![Post office drivethrough lane](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/Post_office_drivethrough_lane.jpg)
A drive-through or drive-thru (a
sensational spelling
Sensational spelling is the deliberate spelling of a word in a non-standard way for special effect.
Branding
Sensational spellings are common in advertising and product placement. In particular, brand names such as Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (''cri ...
of the word ''through''), is a type of
take-out
A take-out or takeout (U.S., Canada, and the Philippines); carry-out or to-go (Scotland and some dialects in the U.S. and Canada); takeaway (England, Wales, Australia, Lebanon, South Africa, Northern Ireland, Ireland, and occasionally in Nort ...
service provided by a business that allows customers to purchase products without leaving their cars. The format was pioneered in the United States in the 1930s, and has since spread to other countries. Hillcrest State Bank, Dallas, Texas, installed the first drive-through banking system in America. It was a
George Dahl
George Leighton Dahl (May 11, 1894 – July 18, 1987) was a prominent American architect based in Dallas, Texas during the 20th century. His most notable contributions include the Art Deco structures of Fair Park while he oversaw planning and con ...
designed building, constructed in the 1920s, across from SMU. The second recorded use of a bank using a drive-up window teller was the Grand National Bank of
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...
in 1930. The drive-up teller allowed only deposits at that time.
Orders are generally placed using a
microphone
A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and public ...
and picked up in person at the window. A drive-through is different from a
drive-in
A drive-in is a facility (such as a restaurant or movie theater) where one can drive in with an automobile for service. At a drive-in restaurant, for example, customers park their vehicles and are usually served by staff who walk or rollerskat ...
in several ways - the cars create a line and move in one direction in drive-throughs, and normally do not
park
A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...
, whereas drive-ins allow cars to park next to each other, the food is generally brought to the window by a server, called a
carhop
A carhop is a waiter or waitress who brings fast food to people in their cars at drive-in restaurants. Carhops usually work on foot but sometimes use roller skates, as depicted in movies such as ''American Graffiti'' and television shows such as ...
, and the customer can remain in the parked car to eat. However, during peak periods, to keep the queue down and avoid
traffic flow
In mathematics and transportation engineering, traffic flow is the study of interactions between travellers (including pedestrians, cyclists, drivers, and their vehicles) and infrastructure (including highways, signage, and traffic control devi ...
problems, drive-throughs occasionally switch to an "order at the window, then park in a designated space" model where the customer will receive their food from an attendant when it is ready to be served. This results in a perceived relationship between the two service models.
Drive-throughs have generally replaced drive-ins in popular culture, and are now found in the vast majority of modern American
fast-food
Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. It is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheated or precooked ingredient ...
chains
A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A c ...
. Sometimes, a store with a drive-through is referred to as a "drive-through", or the term is attached to the service, such as, "drive-through restaurant". or "drive-through bank".
Drive-throughs typically have signs over the drive-through lanes to show customers which lanes are open for business. The types of signage used is usually illuminated so the "open" message can be changed to a "closed" message when the lane is not available.
Drive-through restaurants
![Drive thru intercom and menus](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/Drive_thru_intercom_and_menus.PNG)
A drive-through restaurant generally consists of:
* A
speaker
Speaker may refer to:
Society and politics
* Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly
* Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture
* A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially:
** In ...
and
microphone
A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and public ...
for customers to place their orders
* A speaker and microphone or wireless
headset system for employees to hear the customer's order (when a speaker is used)
* A trigger pad beneath the concrete to activate the microphone and headset, possibly augmented with a
CCTV
Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...
camera
* One or more free-standing signs listing the menu items, called a ''menu board''
* Newer drive-throughs feature a
LCD
A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat-panel display or other electronically modulated optical device that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals combined with polarizers. Liquid crystals do not emit light directly but in ...
or
LED
A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor Electronics, device that Light#Light sources, emits light when Electric current, current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy i ...
display within the speaker system in order to show the full order and total cost to avert order errors through miscommunication. At many brands of restaurants, a secondary display featuring the total is placed directly next to the order window. This is to ensure that the customer will know if the cashier intentionally overcharges them.
* Windows where employees interact with customers by processing the customer's payment and giving them their order. Most drive-throughs have either one window serving both functions, or two windows with the first being used for payment and the second used for retrieving the order.
