a pet peeve of mine, and only serve (pardon the pun) to SLOW down placing my order.

Since the local Mickey's put the kiosks in about six months ago, I have NEVER had an order screwed up.  Prior to that, the "failure" rate on orders was about one time out of five.

I have to admit, that's one of the things I've been wondering about with the kiosks: whether special orders would still be possible, or if everyone would be relegated to the standard regulation menu.

I've also heard that you have to specify things like ketchup there too, though maybe that's just for to go?  I've never actually used one myself.  I'm not at McDonalds often these days (Wawa, Panera Bread, Wegmans, Stewarts, Sheetz, and Subway (in that order) generally have priority when I'm on the road), and the one I had dinner at when staying in the Nashville area coming back from Florida didn't have them yet.

The way the McD's kiosks work is, when you select the sandwich (either individual sandwich or as part of a meal), there's a "Customize" button.  You push that button, and it allows you to select the condiments and other ingredients that would normally be provided on a "standard" sandwich that you want or don't want on the sandwich - the default is that the item will be included unless you indicate "NO XX" in the check box.  As I noted, there's also a "Make it Plain" button that removes ALL the extras.  Before you commit to adding the item(s) to the order, the screen tells you exactly what will and what won't be included on the sandwich you are ordering so you can verify it.

The ketchup option for fries merely tells them to give you a couple of packets of ketchup with your order.

Quote from: roadman on June 22, 2018, 02:33:02 PMThe way the McD's kiosks work is, when you select the sandwich (either individual sandwich or as part of a meal), there's a "Customize" button.  You push that button, and it allows you to select the condiments and other ingredients that would normally be provided on a "standard" sandwich that you want or don't want on the sandwich - the default is that the item will be included unless you indicate "NO XX" in the check box.

Took me forever to figure out how to add cheese to a sausage and egg biscuit.  I don't know why it doesn't automatically come with cheese to begin with.

Quote from: abefroman329 on June 22, 2018, 03:13:50 PM
Took me forever to figure out how to add cheese to a sausage and egg biscuit.  I don't know why it doesn't automatically come with cheese to begin with.

That's a puzzle to me as well. When I order at the counter, the cashier can easily add cheese (at extra cost), so I think that's a common preference.

Quote from: hbelkins on June 22, 2018, 01:54:39 PM
I would have expected that the problems would come from the person making the order, not taking it. There have been several times when the order-taker has read my order back to me, "One Bacon SuperBurger without mayo," only for me to discover that nasty stuff on my sandwich.

I've had that problem with McD steak bagel breakfast sandwiches, which I order without slivered onions (which seems a common preference). Even when the drive-through order screen and my receipt confirm that I ordered no onions, about 10% of the time I end up with onions anyway. If I'm lucky, I find out that problem before I eat the sandwich (so I can scrape off the onions), rather than by onions dripping onto my shirt or into my lap.

Quote from: oscar on June 22, 2018, 03:21:27 PMThat's a puzzle to me as well. When I order at the counter, the cashier can easily add cheese (at extra cost), so I think that's a common preference.

They even sell a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit!  But not a sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit!

Quote from: jeffandnicole on June 22, 2018, 10:53:28 AM
You could always get a job at a fast food restaurant or a DD and see it from the other side.

I could. Let's leave it at that.  :-P

QuoteAs far as 'The Goal' goes, does it go into detail of land use and zoning, property sizes, taxes, land cost, parking spot availability, fire lane access, entry and exit points, and a whole lot of other municipal/county/state permitting issues?  You could design the perfect drive-thru scenario, but if you need a 5 acre property to accomplish it, the largest plot of land within the area which the store wants to build is only 3 acres, and the cost of that land is so expensive that the owner couldn't afford to build there, all that 'The Goal' theory goes out the window.

As I assume you know, The Goal is based on applying the Theory of Constraints to a struggling manufacturing plant. As such, it really makes more sense (and hopefully cents too!) to apply it to the inside of a restaurant; the actual "manufacturing" of the orders. Perhaps trying to apply it to the drive-thru line itself is a bit far-fetched, considering there's no means of controlling flow.

My original point remains; it's seriously detrimental to wait times when the line for the pick-up window backs up to the order point. You must be able to keep taking orders; who cares how fast you can process the orders if you can't even take more until the pick-up window clears!

Quote from: webny99 on June 22, 2018, 07:51:57 PM
My original point remains; it's seriously detrimental to wait times when the line for the pick-up window backs up to the order point. You must be able to keep taking orders; who cares how fast you can process the orders if you can't even take more until the pick-up window clears!

Some fast-food places will temporarily move the order point, by sending staff to take orders from cars not yet at the usual "order point". Of course, there are limits to that, including when the order line backs into the street (sensible people will skip the line at that point, perhaps to find a parking space and walk inside to order at the counter), or the staff in the kitchen inside are overwhelmed.

In even the relatively suburban parts of my county, land is scarce and expensive. Sometimes, placating the neighbors will be an issue, and I recall one situation in an adjacent county where the fast-food place was not allowed to open a drive-through line at all due to neighborhood pressure. "The Goal" exercise in constrained optimization has to deal with a lot of constraints, as others have noted above.

