Drive-thru's backing up onto streets

[rickmastfan67]

The staffing shortage could have been legitimate, but limiting customers to one item is obviously a terrible resolution (does this mean literally one item? what about meal combos? people with a spouse and/or kids (basically everyone)? etc.). A better solution would be to cone off the drive thru after a set number of cars, or even just telling people about the staff shortage combined with longer wait times could be a significant deterrent.

Yeah, all five of us were in the car, picking up lunch on the way home from church.  I told her through the speaker that we had planned to order a taco party pack (12 identical tacos).  Her answer:  Sorry about that.

I would report their ass to corporate.

Yeah, that's an automatic report to corporate for sure.

[HighwayStar]

The staffing shortage could have been legitimate, but limiting customers to one item is obviously a terrible resolution (does this mean literally one item? what about meal combos? people with a spouse and/or kids (basically everyone)? etc.). A better solution would be to cone off the drive thru after a set number of cars, or even just telling people about the staff shortage combined with longer wait times could be a significant deterrent.

Yeah, all five of us were in the car, picking up lunch on the way home from church.  I told her through the speaker that we had planned to order a taco party pack (12 identical tacos).  Her answer:  Sorry about that.

I would report their ass to corporate.

Yeah, that's an automatic report to corporate for sure.

Lets not forget this happened. https://www.cracked.com/article_28014_the-crazy-story-fake-burger-king-in-pittsburgh.html

If you see something, say something. 

[Scott5114]

For the most part any dining rooms in the Twin Cities that aren't fully reopened at this point are due to staffing issues, not COVID.

I think that has been true most places for months now, but they keep using COVID as an excuse where possible.

At a Taco Bell near me, which is open for drive-through only, the cashier recently told us they were limiting orders to one item only.  I assume that's because there was only one or two people on staff in the entire place.  Not going back there anytime soon.

Why on earth would they bother staying open at all then?

The real answer is they were not authorized to limit orders that way, and corporate would probabally have a cow if they found out what they were up to. Its not a rational business decision by any means, but for a couple lazy employees that want to collect a cheque and not work it makes perfect sense.

tell me you've never worked a day in your life without telling me you've never worked a day in your life

I've worked plenty trust me. And worked food service for a chunk of it. Never closed early or short serviced a customer because I felt like sitting on my hindquarters and playing on my phone.

That's the problem. You've posted enough shit here that is 100% wrong that I don't trust you. You have no credibility.

You haven't the foggiest clue about what's going on in this particular Taco Bell. It could well be that there's one person working there because everyone besides the person ordering quit, and this person is trying to offer the only semblance of service that they can actually successfully pull off. Props to them if so. What else are they supposed to do, if corporate won't adequately staff the store? "We won't give you enough people to run the store but we also won't let you close" is exactly the sort of horseshit one can expect from corporate.

We had a Burger King in our franchise where that happened more than once, except the last person left too, so there was just an entirely vacant Burger King left with the lights on, money in the till, and nobody home. Sometimes after people had already paid and not gotten their food yet. Usually when that'd happen we'd get a call from the panicked district manager asking for some manager from our store to drive down there ASAP and at least close out the register and put the money in the safe.

You are not entitled to be able to demand an order of arbitrary size at a restaurant. You don't get to unilaterally decide the terms of the business transaction just because you have the money. If the business cannot or even doesn't want to fulfill your request, that's the business's choice to make.

[HighwayStar]

For the most part any dining rooms in the Twin Cities that aren't fully reopened at this point are due to staffing issues, not COVID.

I think that has been true most places for months now, but they keep using COVID as an excuse where possible.

At a Taco Bell near me, which is open for drive-through only, the cashier recently told us they were limiting orders to one item only.  I assume that's because there was only one or two people on staff in the entire place.  Not going back there anytime soon.

Why on earth would they bother staying open at all then?

The real answer is they were not authorized to limit orders that way, and corporate would probabally have a cow if they found out what they were up to. Its not a rational business decision by any means, but for a couple lazy employees that want to collect a cheque and not work it makes perfect sense.

tell me you've never worked a day in your life without telling me you've never worked a day in your life

I've worked plenty trust me. And worked food service for a chunk of it. Never closed early or short serviced a customer because I felt like sitting on my hindquarters and playing on my phone.

That's the problem. You've posted enough shit here that is 100% wrong that I don't trust you. You have no credibility.