* Most restaurants have marked parking spaces just beyond the last window. If there is a significant delay in an individual customer's order (e.g. a special order), an employee may direct that customer to park in this area, clearing the drive-through lane for the next customer and preventing knock-on delays to other customers. When the order is ready, an employee hand-delivers the order to the customer. This service therefore occasionally has some similarities to
drive-in
A drive-in is a facility (such as a restaurant or movie theater) where one can drive in with an automobile for service. At a drive-in restaurant, for example, customers park their vehicles and are usually served by staff who walk or rollerskat ...
service, but only during peak periods.
![TimHortonsMoncton](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/TimHortonsMoncton.JPG)
Drive-through designs are different from restaurant to restaurant; however, most drive-throughs can accommodate four to six passenger cars or trucks at once (called the
queue __NOTOC__
Queue () may refer to:
* Queue area, or queue, a line or area where people wait for goods or services
Arts, entertainment, and media
*''ACM Queue'', a computer magazine
* The Queue (Sorokin novel), ''The Queue'' (Sorokin novel), a 198 ...
). Most drive-through lanes are designed so the service windows and speaker are on the driver's side of the car, for example, in
left-hand traffic
Left-hand traffic (LHT) and right-hand traffic (RHT) are the practices, in bidirectional traffic, of keeping to the left side or to the right side of the road, respectively. They are fundamental to traffic flow, and are sometimes referred to ...
(right-hand drive) countries such as the UK, Ireland, Australia, India and New Zealand, the windows will be on the right side of the drive-through lane, and vice versa in right-hand traffic (left-hand drive) countries such as North America and mainland Europe. There are a few drive-through lanes designed with the service windows on the passenger side, but these lanes are disfavored as they cannot be used easily by cars with only a driver.
According to a 2021 report in QSR Magazine, 42 percent of all customer traffic came to the drive up window. The fastest drive-through of 2020 in the United States was
Taco Bell
Taco Bell is an American-based chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, includi ...
, with an average time of 4.46 minutes, followed by
KFC
KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is an American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that specializes in fried chicken. It is the world's second-largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald's, with 2 ...
with 4.53 minutes, 4.76 minutes at
Carl's Jr
Carl's Jr. Restaurants LLC is an American fast food restaurant chain operated by CKE Restaurant Holdings, Inc., with franchisees in North & South America, Asia, Oceania, Europe and Africa.
In 2016, ''Entrepreneur'' listed Carl's Jr. as No. 54 ...
and 4.91 minutes at
Dunkin'
Dunkin' Donuts LLC, also known as Dunkin' and by the initials DD, is an American multinational coffee and doughnut company, as well as a quick service restaurant. It was founded by Bill Rosenberg (1916–2002) in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 195 ...
.
Coffee is sometimes sold at a drive-through coffee shops.
History
In 1921,
Kirby's Pig Stand
Kirby's Pig Stand was the first drive-in restaurant to open in the United States. It was opened by Jessie G. Kirby and Reuben Jackson in 1921, in Dallas, Texas. Then in the 1980s, it changed ownership and name to Woodfire Kirby's.
History
Kirby's ...
introduced the drive-in restaurant, in which
carhop
A carhop is a waiter or waitress who brings fast food to people in their cars at drive-in restaurants. Carhops usually work on foot but sometimes use roller skates, as depicted in movies such as ''American Graffiti'' and television shows such as ...
s delivered meals. In 1931, a California Pig Stand franchise introduced a drive-through service that bypassed the carhops. In 1948, Harry and Esther Snyder of the
In-N-Out Burger
In-N-Out Burger is an American regional chain of fast food restaurants with locations primarily in California and the Southwest. It was founded in Baldwin Park, California, in 1948 by Harry (1913–1976) and Esther Snyder (1920–2006). The cha ...
chain built the first true drive-through restaurant, featuring a two-way speaker system that Harry Snyder invented himself earlier that year. By the 1970s, drive-through service had replaced drive-in restaurants in the United States.
The first
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...
drive-through was created in 1975 in
Sierra Vista, Arizona
Sierra Vista is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States. According to the 2020 Census, the population of the city is 45,308, and is the 27th most populous city in Arizona. The city is part of the Sierra Vista-Douglas Metropolitan Are ...
, near
Fort Huachuca
Fort Huachuca is a United States Army installation, established on 3 March 1877 as Camp Huachuca. The garrison is now under the command of the United States Army Installation Management Command. It is in Cochise County in southeast Arizona, appr ...
, a military installation, to serve military members who were not permitted to get out of their cars off-post while wearing fatigues. The original McDonald's was closed down and demolished in May 1999 and a new McDonald's replaced it.
In 1981,
Max Hamburgers
Max Burgers Aktiebolag (Max Burgers Incorporated), earlier ''Max Hamburgerrestauranger AB'', is a Swedish fast food corporation.