Quote from: webny99 on June 22, 2018, 10:34:06 AM

Quote from: Scott5114 on June 22, 2018, 03:32:44 AM

Quote from: webny99 on June 21, 2018, 08:38:32 AM

Quote from: Scott5114 on June 21, 2018, 01:07:03 AM
Bad metric. You'll often go 10 minutes or so with no orders at all and then get four or five people pull in at once. This could be due to stoplights metering traffic, something happening like a shift ending at a nearby business, etc.

Yes, but it's always a bad sign when the two lines run into each other. No matter how fast people arrive, you should be able to process the first order (unless it's an exceptionally big order) and have that car clear the pick-up window before you've taken three more orders.

As someone who did this as a profession I can tell you that that is simply not how it works.

You'll have to explain how it does work, then. I can think of no scenario in which it's a good thing to have two separate lines both waiting on the second one; it's basically the definition of inefficiency, and I say that having just learned a few things about efficiency from The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt. If something kills wait times, it's also killing the speed of service; you can't separate the two!

The rate at which people arrive is 100% irrelevant if there's already a line ten cars long, which is what happens at the Dunkin I mentioned originally.

It's not a good thing. But it also says nothing about the efficiency of the restaurant, because having a line back to the speaker does not necessarily indicate how long the cars ahead of you have been waiting. If the restaurant is on the corner, it tells you more about the timing of the stoplight.

Drive-thrus have a tracking system which tracks each car from the speaker to the time it leaves the window. Usually there is a goal time for each "time spent at speaker box", "time in queue", and "time at window" which is added to get the overall goal time.  As long as each of these goal times are being met it does not matter how many cars are in the line because they are all being serviced quickly.

Sometimes I would hold people at the speaker box so I could complete transactions ahead of them. This would sometimes cause a line to stack up behind the speaker box so that when I caught up and took the orders the line would be  back at the speaker box. But overall wait time would be lower because I was able to have several cars clear the window and then the speaker box in quick succession.

Quote from: hbelkins on June 22, 2018, 01:54:39 PM
I would have expected that the problems would come from the person making the order, not taking it. There have been several times when the order-taker has read my order back to me, "One Bacon SuperBurger without mayo," only for me to discover that nasty stuff on my sandwich.

My experience was that most errors came from what we called the "expediter", or the person who takes the finished sandwiches from the kitchen and distributes them to the proper orders. If someone ordered a regular Bacon SuperBurger at the same time you ordered a Bacon SuperBurger with no mayo, it would be a trivially easy error to grab the wrong one and put it in your bag. Or, worse, grab a front-counter to-go order and hand it to the drive-thru person.

To reduce errors, our restaurant usually had the manager running the expediter station.

^Chiming in on what Scott said about errors^

Most of my food experience was pizza delivery related  (Domino's and Pizza Hut). We didn't have drive thru's . Way back in the day at Domino's before computers we had these order sheets we called door sheets. They were 8"x 11" and had 5 or 6 strips on them (can't remember for sure) where we would write the information for each piece of the order on each strip so 2 pizza's would be two strips. Drinks would be recorded in a block on the first strip only (back in those days it was just Coke or Diet Coke anyway). We didn't have wings, sandwiches, bread sticks, any of those other things to distract us from getting your pizza there in less than 30 mins or you got $3.00 off.

Each strip had the top copy that stayed on the sheet, a pink copy that got hung on the make line and then transferred to the cut table when the pizza was made, and a sticky back copy that got stuck to the box.

The key to making all of this work was knowing by heart all the codes for the different toppings that goes on the pizza, because there really wasn't a whole lot of space in the order block for descriptions. Almost 30 years later and I still remember many of the codes. The Extravaganza (aka garbage pizza) code should make you laugh, it was a $.

Well, we had this one girl who for the life of her could NOT remember the codes for either bacon (K) or pineapple (N). She would write BC for bacon or PN for pineapple. This means those customers would get beef and extra cheese in the first instance or pepperoni and pineapple in the second. If we weren't that busy the cooks would stop production and ask her point blank what was supposed to be on the pizza. If we were getting smoked, then that probably wouldn't happen, soooo......

My point of all this was most of the time an order was screwed up, at least in the pizza business, it was because of an error by the order taker. Occasionally it could be the person at the cut table putting the wrong pizza in the wrong box (sometimes a newer driver trying to be helpful ended up being not so helpful), but usually the duty manager or the crew chief worked the cut table and that would cut down on that (no pun intended). As drivers we were more concerned with the minutia of the side extras (especially in my later days with Pizza Hut having all of the extra dishes they do). Extra napkins, forks, a second dipping sauce, maybe a 3rd if you were a known great tipper, things of that nature fell on us. If you didn't get that extra garlic butter you asked for it either wasn't on the ticket or it was my fault. If it wasn't on the ticket someone up front was getting cussed out when I got back to the store.