You haven't the foggiest clue about what's going on in this particular Taco Bell. It could well be that there's one person working there because everyone besides the person ordering quit, and this person is trying to offer the only semblance of service that they can actually successfully pull off. Props to them if so. What else are they supposed to do, if corporate won't adequately staff the store? "We won't give you enough people to run the store but we also won't let you close" is exactly the sort of horseshit one can expect from corporate.

We had a Burger King in our franchise where that happened more than once, except the last person left too, so there was just an entirely vacant Burger King left with the lights on, money in the till, and nobody home. Sometimes after people had already paid and not gotten their food yet. Usually when that'd happen we'd get a call from the panicked district manager asking for some manager from our store to drive down there ASAP and at least close out the register and put the money in the safe.

You are not entitled to be able to demand an order of arbitrary size at a restaurant. You don't get to unilaterally decide the terms of the business transaction just because you have the money. If the business cannot or even doesn't want to fulfill your request, that's the business's choice to make.

If its actually franchised the most likely outcome is corporate tells the franchisee to get it together or they will revoke the franchise.

[Scott5114]

Wrong. The actual most likely outcome is that the person working the counter trying to hold things together gets in trouble while the corporate managers who set that person up to fail suffer no consequences at all.

[Max Rockatansky]

Apparently Jesus Chicken has gotten into trouble with the City of Santa Barbara by being the cause of backups on State Street:

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-03-14/city-of-santa-barbara-could-declare-chick-fil-a-drive-thru-a-public-nuisance

Granted, I don't know how a restaurant can really be held accountable for being too successful?

[HighwayStar]

Apparently Jesus Chicken has gotten into trouble with the City of Santa Barbara by being the cause of backups on State Street:

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-03-14/city-of-santa-barbara-could-declare-chick-fil-a-drive-thru-a-public-nuisance

Granted, I don't know how a restaurant can really be held accountable for being too successful?

If there is a state that can manage that it will be California.

This part of the article is really intriguing though.

The city has been in talks with the store's operators for years and in 2020, the city recommended Chick-fil-A hire a security firm to manage traffic at the location.

If the issue is that there are more customers there than the drive through can process, then how is having "traffic management" going to really solve anything? Maybe make people leave gaps for other driveways or something? Which leads into another problem, that if they are actually on the city street I doubt a private security firm would have any jurisdiction to tell people what to do.

But of course this is California, and its obvious the problem is one of their own making.

Drive-through businesses are rare in Santa Barbara because the city banned the construction of new drive-through businesses more than 40 years ago. Chick-fil-A is grandfathered into its site, which was previously a Burger King drive-through that had nowhere near the same volume of traffic.

[Max Rockatansky]

Apparently Jesus Chicken has gotten into trouble with the City of Santa Barbara by being the cause of backups on State Street:

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-03-14/city-of-santa-barbara-could-declare-chick-fil-a-drive-thru-a-public-nuisance

Granted, I don't know how a restaurant can really be held accountable for being too successful?

If there is a state that can manage that it will be California.

This part of the article is really intriguing though.

The city has been in talks with the store's operators for years and in 2020, the city recommended Chick-fil-A hire a security firm to manage traffic at the location.

If the issue is that there are more customers there than the drive through can process, then how is having "traffic management" going to really solve anything? Maybe make people leave gaps for other driveways or something? Which leads into another problem, that if they are actually on the city street I doubt a private security firm would have any jurisdiction to tell people what to do.

But of course this is California, and its obvious the problem is one of their own making.

Drive-through businesses are rare in Santa Barbara because the city banned the construction of new drive-through businesses more than 40 years ago. Chick-fil-A is grandfathered into its site, which was previously a Burger King drive-through that had nowhere near the same volume of traffic.

Worth noting that physical space is a huge issue in Santa Barbara and the lands along Santa Barbara Channel.  All the same, the easy solution would to be to build a second location to take advantage of overflow business.  Santa Barbara seems to have made that extremely difficult but I do wonder if a business case for nearby Goleta could be made?

[US 89]

A friend of mine went to the Krystal drive-thru near me about a week ago late at night. When he pulled up to the speaker, the woman on the other end said she was the only one working in the entire restaurant and so couldn't serve him anything.

[HighwayStar]

A friend of mine went to the Krystal drive-thru near me about a week ago late at night. When he pulled up to the speaker, the woman on the other end said she was the only one working in the entire restaurant and so couldn't serve him anything.