History
The chain was founded by Curt Bergfors (27 February 1949 - 8 May 2022) and Britta Fredriksson in Gälliv ...
opened Northern Europe's first drive-in in
Piteå
Piteå () is a locality and the seat of Piteå Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden. Piteå is Sweden's 58th largest city, with a population of 23,326.
Geography
Piteå is located at the mouth of the Pite River ( sv, Piteälven), at th ...
.
Another early drive-through restaurant in Europe, a McDonald's drive-through, opened at the
Nutgrove Shopping Centre
Nutgrove Shopping Centre is one of two shopping centres located in Rathfarnham, a southern suburb of Dublin. The centre was built on part of the old Lamb's Jam orchards.
The first drive-through restaurant (a McDonald's drive-thru) in Europe op ...
in Dublin, Ireland in 1985.
In the US, drive-throughs account for 70 percent of McDonald's business and the average drive through order is fulfilled in under three and one half minutes. Outside of the US, McDonald's drive-throughs are variously known as "McAuto", "McDrive" and "AutoMac".
In 2010, the Casa Linda, Texas, franchise of McDonald's opened a drive-through/walk-up only store with no indoor seating although it has a small patio with tables.
In McDonald's in the UK, all McDonald's are going under an EOTF transformation (Experience of the Future), where many McDonald's with Drive-Thrus will have a third window. This would be where at the second window, the presenter would tell customers to pull up to the third window (if they've got a larger order and have longer to wait), this is known as the "fast forward window". This reduces waiting times for customers.
Drive-through banking
![Starbucks and Bank of America Drive Through](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Starbucks_and_Bank_of_America_Drive_Through.jpg)
In 1928, City Center Bank, which became
UMB Financial Corporation
UMB Financial Corporation is an American financial services holding company founded in 1913 as City Center Bank and based in Kansas City, Missouri. It offers a number of financial services from checking and savings accounts, credit services inclu ...
, president
R. Crosby Kemper
Rufus Crosby Kemper Sr. (1892–1972) was an American banker. He is known for expanding City Center Bank, acquired by his father, from a three-man operation with $600,000 in deposits into UMB Financial Corporation, with $300 million in deposits, du ...
opened what is considered the first drive-up window. Shortly after the Grand National Bank in St Louis opened up a drive-through, including a slot to the side for night time deposits.
Westminster Bank
Westminster Bank was a British retail bank which operated in England and Wales from 1834 until its merger into the National Westminster Bank in 1970; it continued to exist as a dormant registered non-trading company until 4 July 2017 when it ...
opened the UK's first drive-through bank in Liverpool in 1959, soon followed by
Ulster Bank
Ulster Bank ( ga, Banc Uladh) is a large retail bank, and one of the traditional Big Four Irish clearing banks. The Ulster Bank Group is subdivided into two separate legal entities: National Westminster Bank, trading as Ulster Bank (registere ...
opening Ireland's first in 1961 at Finaghy.
In recent years, there has been a decline in drive-through banking due to increased traffic congestion and the increased availability of
automated teller machines
An automated teller machine (ATM) or cash machine (in British English) is an electronic telecommunications device that enables customers of financial institutions to perform financial transactions, such as cash withdrawals, deposits, fun ...
and telephone and internet banking. However, many bank buildings now feature drive-through ATMs.
Drive-through stores
Grocery shopping
Harold Willis and his father, Robert Willis, first incorporated a dairy and eggs drive through service in Redlands, California, in the early 1940s, supplying milk and eggs quickly and efficiently to driving customers; this utilized a dairy conveyor belt that Harold Willis had invented. Some supermarkets offer drive-through facilities for
grocery shopping
A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym for supermarket, a ...
. In the UK, this service was first announced by
Tesco
Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...
in August 2010. In the United States, Crafty's Drive-Buy Grocery Store in Virginia started offering the service. In 2012, the Dutch chain
Albert Heijn
Albert Heijn is the largest supermarket chain in the Netherlands with a market share of 34.8% in 2020. It was founded in 1887, and has been part of Ahold Delhaize since 2016.
History
The chain was founded on 27 May 1887, when Albert Heijn boug ...
introduced a "Pick Up Point" where one can collect groceries bought online.
Dairy products are available at a drive-through dairy store (notably the
Skinner Dairy Skinners' Dairy was a family-run dairy that existed in and around Jacksonville, Florida from 1922 until 1995.