Those McDonald's kiosks suck ass!!! It took so long to figure that thing out. Manager told me that all restaurants will have them by 2019. I looked at the workers and told them their jobs were in jeopardy. The manager reassured me that those kiosks actually created an extra job or two. She said now the employees & managers can now open doors for customers & roam the floor interacting with the customers.

We shall see what really happens in the next couple of years.  :eyebrow:

Quote from: cjk374 on June 24, 2018, 04:11:34 PM
Those McDonald's kiosks suck ass!!! It took so long to figure that thing out. Manager told me that all restaurants will have them by 2019. I looked at the workers and told them their jobs were in jeopardy. The manager reassured me that those kiosks actually created an extra job or two. She said now the employees & managers can now open doors for customers & roam the floor interacting with the customers.

We shall see what really happens in the next couple of years.  :eyebrow:

Extra jobs for people keeping the machines working?

Quote from: cjk374 on June 24, 2018, 04:11:34 PM
Those McDonald's kiosks suck ass!!! It took so long to figure that thing out. Manager told me that all restaurants will have them by 2019. I looked at the workers and told them their jobs were in jeopardy. The manager reassured me that those kiosks actually created an extra job or two. She said now the employees & managers can now open doors for customers & roam the floor interacting with the customers.

We shall see what really happens in the next couple of years.  :eyebrow:

I have heard of some McDonald's offering table service, similar to the way Culver's does.

Quote from: US71 on June 24, 2018, 04:50:00 PM

Quote from: cjk374 on June 24, 2018, 04:11:34 PM
Those McDonald's kiosks suck ass!!! It took so long to figure that thing out. Manager told me that all restaurants will have them by 2019. I looked at the workers and told them their jobs were in jeopardy. The manager reassured me that those kiosks actually created an extra job or two. She said now the employees & managers can now open doors for customers & roam the floor interacting with the customers.

We shall see what really happens in the next couple of years.  :eyebrow:

Extra jobs for people keeping the machines working?

Might be a good time for more people to go into IT.

McDonalds claims the kiosks are so they can transition the staff to bring out your food like at Panera Bread.  Because we all know the reason they're losing business is because people want table service and not because they want less processed food.  I predict this idea will be a flop, if it's even real at all.  People don't go to McDonalds looking for the experience of a sit-down restaurant.

Regarding pizza orders, at least at my usual place, I think it's an issue with how the order is taken more often than not.  I actually use the price listed on the phone to confirm if they got my order right; if it's $19.42 (or if they don't say because they know it's my usual order), I know they did.  Still can only count on one hand the number of times they've messed up my order (even including times when I've caught them on the phone) over the four years I've been going to them most weeks on my hands.

Quote from: cjk374 on June 24, 2018, 04:11:34 PM
Those McDonald's kiosks suck ass!!! It took so long to figure that thing out. Manager told me that all restaurants will have them by 2019. I looked at the workers and told them their jobs were in jeopardy. The manager reassured me that those kiosks actually created an extra job or two. She said now the employees & managers can now open doors for customers & roam the floor interacting with the customers.

Some of those customers might prefer less "interaction" with the staff, so they can eat in peace. Yet another reason for me to stick with the drive-through line, unless I have to go inside for a pee break.

The kiosks I've seen are otherwise inoffensive, and if you pay with a credit card you can minimize unwanted interaction with staff (if you pay cash, you still have to go to a cashier after placing your order).

McDonald's is full of crap. They made not a peep about kiosks until a couple of West Coast cities got uppity about paying workers a living wage.

Quote from: hbelkins on June 24, 2018, 05:25:20 PM

Quote from: cjk374 on June 24, 2018, 04:11:34 PM
Those McDonald's kiosks suck ass!!! It took so long to figure that thing out. Manager told me that all restaurants will have them by 2019. I looked at the workers and told them their jobs were in jeopardy. The manager reassured me that those kiosks actually created an extra job or two. She said now the employees & managers can now open doors for customers & roam the floor interacting with the customers.

We shall see what really happens in the next couple of years.  :eyebrow:

I have heard of some McDonald's offering table service, similar to the way Culver's does.

I don't know what Culvers is, but the McDonald's near me (with kiosks) gives you table numbers, and they bring the food to you.

As far as I can tell, the kiosks haven't actually cut into jobs.

Quote from: jakeroot on June 25, 2018, 12:39:26 AM

Quote from: hbelkins on June 24, 2018, 05:25:20 PM

Quote from: cjk374 on June 24, 2018, 04:11:34 PM
Those McDonald's kiosks suck ass!!! It took so long to figure that thing out. Manager told me that all restaurants will have them by 2019. I looked at the workers and told them their jobs were in jeopardy. The manager reassured me that those kiosks actually created an extra job or two. She said now the employees & managers can now open doors for customers & roam the floor interacting with the customers.

We shall see what really happens in the next couple of years.  :eyebrow:

I have heard of some McDonald's offering table service, similar to the way Culver's does.

I don't know what Culvers is, but the McDonald's near me (with kiosks) gives you table numbers, and they bring the food to you.

As far as I can tell, the kiosks haven't actually cut into jobs.

