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But you can't get fast service if you're stuck behind 20 other cars at a drive-thru window. Reports of long waits at drive-thrus and parking-lot entrances have slowed down the service at some fast-food eateries.
It's gotten so bad that police have been brought in to direct traffic. In July, at a new Sonic restaurant in Hasbrouck Heights, N.J., an officer was struck and seriously injured by a driver leaving the popular eatery.
In Peabody, Mass., the opening of the first New England Sonic in August drew excited customers from across the region anticipating their first extra-long chili-cheese Coney hot dog. In the first month, it wasn't unusual for customers to wait in their cars for up to four hours.
"Typically, traffic levels off as the drive-in beomes a more established part of the community," says Christi Woodworth, Sonic's director of external communication. "However Sonic and our franchises continue to work closely with municipal authorities on all issues, including traffic flow around the drive-in."
But longer wait times are becoming more frequent around the country.
On a lunch break last year, Stepfanie Romine was driving to a mall in Cincinnati, Ohio, when traffic slowed to a crawl. Up ahead she noticed two sheriff's deputies directing traffic and assumed there had been an accident. She soon discovered that the deputies were stopping traffic so cars could get out of a Burger King drive-thru. She noticed that another two deputies were doing the same at the Wendy's next door.
"It's frustrating when you're doing lunch-time errands," says Romine, an editor who wrote about her experience on the Daily Spark, a lifestyle blog. "I understand that people need to eat, but at what point do you say to yourself, this is ridiculous? People are stopping traffic to get their 99-cent meals."
At a zoning board meeting last month in Hamilton, N.J., residents turned out to protest the proposed addition of a drive-thru at a local Popeye's that had been at the same location since 1984. The primary complaint? The drive-thru would increase the already high level of traffic in the neighborhood.
The Sonic restaurants in Hasbrouck Heights (the restaurant where the officer was injured) and Totowa, N.J., continue to draw big crowds and plenty of traffic.
"The fact that Hasbrouck Heights has to have an officer directing traffic outside of Sonic is simply ridiculous in itself," wrote a NJ.com reader. "What was the zoning board thinking when they approved this site?"
How's traffic at your local fast-food restaurant? Let us know in the comments below!
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11-28-2009 @12:50PM sbhappe34 said... Proven fast food not good for you. Add long wait here goes blood pressure. Kids don't know what real food is. Would save a lot of money eating at home.
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11-28-2009 @1:02PM lostinpr said... How about get out of the car and walk inside the fast food establishment. Most of the time there is no line inside. Imagine that!
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11-28-2009 @1:22PM phillymike said... We have a McDonald's which is a dump, with very slow service and rude Servers. I'd like to see their franchise license pulled. We also have a WendyS which is great, courteous people and fast-moving drive-thru line, and a Burger King which is just as good. There is a traffic light to let out the customers at the drive-thru. It doesn't change ever\ time someone pulls up to it, but changes when through traffic has minimized. There is also an Arby's, which has extreme courteouss staff and fast service. I have never seen a line at any of them which is different than any other traffic condition.
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11-28-2009 @1:30PM DEEBMH said... I live in Ocala,Florida on our so called fast food is all but that.
Not only do you have to wait in long lines but when you get your food you have to stop and look in the bags to see if you have all your stuff, you have to go behind them. If they take that long to serve you shouldnt they get the orders right?
It takes even longer to get out of there when they screw up.
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11-28-2009 @1:38PM Candace said... didn't anyone notice the Chick-fil-a truck in the MCD's drive thru??..thats funny to me :)
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11-28-2009 @1:47PM Will said... Looks like it's only happening to ppl on the east side. Okay here in CA suckers!!
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11-28-2009 @1:48PM Virgil said... A lot of fast food places around here were getting sloppy and slow. That is until a In & Out Burger opened up nearby. I even saw someone from the company in a Burger King with a stopwatch. He was timing the people and telling them how to speed up their food lines and get orders out faster LOL.
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11-28-2009 @1:51PM Virgil said... I would like to see all MCDonalds closed down. They are getting nasty and dirty and do not care. Even their corporate headquarters did not respond when I complained about some of their places. At least with the others I get a response.
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11-28-2009 @1:56PM someone said... The problem is people being rude - they pull up to order with 5
people in the car, no one has any idea what they want, and when they
do they all have to have something "special" done to their order,
make three different orders, all why the driver is probably talking
or texting someone. Then they pull up to the window and realize Oh
wait I might want to get my money out to pay . I have seen where
some people have refused to pull away from the window until they get
their food - after they had 3 different special orders. Oh wait
these are the same rude SOB's who have to cut you off on the
interstate because now they are in a hurry and are more important
than you and should be in front to make you wait behind them.
