Article

Fast food drive-thrus: Plan for it now or pay for it later

If you're building or renovating a QSR now or in the near future, industry experts increasingly recommend that you find a site and the dollars to include a drive-thru lane ... or two.

COVID-19 has ushered in a new era of the drive-thru. (Photo: iStock)

July 23, 2020 by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

In the U.S., although restaurant drive-thrus have been around since 1921 — shortly after the time of the last pandemic — the world's current battle with COVID-19 is breathing new life into this quick-service delivery channel that greatly limits customer contact with employees and other customers.

As much as 70% of a fast food restaurant's sales typically come through its drive-thru if it has one. It's little wonder then that with the dawn of this deadly virus, the popularity of drive-thrus appears to be growing exponentially at fast food brands everywhere. All one need do for proof of this fact is to take a trip to the nearest strip mall to see the lines of cars encircling any given fast food outlet at any time of day

Naturally, that's sending a lot of fast food concept leaders to restaurant site development firms, like SCGWest in Newport Beach, California, in search of ways to either revamp locations or construct new ones to capture the most drive-thru traffic, as well as that from the other out-of-restaurant channels like delivery and carryout.

Still, though COVID-19 has underscored the importance of these channels, most restaurateurs were well aware that business was increasingly moving off-site before the pandemic.

QSRweb recently spoke with SCGWest co-founder Kyle Gorman to find out what QSR leaders are seeking in drive-thru locations builds, as well as renovations for the future. What we learned is that the changes going on aren't so much hard "pivots," as they are a gentle tilt toward evolving QSR customer preferences.

Gorman said brands that have cash available are looking for new locations and they're looking for places that can accommodate drive-thrus with the added space, access and even municipal traffic patterns that will allow for drive-thru operations. But more than that, Gorman said many casual and fast casual brands and others that have, in the past, relied heavily or entirely on dine-in traffic, are now in search of drive-thru options.

"Drive-thrus are an extremely hot commodity right now," he told QSRweb in an interview. "They seem to be kind of COVID-proof at the moment because they're doing really well and other restaurateurs are seeing that and they want a drive-thru because they also want that. So it's very sought-after."

In fact, the overall desirability of drive-thru restaurant locations, Gorman said, could even mean the increased demand might also trigger increasing leasing and real estate costs for locations that provide both adequate access, traffic flow and the considerable extra space that drive-thrus demand.

The tricky art of finding the top drive-thru spot

Gorman said the task of ensuring adequate drive-thru access and traffic flow accommodation has always been left up to the governmental bodies of each particular jurisdiction. If that concerns you, as a QSR operator, it should. After all, anyone who has ever attended a packed-house municipal public hearing around the pluses and minuses of a new fast food drive-thru location on a busy street, knows this part of building a drive-thru concept can be particularly vexing for brands on tight timelines and budgets.

"They have to do parking studies traffic studies and so forth. And they shouldn't allow certain things to go in spaces that are not capable of having them," Gorman said. "In fact, if you've ever gone into a parking lot that is just way too crowded or come up on a drive-thru line that is impeding the flow of traffic somewhere, that is poor design and there's somebody that should be looking out for that."

Though these issues fall under each municipalities responsibilities, brands are wise to keep fairly close tabs on what's happening. More than one busy drive-thru has been built in a bad location after either local authorities failed to do the upfront work required. The location's operator, however, will be the one who pays the price.

The double-lane dilemma plus other space considerations

But for brands that can find adequate space, Gorman said double drive-thrus (those with two lines of traffic and ordering) have found new life in this pandemic-ridden world. But Gorman advised that brands also make accommodations for curbside pickup areas, as well, since this is proving increasingly popular with customers.

The bad news is that Gorman said brands seeking these features can expect to pay increasing prices for real estate that offers them. But, he said, better to pay the price upfront for these benefits, than decide your location absolutely has to have it down the road.

"Put it in your design from the beginning," he cautioned. "Don't come back and try to do a second drive-thru add on because I mean, that's rough."

Other things to think about for drive-thru accommodation in any space deemed appropriate include things like:

A minimum of at least two customer windows.
Accommodation for desired technology from digital signage to even payment tech.
Clear and adequate ingress and egress to drive-thru lanes.
Consideration of surrounding parking areas.
Space for mobile-order takers and needed tech, like iPads.
Space for marketing images and video, if planned (and it should be).
Payment procedure accommodation, including everything from credit card machines "on a stick" that prevent close contact between staff and customers, to more sophisticated payment technology.

Other space considerations

Gorman said it's wise for restaurant site designers to also work physical space into their locations to accommodate everything from delivery order and carryout pickup to curbside orders. He advised that restaurateurs make plans for each type of channel to have its own customer line, lest one potentially endless line form and frustrate customers.

He also said that light, airy and very clean-looking design having what is likely to be more than just "a moment." As a result, it pays for brands to incorporate these types of looks into restaurant interiors and exteriors since it visually shouts to customers, 'Hey, this place is extremely clean!"

Gorman said many brands are also finding that incorporating natural elements into their designs takes some of the edge off of what might be otherwise seen as a sterile, institutional look resulting from the use of lots of white and stainless steel.

"Anything that shows cleanliness, because you need to be able to visually depict that as well," he said. "So some of those darker colors are really in the past and I don't think are going to be as popular anymore. … But clean is easily seen, and sanitation is easily seen."

Finally, restaurant leaders are reminded to stay mindful of the key role great menu images play in the drive-thru, just as in-store and elsewhere. Brands that build a pleasant drive-thru path, using both adequate, low-maintenance landscaping and drool-inducing digital signage food photos and video, stand to make much more out of their drive-thru lane investment.

But the planning for these spaces and technology and their inclusion in the overall site design must take place early in the site-planning process to give great images their best stage for viewing. Then, stand back and watch the orders happen.

After all, who reading this story hasn't added a milkshake to their otherwise well-behaved drive-thru salad order just because the pictures on the drive-thru panels made it look like we just couldn't leave without it?

About S.A. Whitehead

Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb editor Shelly Whitehead is a former newspaper and TV reporter with an affinity for telling stories about the people and innovative thinking behind great brands.