Culver's is a casual fast food chain known for butterburgers and frozen custards. I believe they are mostly located in the Midwestern U.S. with about 600-700 locations. When you place your order you get a tent thing with a number on it, then you go sit down and they bring your food to your table.

Quote from: jakeroot on June 25, 2018, 12:39:26 AM
I don't know what Culvers is

You are seriously, big time, missing out (although as mentioned, they're primarily a Midwestern chain).

Quote from: webny99 on June 25, 2018, 09:16:29 AM

Quote from: jakeroot on June 25, 2018, 12:39:26 AM
I don't know what Culvers is

You are seriously, big time, missing out (although as mentioned, they're primarily a Midwestern chain).

Better burgers than Five Guys, and a lot cheaper as well.

Quote from: cjk374 on June 24, 2018, 04:11:34 PM
Those McDonald's kiosks suck ass!!! It took so long to figure that thing out. Manager told me that all restaurants will have them by 2019. I looked at the workers and told them their jobs were in jeopardy. The manager reassured me that those kiosks actually created an extra job or two. She said now the employees & managers can now open doors for customers & roam the floor interacting with the customers.

We shall see what really happens in the next couple of years.  :eyebrow:

Extra jobs...ha!  How many jobs were created by self-checkout machines at grocery stores (other than a service technician or two)?  Nowadays it's 6-8 of those machines and one employee in charge of telling the machine that there isn't actually an unexpected item in the bagging area.

Quote from: hbelkins on June 25, 2018, 10:02:10 AM

Quote from: webny99 on June 25, 2018, 09:16:29 AM

Quote from: jakeroot on June 25, 2018, 12:39:26 AM
I don't know what Culvers is

You are seriously, big time, missing out (although as mentioned, they're primarily a Midwestern chain).

Better burgers than Five Guys, and a lot cheaper as well.

I was talking to my friend from Chicago yesterday, and he was telling me the same thing. Apparently this Culvers is a pretty big deal in the Midwest. I certainly like a good burger, but I'm not holding out hope for them to show up in the Pacific Northwest anytime soon. Washington still doesn't even have a Cracker Barrel. We only just got Chick-fil-A in the last few years. We lag behind much of the country in chain options.

Culver's is one of my favorite post-weight loss surgery fast food chains - I can eat an order of 4 buffalo chicken tenders and a small root beer with no issues.  Just need to stay away from the cheese curds.

Culver's cheese curds are breaded. I like them better when they're battered, like the ones Sheetz has.

Quote from: vdeane on June 24, 2018, 05:25:54 PM
McDonalds claims the kiosks are so they can transition the staff to bring out your food like at Panera Bread.  Because we all know the reason they're losing business is because people want table service and not because they want less processed food.  I predict this idea will be a flop, if it's even real at all.  People don't go to McDonalds looking for the experience of a sit-down restaurant.

Regarding pizza orders, at least at my usual place, I think it's an issue with how the order is taken more often than not.  I actually use the price listed on the phone to confirm if they got my order right; if it's $19.42 (or if they don't say because they know it's my usual order), I know they did.  Still can only count on one hand the number of times they've messed up my order (even including times when I've caught them on the phone) over the four years I've been going to them most weeks on my hands.

We tend to try different pizza places on occasion. There was one we liked but stopped going to because they messed up a few orders.  After many years, we were driving by and decided to try them again.  We stopped there and told the counter person we wanted a medium pizza, half green peppers, half meatballs.  We also noticed she seemed preoccupied with her young child in the restaurant.

After we paid what seemed to be a fairly high price based on the menu pricing, I looked at the pizza and they put the toppings on the SAME side.  That's happened before on rare occasion, but usually a messed up phone order. Not one clearly told right there in the restaurant.  I said don't worry about it and we left.  I looked at the pricing later on, including on their ordering app, and could only conclude that they charged us a mandatory fee or tip.

Oh well. Writing that one off for good.

Quote from: abefroman329 on June 25, 2018, 10:12:00 AM

Quote from: cjk374 on June 24, 2018, 04:11:34 PM
Those McDonald's kiosks suck ass!!! It took so long to figure that thing out. Manager told me that all restaurants will have them by 2019. I looked at the workers and told them their jobs were in jeopardy. The manager reassured me that those kiosks actually created an extra job or two. She said now the employees & managers can now open doors for customers & roam the floor interacting with the customers.

We shall see what really happens in the next couple of years.  :eyebrow:

Extra jobs...ha!  How many jobs were created by self-checkout machines at grocery stores (other than a service technician or two)?  Nowadays it's 6-8 of those machines and one employee in charge of telling the machine that there isn't actually an unexpected item in the bagging area.

Self-checkout at supermarkets is dying a slow death.  Why?  Because most people don't want to use it.  It can be great if the store is busy and you only have a handful of items (provided the equipment doesn't break down or get too anal about the number of items on the belt at one time).  But if you have the "normal" number of items for a typical grocery run, it can be painfully slow, even if there are no "too many items on the belt" issues or similar problems.

Plus, ordering food through a kiosk at a fast food joint versus purchasing groceries with a self-checkout is really not a fair comparison.

