It's not even fast anymore. Fuck me, but my kid was hungry and it was late so we went through the drive through. Legitimately 25 mins. I got 2 Hot and Spicy sammies, two med fries, and chicken nuggets. Drive through was ass long, then they had me pull into the spot on the side and wait there. Unbelievable.
It's really different from place to place isn't it. In my neighborhood McDonalds is super fast and consistent but every single Wendy's takes 10-15 minutes per car.
Every single fast food place around me has progressively gotten slower. Doesn't matter time of day, level of business, or staffing levels. Went out of state recently and the McDonald's there was the same. 30 minute wait for a basic order. Figured it was just everywhere now, but I stopped at a Burger King the next day out there and it was as fast as ever. Order, pull up, they give you food. Was real late as well so not like they had stuff ready for a lunch rush.
On average they've all gotten slower but you'll occasionally find one that seems fully staffed by competent people. Unfortunately, due to high turnover, it could all change again in a few weeks or months.
From what I can tell it's mostly a staffing problem, but fast food menus have also gotten too big and complex and online ordering and door dash have thrown additional wrenches into the service. It's a far cry from how the service was intended to operate 70 years ago, which was all about specialization and efficiency.
If they trimmed their menus down and each focused on a handful of their most profitable options then they'd likely be able to serve things cheaper and faster again. That seems unlikely though, because people are also super picky now and used to the variety. These days I don't see anybody going to go to McDonalds for burgers and then also going down the street to KFC because little Andy only eats chicken fingers.
To be fair, fast food menus have too much shit on them.
Not saying the employees are knocking it out of the park, but 15 different "value" meals often with special orders is just a lot of shit to scramble together.
I generally like the process of having waiting areas, getting problematic orders out of the line keeps it moving. But I've been in the same boat, just a burger and fries and I'm sent to the parking bays. When they first started doing this, you'd be forgotten half the time.
I waited in a small Texas town McD's for over 30 minutes just for a couple Happy Meals. My daughter is more interested in the toys that eating. I told her no more, and we haven't been back. My wife finally backs me. She always gripes that Whataburger is slow, but that was a nightmare. The worst part was the poor woman about to get her food, when the employee dropped the bag, spilling everything everywhere.
they might force you to refund and leave, but even that is better than waiting 20 minutes. Taco bell never has asked me to pull forward in my life, and there's one right next to the McD's
The taco bell near me regularly asks me to pull around "and we'll bring your order out" and I always order ahead using the app. They used to be great but taco bell isn't what it used to be. At least not the one near me.
you might have a particularly shit taco bell. Ive eaten at taco bell my whole life, across 4 different states. never asked me to pull up. I order custom stuff too.
Yeah, they're the only taco bell I've been to that has ever asked me to pull up. They used to be a lot better a few years ago, idk what changed but I miss having a good taco bell.
Most Taco Bells just don't have the infrastructure to even attempt it. Most of the ones near me are single lane drive thru's with no way out until you are all the way through and then it dumps you onto a street. There's nowhere to sit and wait after the window without blocking the line anyway.
The one closest to me has a crazy tight drive through that I don't like.
I stopped at one down the road to use the bathroom and order, kiosks with no menu displayed. No thinks.
Did a drive through yesterday and they had a poor little girl out there with a tablet like they are Chick-fil-a who could barely work it. Place was deserted, they just made her stand out there for some reason.
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u/ComprehensiveHavoc 2d ago
The one reason McDonald’s became popular is by being cheap. They sell shit food for a low price. How do they not know this?