Origin
The family of Samuel Benjamin "Ben" Skinner operated a dairy farm on a portion of their vast land holdings in northeast Florida ...
shops of North-East Florida or
Dairy Barn
Dairy Barn was a chain of regional Convenience store, convenience stores located on Long Island, New York (state), New York, with headquarters in Elwood, New York. The stores were distinguished by their drive-through feature, red barn appearance, ...
in
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
).
In the early 1990s, the French Jean Duchaine came up with the idea of using drive-thru for the retail market.
The drive-thru was the Pillar of a full concept built with many innovative ideas: walk-thru, dark store, market place, big data, ads...
Liquor stores
Alcoholic beverages have been sold at a drive-through
liquor
Liquor (or a spirit) is an alcoholic drink produced by distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar, that have already gone through alcoholic fermentation. Other terms for liquor include: spirit drink, distilled beverage or hard ...
store (called a "Beer Through", a "Cruise Through", a "Brew Thru" in the U.S. eastern Mid-Atlantic coast, or a "
Pony Keg
A keg is a small barrel.
Wooden kegs made by a cooper were used to transport nails, gunpowder, and a variety of liquids.
A keg is normally now constructed of stainless steel, although aluminium can be used if it is coated with plastic on th ...
" in certain areas; generally illegal in the Northeast and West)
Drive-through medical testing
During the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, drive-through testing became a common approach around the world for testing people who were potentially infected with the virus. In 2020, drive-through testing facilities were set up in many countries to test whether passengers were infected with
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
(the first being in South Korea).
This approached allowed medical workers to process high volumes of tests quickly while reducing exposure and risk of infection between those being tested by keeping patients isolated in their vehicles.
The process typically saw patients present their ID before being swabbed while remaining in their vehicles, before driving off once the test was complete. Their results were then typically shared with them either via text message or via their doctor.
Emissions and traffic
Emissions
In recent years, drive-through restaurants and other drive-through facilities have faced increased scrutiny due to the higher levels of emissions that they create – compared to walk-in equivalents.
A 2018 study by QSR Magazine found that the average waiting time at a McDonald's drive-through restaurant in the US took 3 minutes and 15 seconds, with an average of 3.8 cars waiting at any one time. This figure rose to an average of 4 minutes 25 seconds in 2019.
If the average motorist avoided idling for just 3 minutes every day of the year, emissions would be reduced by 1.4 million tonnes annually, or the equivalent of taking 320,000 cars off the road.
In response to emerging evidence of the role that drive-throughs play in contributing to
climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
, Minneapolis banned the construction of new drive-throughs in 2019, while a number of other US cities including Creve, Coeur, Fair Haven and Orchard Park have enacted ordinances to restrict or prohibit fast-food drive-through restaurants.
Outside the US, a total of 27 municipalities have banned drive-through restaurants on the grounds of environmental and health concerns from engine idling
Traffic
Long drive-through lines in the United States have been reported to cause traffic backups, blocking emergency vehicles and city buses and increasing the risk of collisions and pedestrian injuries. The popularity of
Chick-fil-A
Chick-fil-A ( , a Word play, play on the American English pronunciation of "wikt:filet#Pronunciation, filet") is an American fast food restaurant chain which is the country's largest which specializes in chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in Coll ...
's drive-throughs in particular has led to traffic problems, police interventions, and complaints by neighboring businesses in more than 20 states.
Other examples
![20070509 Rock 26 Roll McDonalds from 7th fl of Sports Authority](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/20070509_Rock_26_Roll_McDonalds_from_7th_fl_of_Sports_Authority.jpg)
Some other examples of drive-through businesses include:
* Postal services at a drive-through mailbox
* Prescriptions at a drive-through pharmacy
* Marriage (primarily at special drive-through marriage chapels in
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
in the United States)
*
Funeral home
A funeral home, funeral parlor or mortuary, is a business that provides burial and funeral services for the dead and their families. These services may include a prepared wake and funeral, and the provision of a chapel for the funeral.
Services
...
where mourners can drive by, view and make offerings to the remains of their loved ones through windows.
*
Pennsylvania State Representative
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts.
It ...
Kevin P. Murphy
Kevin P. Murphy (born 1965) is a former Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. As a freshman legislator, he regularly worked at his district office's unique drive-through window designed to speed constituent service.
...
installed a drive-through window designed to speed constituent service.