Quote from: abefroman329 on June 25, 2018, 10:12:00 AM

Quote from: cjk374 on June 24, 2018, 04:11:34 PM
Those McDonald's kiosks suck ass!!! It took so long to figure that thing out. Manager told me that all restaurants will have them by 2019. I looked at the workers and told them their jobs were in jeopardy. The manager reassured me that those kiosks actually created an extra job or two. She said now the employees & managers can now open doors for customers & roam the floor interacting with the customers.

We shall see what really happens in the next couple of years.  :eyebrow:

Extra jobs...ha!  How many jobs were created by self-checkout machines at grocery stores (other than a service technician or two)?  Nowadays it's 6-8 of those machines and one employee in charge of telling the machine that there isn't actually an unexpected item in the bagging area.

Or when you purchase alcohol, cold medication, something doesn't scan, the scanned item lags and subsequently double-charges...

Quote from: roadman on June 25, 2018, 02:17:53 PM

Quote from: abefroman329 on June 25, 2018, 10:12:00 AM

Quote from: cjk374 on June 24, 2018, 04:11:34 PM
Those McDonald's kiosks suck ass!!! It took so long to figure that thing out. Manager told me that all restaurants will have them by 2019. I looked at the workers and told them their jobs were in jeopardy. The manager reassured me that those kiosks actually created an extra job or two. She said now the employees & managers can now open doors for customers & roam the floor interacting with the customers.

We shall see what really happens in the next couple of years.  :eyebrow:

Extra jobs...ha!  How many jobs were created by self-checkout machines at grocery stores (other than a service technician or two)?  Nowadays it's 6-8 of those machines and one employee in charge of telling the machine that there isn't actually an unexpected item in the bagging area.

Self-checkout at supermarkets is dying a slow death.  Why?  Because most people don't want to use it.  It can be great if the store is busy and you only have a handful of items (provided the equipment doesn't break down or get too anal about the number of items on the belt at one time).  But if you have the "normal" number of items for a typical grocery run, it can be painfully slow, even if there are no "too many items on the belt" issues or similar problems.

Really?  At the supermarkets I go to they tend to have lines.  There are lots of people getting just a few things that don't require shopping carts.  And that includes having a good number of regular lanes open too.

ACME in the Philly/NJ area did try doing away with the self-checkouts.  After just a month or two they were re-installed.  Best I could tell, they put in regular lanes, but never added additional cashiers.  So instead of 1 clerk for 4 self-checkout lanes, there was 1 clerk for 1 regular lane.  Longer lines at all checkouts, and the resulting loss of customers due to plenty of competition told ACME that they screwed that one up.  This little blog post details a few opinions about that move... http://acmestyleblog.blogspot.com/2017/11/check-out-this-email-from-acme.html

I have also witnessed attempts to remove self-checkouts only to see them operating again in short order.

Wisconsin is Culver's home state and I know Michigan, Indiana and Illinois have locations but without looking I'm sure Ohio has some and probably Iowa and Minnesota too.

Quote from: Flint1979 on June 25, 2018, 02:42:47 PM
Wisconsin is Culver's home state and I know Michigan, Indiana and Illinois have locations but without looking I'm sure Ohio has some and probably Iowa and Minnesota too.

Iowa definitely does. I ate at the one in Decorah when spending the night there last year.

Quote from: roadman on June 25, 2018, 02:17:53 PMPlus, ordering food through a kiosk at a fast food joint versus purchasing groceries with a self-checkout is really not a fair comparison.

Why not?

I must be lucky or something, because I can't remember the last time a fast food place screwed up my order.  Maybe I should play the lotto.

I'm never in any particular hurry, but around here McDonald's seems to be the fastest and Taco Bell is the slowest.  Arby's is somewhere in between.  I only hit up Burger King and Wendy's infrequently but when I have, my order has come pretty quick.  I am basing this off of experience at the locations on Gull Rd in Kalamazoo, MI.

Quote from: ce929wax on June 25, 2018, 04:27:56 PM
I must be lucky or something, because I can't remember the last time a fast food place screwed up my order.

I tend to order regular menu items, with no add-ons or special requests, which helps to ensure that I rarely get the wrong product. It's much more likely that they'll forget something I ordered altogether than give me the wrong thing. When something has been forgotten, it's easy to notice from a quick glance in the bag, and easy to fix at the window you catch it in time.

I guess what I'm saying is you're probably not particularly lucky; unless you're adding and subtracting a whole bunch of stuff from a menu item, your chances of getting the right thing are probably higher than you think!

When I go to Taco Bell, I get a number 7 with a crunchy taco and a drink.  I also get nachos.  There have been a couple of occasions where I have gotten a burrito and made a special request such as no rice and they haven't gotten it wrong yet.  When I go to Arby's or Mickey D's I get chicken nuggets/strips and fries or mozzarella sticks in lieu of fries at Arby's.  When I go to Burger King I get the Double Whopper meal large with just mayo and ketchup.  The worst that has happened is that Burger King has given me a single whopper instead.  When I order, I typically tell them the meal number instead of what it is.

