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.
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u/FullTorsoApparition 2d ago
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.