I had some friends a few months ago that reported going to a Burger King, waiting in line for the better part of 30 minutes, only for an employee to come out and say they just decided to close for the night.
These types of problems seem to be getting worse.

[abefroman329]

For the most part any dining rooms in the Twin Cities that aren't fully reopened at this point are due to staffing issues, not COVID.

I think that has been true most places for months now, but they keep using COVID as an excuse where possible.

At a Taco Bell near me, which is open for drive-through only, the cashier recently told us they were limiting orders to one item only.  I assume that's because there was only one or two people on staff in the entire place.  Not going back there anytime soon.

Why on earth would they bother staying open at all then?

The real answer is they were not authorized to limit orders that way, and corporate would probabally have a cow if they found out what they were up to. Its not a rational business decision by any means, but for a couple lazy employees that want to collect a cheque and not work it makes perfect sense.

tell me you've never worked a day in your life without telling me you've never worked a day in your life

I've worked plenty trust me. And worked food service for a chunk of it. Never closed early or short serviced a customer because I felt like sitting on my hindquarters and playing on my phone.

tell me you've never worked a day in your life without telling me you've never worked a day in your life

[hbelkins]

Back on topic...

https://www.wsbtv.com/news/trending/california-city-may-declare-chick-fil-a-public-nuisance/LFWX3VMSVREUHHXCSFCXUUWGOE/?utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=trueanthem&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR3O7i1AbsW7BQC4RItaMt4YgCdtRezb4S5BM3FxMmNG3avkmB7IA1k6Jkw

EDIT: This is the same one referenced above and the TV station's story actually references the LAT story.

[abefroman329]

Back on topic...

https://www.wsbtv.com/news/trending/california-city-may-declare-chick-fil-a-public-nuisance/LFWX3VMSVREUHHXCSFCXUUWGOE/?utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=trueanthem&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR3O7i1AbsW7BQC4RItaMt4YgCdtRezb4S5BM3FxMmNG3avkmB7IA1k6Jkw

Interesting - I wonder if insurance companies noticed how many claims they were having to pay thanks to this traffic and made a stink with the local authorities.

[J N Winkler]

At a Taco Bell near me, which is open for drive-through only, the cashier recently told us they were limiting orders to one item only.  I assume that's because there was only one or two people on staff in the entire place.  Not going back there anytime soon.

Out of interest, which one was that?

Here in northwest Wichita, by far the most troublesome of our Saturday fast-food regulars has been the Popeye's near Central and West--there are different faces behind the counter nearly every time I go in (a sign of high turnover) and they have turned off the customer-facing screens at each till so that you cannot tell by sight whether they're ringing up a dinner (no drinks) as a combo (drinks at a dollar extra).

[kphoger]

At a Taco Bell near me, which is open for drive-through only, the cashier recently told us they were limiting orders to one item only.  I assume that's because there was only one or two people on staff in the entire place.  Not going back there anytime soon.

Out of interest, which one was that?

Here in northwest Wichita, by far the most troublesome of our Saturday fast-food regulars has been the Popeye's near Central and West--there are different faces behind the counter nearly every time I go in (a sign of high turnover) and they have turned off the customer-facing screens at each till so that you cannot tell by sight whether they're ringing up a dinner (no drinks) as a combo (drinks at a dollar extra).

Across from Via Christi on Harry.

I didn't use to see the high turnover you speak of.  When dining in, it was often the same lady I was used to seeing.  Google Maps currently shows it as open for dine-in, but I haven't gone inside since before the pandemic, so I don't know if even she is still working there.  But I don't even want to go back now, considering the bad taste left in my mouth.

...

And, before anyone makes a comment about Taco Bell and bad tastes ... Yes, I know Taco Bell isn't authentic Mexican food:  I've spent a total of probably two or three months in Mexico over the years, and most of those meals were home-cooking.  Yes, I know it's just cheap American-Mexican food.  Yes, I still enjoy eating there.  I don't go there for an authentic Mexican experience.  I go there for an easy way to feed a family of five after church sometimes, or to get a cheap bean and rice burrito or a Mexican pizza.  Heck, I actually prefer Taco Bell's quesadillas to those I've eaten in Mexico.