*
Photo processing
Photographic processing or photographic development is the chemical means by which photographic film or paper is treated after photographic exposure to produce a negative or positive image. Photographic processing transforms the latent image into ...
at
Fotomat
Fotomat was an American retail chain of photo development drive-through kiosks located primarily in shopping center parking lots. Fotomat Corporation was founded by Preston Fleet in San Diego, California, in the 1960s, with the first kiosk ope ...
.
Non-car usage
Pedestrian
Pedestrians sometimes attempt to walk through the drive-through to order food after the seated section of a fast-food restaurant has closed. Many establishments refuse drive-through service to pedestrians for safety, insurance, and liability reasons. Cyclists are usually refused service with the same justification given.
However, in the summer of 2009,
Burgerville
Burgerville (originally Burgerville USA) is a Private company, privately held United States, American restaurant chain in Oregon and southwest Washington (state), Washington, owned by The Holland Inc. As the chain's name suggests, Burgerville's s ...
gave use of the drive-through window to bicyclists. Similar issues can arise in rural areas for people on horseback or in a horse-drawn carriage.
On 20 July 2013, a woman was fined for taking her horse inside a McDonald's restaurant in
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...
, United Kingdom after being refused service at the drive-through. The horse ended up defecating inside the restaurant which caused distress to other customers.
In May 2016,
Scott McGee filed a United States federal
class action
A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class actio ...
lawsuit pursuing action against McDonald's due to the company being unwilling to serve people who are
visually impaired
Visual impairment, also known as vision impairment, is a medical definition primarily measured based on an individual's better eye visual acuity; in the absence of treatment such as correctable eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment†...
when only the drive thru lane is open. , the matter was still in litigation.
On May 24, 2018, a law came into effect in
Portland Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...
requiring multi-modal access to drive-throughs. The new zoning law states, "When a drive-through facility is open and other pedestrian-oriented customer entrances to the business are unavailable or locked, the drive-through facility must serve customers using modes other than a vehicle such as pedestrians and bicyclists."
Walk-up windows
![McDonald's Walk-Up Window](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/McDonald%27s_Walk-Up_Window.jpg)
Some establishments provide a walk-up window instead when a drive-through may not be practical. However, the walk-up windows should not be confused with small establishments that customers are lined up for services such as
mobile kitchen
Mobile catering is the business of selling prepared food from some sort of vehicle. It is a feature of urban culture in many countries. Mobile catering can be performed using food trucks, trailers, carts and food stands. Many types of foods may be ...
s,
kiosk
Historically, a kiosk () was a small garden pavilion open on some or all sides common in Iran, Persia, the Indian subcontinent, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward. Today, several examples of this type of kiosk still exist ...
s or
concession stand
A concession stand (American English, Canadian English), snack kiosk or snack bar (British English, Irish English) is a place where patrons can purchase snacks or food at a cinema, amusement park, zoo, aquarium, circus, fair, stadium, beach, swim ...
s. These walk-up windows are value-added services on top of the full services provided inside the stores.
The walk-up windows generally provide similar customer experience with the drive-throughs by allowing customers to receive services from the exterior of the facilities through a window. There are many reasons for the owners to provide such services. An example is when McDonald's entered a new market in Russia where the majority of families did not own cars, the owners developed the walk-up windows as an alternative. Another reason is to have a drive-through experience in the locations that are not feasible to construct a drive-through lane such as in city centers. Some establishments may want to use walk-up windows to attract certain customer demographics such as younger customers who need quick service during late night.
[ Another reason is to offer extended service hours and maintain a safe environment for employees, such as a bulletproof walk-up window in high-crime areas.
]
Ski-through
McDonald's first opened a ski-through called ''McSki'' in the ski resort of Lindvallen, Sweden in 1996.
See also
* B-Bop's
B-Bop's, Inc. is a double drive-thru 1950s themed Fast casual restaurant, casual fast food restaurant Chain store, chain, with franchise locations in central Iowa.
History
B-Bop's was created by Bob Johnson in 1988. The first B-Bop's was located ...
* Drive-in
A drive-in is a facility (such as a restaurant or movie theater) where one can drive in with an automobile for service. At a drive-in restaurant, for example, customers park their vehicles and are usually served by staff who walk or rollerskat ...
* Disposable food packaging
Disposable food packaging comprises disposable products often found in fast food restaurants, takeout restaurants and kiosks, and catering establishments. Food-serving items for picnics and parties are very similar. Typical disposable foodserv ...
* Effects of the car on societies
Since the start of the twentieth century, the role of cars has become highly important, though controversial. They are used throughout the world and have become the most popular mode of transport in many of the more developed country, developed ...
References
External links
{{fast culture
Restaurants by type
Road transport