Quote from: roadman on June 25, 2018, 02:17:53 PM

Quote from: abefroman329 on June 25, 2018, 10:12:00 AM

Quote from: cjk374 on June 24, 2018, 04:11:34 PM
Those McDonald's kiosks suck ass!!! It took so long to figure that thing out. Manager told me that all restaurants will have them by 2019. I looked at the workers and told them their jobs were in jeopardy. The manager reassured me that those kiosks actually created an extra job or two. She said now the employees & managers can now open doors for customers & roam the floor interacting with the customers.

We shall see what really happens in the next couple of years.  :eyebrow:

Extra jobs...ha!  How many jobs were created by self-checkout machines at grocery stores (other than a service technician or two)?  Nowadays it's 6-8 of those machines and one employee in charge of telling the machine that there isn't actually an unexpected item in the bagging area.

Self-checkout at supermarkets is dying a slow death.  Why?  Because most people don't want to use it.  It can be great if the store is busy and you only have a handful of items (provided the equipment doesn't break down or get too anal about the number of items on the belt at one time).  But if you have the "normal" number of items for a typical grocery run, it can be painfully slow, even if there are no "too many items on the belt" issues or similar problems.

Plus, ordering food through a kiosk at a fast food joint versus purchasing groceries with a self-checkout is really not a fair comparison.

Self-checkout ain't dying around here. In fact, Wal-Mart just installed MORE of those monstrosities. They have also installed their new "orange tower of internet doom" related to their new online ordering business.

Quote from: hbelkins on June 25, 2018, 02:56:41 PM

Quote from: Flint1979 on June 25, 2018, 02:42:47 PM
Wisconsin is Culver's home state and I know Michigan, Indiana and Illinois have locations but without looking I'm sure Ohio has some and probably Iowa and Minnesota too.

Iowa definitely does. I ate at the one in Decorah when spending the night there last year.

There's one here on Des Moines' south side, and I'm sure there's others in the metro area/outstate. They're all over Minnesota too.

Rather than guessing, it's easy enough to see where all of the Culver's locations are:

https://www.culvers.com/locator/view-all-locations

It's on our list of places to hit when traveling in their regions.

Quote from: Jim on June 25, 2018, 10:16:35 PM
Rather than guessing, it's easy enough to see where all of the Culver's locations are:

Aww, but where's the fun in that? :-P

Quote from: cjk374 on June 25, 2018, 10:06:23 PMThey have also installed their new "orange tower of internet doom" related to their new online ordering business.

Oh, that thing.  The last time I tried to pick up an order I placed online for in-store pickup, it was broken, and when I checked in with a store employee, they said "yeah, we don't actually have that" (after I'd gotten an email saying it was ready for pickup).  Walmart's attempts to compete with Amazon would probably actually be a challenge if they weren't so Walmart about it.

You're right on the money with Walmart.  Comes across as a real unreliable amd shabby business process on their part the couple of times I have tried it out.  They could do a lot better.

Quote from: abefroman329 on June 26, 2018, 10:08:09 AM

Quote from: cjk374 on June 25, 2018, 10:06:23 PMThey have also installed their new "orange tower of internet doom" related to their new online ordering business.

Oh, that thing.  The last time I tried to pick up an order I placed online for in-store pickup, it was broken, and when I checked in with a store employee, they said "yeah, we don't actually have that" (after I'd gotten an email saying it was ready for pickup).  Walmart's attempts to compete with Amazon would probably actually be a challenge if they weren't so Walmart about it.

The one time I used it they had the product...somewhere in the store.  Took about 15 minutes for them to find it.  That said, the person concentrated solely on that and didn't push me aside.

I had a recent order for pickup at Lowes.  Same thing - wasn't at the front desk, and they had to go in the back to get it.  20 minutes later, they said they're still getting it and it was behind a lot of other stuff, even though I practically came over the moment I got the notice it was in.

I usually don't do order-ahead stuff unless I absolutely need to.  I do see a lot of people talk on Facebook about online-grocery shopping at the nearby Shoprites, and at least they all seem to have very positive experiences with that service.

I did in-store pickup at Home Depot for some patio furniture because I was worried it would sell out before I could get down there.  I waited in line forever (mainly because one of the three customer service employees was shooting the shit with a customer the whole time), and then the girl couldn't find it, and then she couldn't get it out of the storage locker without help, and then she told me I needed to go get a flatcart.  It wasn't my best HD experience.

I do in-store pickup at Best Buy a lot; it's not necessarily faster than going to the shelf to get it (assuming I know where to find it), but it's nice not to have to deal with salespeople that are trying to upsell me.

Regarding self-checkouts, I'm not sure if it's "they're so successful we need them" so much as "we're not staffing the lines anyways so we might as well convert them".  The local Hannaford recently went from 10 regular lanes plus four self-checkouts to six self-checkouts and six regular lines.  The self-checkouts were never at capacity, but it does seem like they have most of the lanes staffed now, whereas before most of them were closed at any given time, so they might have just decided to get rid of the lanes they don't use and add self-checkouts since they're better than a closed lane.