[HighwayStar]

And, before anyone makes a comment about Taco Bell and bad tastes ... Yes, I know Taco Bell isn't authentic Mexican food:  I've spent a total of probably two or three months in Mexico over the years, and most of those meals were home-cooking.  Yes, I know it's just cheap American-Mexican food.  Yes, I still enjoy eating there.  I don't go there for an authentic Mexican experience.  I go there for an easy way to feed a family of five after church sometimes, or to get a cheap bean and rice burrito or a Mexican pizza.  Heck, I actually prefer Taco Bell's quesadillas to those I've eaten in Mexico.

I don't think there is anything wrong with Taco Bell, its exactly what it advertises, fast food Mexican. Complaining that that Taco Bell is not "authentic" is like saying McDonald's burgers are not "authentic" because the hamburger is not made in Hamburg.
I find I don't go there often, mainly because they don't serve Coke products, but they are actually a great way to add variety on a road trip after you have had your fill of hamburgers.
Would also make good service plaza restaurants, fast and cheap.

[J N Winkler]

Across from Via Christi on Harry.

Thanks.  It surprises me they are having so much trouble.  They apparently have the highest rating (3.8, per Google) of any Taco Bell in Wichita, and I'd have thought they'd be doing land-office business with St. Joe's across the street.

[kphoger]

Across from Via Christi on Harry.

Thanks.  It surprises me they are having so much trouble.  They apparently have the highest rating (3.8, per Google) of any Taco Bell in Wichita, and I'd have thought they'd be doing land-office business with St. Joe's across the street.

Their lobby was closed to dine-in longer than many other restaurants, too, I noticed.

In the past, I never had any problem with them.

[Bruce]

Santa Barbara wants to declare CFA a "public nuisance" for causing 90-minute backups onto the street on weekdays and 155-minute backups on Saturdays.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/chick-fil-a-fast-food-california-city-public-nuisance-traffic/

[Max Rockatansky]

Santa Barbara wants to declare CFA a "public nuisance" for causing 90-minute backups onto the street on weekdays and 155-minute backups on Saturdays.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/chick-fil-a-fast-food-california-city-public-nuisance-traffic/

We hit on that one above a little bit already.  Apparently the space they occupy was inherited from a previous fast location.  I'm still confused why this is the restaurant's problem to deal with. 

[hotdogPi]

Is the drive-thru configured in a way that they can reconfigure it and make it longer entirely within the parking lot?

[Max Rockatansky]

Is the drive-thru configured in a way that they can reconfigure it and make it longer entirely within the parking lot?

Unlikely, the drive thru is already one way and very short by modern restaurant standards.  A major alteration would likely require a new building.  Either way, that isn't going to completely solve 90 plus minutes of traffic.  If anything that just speaks to pent up demand which could be funneled into a second location. The problem there is the city is infamously difficult for permit new drive thru location construction.

[rickmastfan67]

When dining in, it was often the same lady I was used to seeing.  Google Maps currently shows it as open for dine-in, but I haven't gone inside since before the pandemic, so I don't know if even she is still working there.  But I don't even want to go back now, considering the bad taste left in my mouth.

Believe it or not, one of the same managers is still at my local Taco Bell that was there before C19.  The first time I went in there after they had opened the Dine-In back up, she even remembered my name!

[kphoger]

Apparently Jesus Chicken has gotten into trouble with the City of Santa Barbara by being the cause of backups on State Street:

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-03-14/city-of-santa-barbara-could-declare-chick-fil-a-drive-thru-a-public-nuisance

Granted, I don't know how a restaurant can really be held accountable for being too successful?

Back on topic...

https://www.wsbtv.com/news/trending/california-city-may-declare-chick-fil-a-public-nuisance/LFWX3VMSVREUHHXCSFCXUUWGOE/?utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=trueanthem&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR3O7i1AbsW7BQC4RItaMt4YgCdtRezb4S5BM3FxMmNG3avkmB7IA1k6Jkw

EDIT: This is the same one referenced above and the TV station's story actually references the LAT story.

Santa Barbara wants to declare CFA a "public nuisance" for causing 90-minute backups onto the street on weekdays and 155-minute backups on Saturdays.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/chick-fil-a-fast-food-california-city-public-nuisance-traffic/

Anyone else?

[kphoger]

If the issue is that there are more customers there than the drive through can process, then how is having "traffic management" going to really solve anything? Maybe make people leave gaps for other driveways or something? Which leads into another problem, that if they are actually on the city street I doubt a private security firm would have any jurisdiction to tell people what to do.

How do megachurches do it?  Are there city police officers directing traffic, or are there private entities doing so?