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11-29-2009 @1:30AM Tink said... Amen Been in fast food for 15 years and 9 times out of 10 its the customers that hold up the line not the employees!!!!!!
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11-28-2009 @2:42PM texas Toast said... It's the employees that are slow. I'm a MGR at At a restaurant. The cashiers should take the money before taking another order. It's simple you have an order taker, a cashier, and a floor expediter. If the floor expediter is moving slow the cashier should help the floor expediter move things along after he/she is done handing out the beverages. If you work for me and your slow. I'll fire you right there on the floor and that's that.
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11-28-2009 @2:54PM Coffeemate said... It's the employees that are slow. I'm a MGR at At a restaurant. The
cashiers should take the money before taking another order. It's
simple you have an order taker, a cashier, and a floor expediter. If
the floor expediter is moving slow the cashier should help the floor
expediter move things along after he/she is done handing out the
beverages. If you work for me and your slow. and if there's 2 cashiers and one of you don't clean the dining room. I'll fire you right
there on the floor and that's that.
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11-29-2009 @2:31AM NYBill said... For those of you who do not understand the great attraction to the Sonic stores:These people have been held captive by M.D.s and to a lesser extent B.K. and Wendy's for years and they are desperate for a new taste. The hamburger/hot dog gods were punishing these folks from the Heights and Wayne areas of N.J. for betraying the best burger stand they ever had...the late and lemented,TOP BURGER on Rt.3-W. Hamburgers the way they were meant to be,and hot dogs the way older folks remember them; they actually had green relish!!! They replaced it with a carpet store after the politicians made a deal with M.D. which allowed them to open a store across from Top's on Rt 3-E. They are being punished further by having to wait hours when they could have gotten better food in minuters from T.B. Forgive them hamburger gods, being forced to eat M.D.'s for twenty years is punishment enough.
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11-28-2009 @5:21PM Kelli Brewer said... Thw Sonic we have here was just built back in the spring & opened up about summer. They do not have an inside area to eat. All cars just pull up & order from the square menu & push the button just like Dog n Suds & the tray of food hooks onto your driver's window while you eat in your car. There have been long lines waiting for places to park since there was no available spot ( square menu station )
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11-30-2009 @2:13PM Steven Ruza said... I think fast food is out of hand. Most American are over weight do to laziness and eatting out. No wonder why most people cant pay their bills their eatting their money away. In any other country when people are struggling financially it reflects on their body weight, Americans completely opposite...they gain because of over eatting, also bars/ night clubs are full. -Steven Ruza
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12-01-2009 @4:06PM Gina said... Anyone remember the documentary "Supersize me"? Guy lived on McD's for 1 mo. He LOST a couple of lbs. He lost "MUSCLE". Showed his stomach before and after. Even affected his liver. This is an imp. topic for me. I wasn't getting enough protein. Kept losing weight. Looked bad.One would think the burgers would have enough protein. Guess not for me.
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12-04-2009 @11:57AM Fred said... Retired 3 years ago as Mgt. for Burger King after 26 years. The people inside hate Drive-thru. They would beg daily not to be put on drive-thru. It is very stressful working a drive-thru. Not only do they put up with rude customers who don't really know what they want and the whole system of training and delivery of food is very poor. Its like trying to operate two buisnesses at the same time under one roof. At BK we were taught to take care of drive-thru first and let the customers standing up front in line wait. Never agreed with that. It was never about serving quality, it was give em the slop and get that money. I personally never use a driv-thur, if I want it right I park and walk in and always check my food before I leave. Saves aggravation.............
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12-09-2009 @8:14AM CAROL said... First, I think "customer is always right" needs to GO! I am 64 yrs old and I guess you can say I've seen it all. Working both sides of the counter gives me the insite.... rude, stupid people usually on the "ordering" side. I believe in giving fast, correct and polite service, but these idiots who think their ($)hit don't stink... pleeez do everyone a favor and move it on down the line. So many people ordering out, we don't need your crude rudeness..
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12-09-2009 @10:53AM walker said... This is a poorly written and a poorly researched article. The article simply shows the author has a bias and nothing else. Any reader who actually thinks there is a single legitimate point is credulous and naive. David Koeppel, I am not sure who you write for but I am surprised you are compensated for this type of work, you should be embarrassed.
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12-10-2009 @4:49PM dks64 said... @ Be Original
YOU HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD. Bravo! It's true, customers are typically to blame.
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