Walmart is a disgusting store that I pretty much refuse to step foot in unless I really have to anymore. Meijer blows Walmart away in the state of Michigan and is a much better store. The quality of products, the cleanness of the store, the layout of the store is all better at Meijer than Walmart.

Quote from: Flint1979 on June 26, 2018, 01:10:52 PM
Meijer blows Walmart away in the state of Michigan and is a much better store. The quality of products, the cleanness of the store, the layout of the store is all better at Meijer than Walmart.

Agreed, though they also blow away Walmart in Indiana and Illinois.

Quote from: Flint1979 on June 26, 2018, 01:10:52 PM
Walmart is a disgusting store that I pretty much refuse to step foot in unless I really have to anymore. Meijer blows Walmart away in the state of Michigan and is a much better store. The quality of products, the cleanness of the store, the layout of the store is all better at Meijer than Walmart.

This thread is about fastest fast food.  It's tangented into fastest check out lanes and self-serve checkout lanes.  Your rant has nothing to do with either.  Why do some people must give us their opinion of Walmart at every opportunity they can, when it doesn't remotely have anything to do with the topic?  And what does Meijer's layout in the state of Michigan (as opposed to the city of Michigan, the planet of Michigan, the month of Michigan?) have to do with anything here?

So wait, you're telling me a thread in the off-topic board, went... off-topic? :awesomeface:

Quote from: MNHighwayMan on June 26, 2018, 01:42:25 PM
So wait, you're telling me a thread in the off-topic board, went… off-topic? :awesomeface:

Badly off topic!!

It morphed from McDonald's kiosks...to self checkout lanes (which are akin to each other IMO)...to Wal-Mart. I am surprised Wal-Mart hasn't tried gettin into the fast food busin....oh wait. Does their deli cooking up fried chicken with sides count as fast food?  :hmmm:

Quote from: cjk374 on June 26, 2018, 06:19:59 PM
It morphed from McDonald's kiosks...to self checkout lanes (which are akin to each other IMO)...to Wal-Mart. I am surprised Wal-Mart hasn't tried gettin into the fast food busin....oh wait. Does their deli cooking up fried chicken with sides count as fast food?  :hmmm:

Walmart has in some places more directly borrowed from McD's playbook. In addition to the bulkier self-check stations with the machinery to handle cash transactions (when it's working, which often it isn't), it has added self-serve kiosks similar to McD's that will only accept credit cards and other electronic payments. They take up less space than the traditional self-check stations, freeing up floor space for more stations.

Quote from: jakeroot on June 25, 2018, 01:34:58 PM

Quote from: hbelkins on June 25, 2018, 10:02:10 AM

Quote from: webny99 on June 25, 2018, 09:16:29 AM

Quote from: jakeroot on June 25, 2018, 12:39:26 AM
I don't know what Culvers is

You are seriously, big time, missing out (although as mentioned, they're primarily a Midwestern chain).

Better burgers than Five Guys, and a lot cheaper as well.

I was talking to my friend from Chicago yesterday, and he was telling me the same thing. Apparently this Culvers is a pretty big deal in the Midwest. I certainly like a good burger, but I'm not holding out hope for them to show up in the Pacific Northwest anytime soon. Washington still doesn't even have a Cracker Barrel. We only just got Chick-fil-A in the last few years. We lag behind much of the country in chain options.

Well, they recently opened one in Meridian, ID (which qualifies as PNW as far as I'm concerned; Twin Falls and Idaho Falls also have locations), so it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to Oregon or Washington at this point. I like it, it's pretty good, though nothing mind-blowing. I'd visit it more if it was in a more convenient location to me. Culver's, Taco John's, and now Freddy's (they had a short lived location in Boise) are all restaurants I enjoy that exist in Meridian and not Boise.

One place I didn't mind self-checkout machines at all was at car rental agencies, mainly because I hated all of the attempts to upsell me, particularly the attempts to scare me into buying insurance I never needed.  But those seem to have disappeared, and signing up for the various frequent-renter schemes where I can bypass the counter and go straight to the car is an acceptable substitute.

Quote from: abefroman329 on June 27, 2018, 11:48:24 AM
One place I didn't mind self-checkout machines at all was at car rental agencies, mainly because I hated all of the attempts to upsell me, particularly the attempts to scare me into buying insurance I never needed.  But those seem to have disappeared, and signing up for the various frequent-renter schemes where I can bypass the counter and go straight to the car is an acceptable substitute.

They certainly save time, but as a car-geek, the art of last-second negotiations for something nicer would keep me going to the counter.

On my family's last trip to Florida, we were supposed to rent a midsize SUV, but ended up in a Yukon for like $15 extra per day (hell of a deal for what is usually considered a luxury vehicle -- we weren't paying much per day already). We liked the 'truck' so much, we often joked about buying one when we got back to Seattle. But, with fuel prices the way they are up here, we'd really rather it had a diesel option.

Quote from: jakeroot on June 27, 2018, 02:13:19 PM

Quote from: abefroman329 on June 27, 2018, 11:48:24 AM
One place I didn't mind self-checkout machines at all was at car rental agencies, mainly because I hated all of the attempts to upsell me, particularly the attempts to scare me into buying insurance I never needed.  But those seem to have disappeared, and signing up for the various frequent-renter schemes where I can bypass the counter and go straight to the car is an acceptable substitute.

They certainly save time, but as a car-geek, the art of last-second negotiations for something nicer would keep me going to the counter.

On my family's last trip to Florida, we were supposed to rent a midsize SUV, but ended up in a Yukon for like $15 extra per day (hell of a deal for what is usually considered a luxury vehicle -- we weren't paying much per day already). We liked the 'truck' so much, we often joked about buying one when we got back to Seattle. But, with fuel prices the way they are up here, we'd really rather it had a diesel option.

The kiosks made upsell offers to a bigger car class too.

Quote from: abefroman329 on June 27, 2018, 02:21:54 PM

Quote from: jakeroot on June 27, 2018, 02:13:19 PM

Quote from: abefroman329 on June 27, 2018, 11:48:24 AM
One place I didn't mind self-checkout machines at all was at car rental agencies, mainly because I hated all of the attempts to upsell me, particularly the attempts to scare me into buying insurance I never needed.  But those seem to have disappeared, and signing up for the various frequent-renter schemes where I can bypass the counter and go straight to the car is an acceptable substitute.

They certainly save time, but as a car-geek, the art of last-second negotiations for something nicer would keep me going to the counter.

On my family's last trip to Florida, we were supposed to rent a midsize SUV, but ended up in a Yukon for like $15 extra per day (hell of a deal for what is usually considered a luxury vehicle -- we weren't paying much per day already). We liked the 'truck' so much, we often joked about buying one when we got back to Seattle. But, with fuel prices the way they are up here, we'd really rather it had a diesel option.

The kiosks made upsell offers to a bigger car class too.

Sure, but when you tell Suzie at the front counter that you only have an extra $10/day, she can make some magic happen! You can always ask for a bigger car, but they'll be more than happy to fuck you over with an outrageous upgrade cost. There's no way to negotiate with a computer.

Quote from: jakeroot on June 27, 2018, 03:19:29 PM

Quote from: abefroman329 on June 27, 2018, 02:21:54 PM

Quote from: jakeroot on June 27, 2018, 02:13:19 PM

Quote from: abefroman329 on June 27, 2018, 11:48:24 AM
One place I didn't mind self-checkout machines at all was at car rental agencies, mainly because I hated all of the attempts to upsell me, particularly the attempts to scare me into buying insurance I never needed.  But those seem to have disappeared, and signing up for the various frequent-renter schemes where I can bypass the counter and go straight to the car is an acceptable substitute.

They certainly save time, but as a car-geek, the art of last-second negotiations for something nicer would keep me going to the counter.

On my family's last trip to Florida, we were supposed to rent a midsize SUV, but ended up in a Yukon for like $15 extra per day (hell of a deal for what is usually considered a luxury vehicle -- we weren't paying much per day already). We liked the 'truck' so much, we often joked about buying one when we got back to Seattle. But, with fuel prices the way they are up here, we'd really rather it had a diesel option.

The kiosks made upsell offers to a bigger car class too.

Sure, but when you tell Suzie at the front counter that you only have an extra $10/day, she can make some magic happen! You can always ask for a bigger car, but they'll be more than happy to fuck you over with an outrageous upgrade cost. There's no way to negotiate with a computer.

True. And both a live human being and a computer will sell you an upgrade you were gonna get for free anyway, since they don't have any more cars in the class you reserved (but neither will tell you that fact beforehand).

I don't know if the Berlin, CT McDonald's (185 New Britain Road...part of CT Route 71) will have those kiosk things being mentioned soon. I do know that they just started a renovation project on Monday, June 25th. That wouldn't be so bad except...they already made the whole place over within the past 2 years.
(https://i.imgur.com/jJdoqHe.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/7xdQ8qq.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/TVJbRmo.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/lc99ied.jpg)

Maybe they want ours to look like this one on US Route 1 southbound in Wells, ME? Is that a double drive thru lane?  :hmmm:
(https://i.imgur.com/ozINCFr.jpg)

Yes, it's a double drive-thru lane. Well, two lanes to order, but funneled down to 1 for payment and order pickup, and if the second person to place their order cuts in front of the first one in the line, things go to shit pretty quickly.

Quote from: KEVIN_224 on June 27, 2018, 10:01:34 PM
I don't know if the Berlin, CT McDonald's (185 New Britain Road...part of CT Route 71) will have those kiosk things being mentioned soon. I do know that they just started a renovation project on Monday, June 25th. That wouldn't be so bad except...they already made the whole place over within the past 2 years.

Maybe they want ours to look like this one on US Route 1 southbound in Wells, ME? Is that a double drive thru lane?  :hmmm:
(https://i.imgur.com/ozINCFr.jpg)

Double lane drive-thrus are very common around here. All new/remodeled BK's and McDonald's have them, as do Chick-fil-A's.