A drive-through or drive-thru (a sensational spelling of the word through), is a type of take-out 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.
A drive-up window teller was installed at the Grand National Bank of St. Louis, Missouri, in 1930. The drive-up teller allowed only deposits at that time.[1]
Orders are generally placed using a microphone and picked up in person at the window. A drive-through is different from a drive-in in several ways - the cars create a line and move in one direction in drive-throughs, and normally do not park, 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, and the customer can remain in the parked car to eat. However, during peak periods, to keep the queue down and avoid traffic flow 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 chains. 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.
A drive-through restaurant generally consists of:
Drive-through designs are different from restaurant to restaurant; however, most drive-throughs can accommodate a queue of four to six passenger cars or trucks at once. 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 (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 few and usually confined to ordinance compliance situations, as they cannot be used easily by driver-only vehicles.
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, with an average time of 4.46 minutes, followed by KFC with 4.53 minutes, 4.76 minutes at Carl's Jr. and 4.91 minutes at Dunkin'.[2]
Coffee is often sold through drive-through only coffee shops.[3]
In 1921, Kirby's Pig Stand introduced the drive-in restaurant, in which carhops delivered meals. In 1931, a California Pig Stand franchise introduced a drive-through service that bypassed the carhops. The first identified drive-through restaurant was established in 1947 at Red's Giant Hamburg located in Springfield, Missouri.[4] A year later in 1948, Harry and Esther Snyder of the In-N-Out Burger chain built a 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.[5]
The first McDonald's drive-through was created in 1975 in Sierra Vista, Arizona, near Fort Huachuca, a military installation, to serve military members who were not permitted to get out of their cars off-post while wearing fatigues.[6] The original McDonald's was closed down and demolished in 1999 and a new McDonald's replaced it.[7]
In 1987, the concept of the double vehicle drive-through was pioneered by Bob Charles. Charles, a franchisee of McDonald's based in Boulder, Colorado, was the first to design and implement this innovation, which resulted in significantly increased per unit volume.
In 1981, Max Hamburgers opened Northern Europe's first drive-in in Piteå.[8]
Another early drive-through restaurant in Europe, a McDonald's drive-through, opened at the Nutgrove Shopping Centre in Dublin, Ireland, in 1985.[9]
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.[10] 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.[11]
In 1928, City Center Bank, which became UMB Financial Corporation, president R. Crosby Kemper 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.[12] Westminster Bank opened the UK's first drive-through bank in Liverpool in 1959, soon followed by Ulster Bank opening Ireland's first in 1961 at Finaghy.[13]
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 and telephone and internet banking. Many bank buildings now feature drive-through ATMs.
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.[14] Some supermarkets offer drive-through facilities for grocery shopping. In the UK, this service was first announced by Tesco in August 2010.[15] In the United States, Crafty's Drive-Buy Grocery Store in Virginia started offering the service. In 2012, the Dutch chain Albert Heijn introduced a "Pick Up Point" where one can collect groceries bought online.[16]
Dairy products were available at a drive-through dairy store (notably the Skinner Dairy shops of North-East Florida or Dairy Barn in Long Island).
Alcoholic beverages have been sold at a drive-through liquor store (called a "Beer Through", a "Cruise Through", a "Brew Thru" in the U.S. eastern Mid-Atlantic coast,[17] or a "Pony Keg" or "Party Barn" in certain areas; generally illegal in the Northeast and West)
During the COVID-19 pandemic, drive-through testing became a common approach around the world for testing people who were potentially infected with the virus.[18] In 2020, drive-through testing facilities were set up in many countries to test whether passengers were infected with COVID-19 (the first being in South Korea).[19] [20]
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.[21]
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.[22]
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.[23] 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.[24] This figure rose to an average of 4 minutes 25 seconds in 2019.[25]
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.[26] [27] [28]
In response to emerging evidence of the role that drive-throughs play in contributing to climate change, Minneapolis banned the construction of new drive-throughs in 2019, while a number of other US cities, including Creve Coeur, MO; Fair Haven, NJ; Long Beach, CA; and Orchard Park, NY, have enacted ordinances to restrict or prohibit fast-food drive-through restaurants.[29] [30]
Outside the US, a total of 27 municipalities have banned drive-through restaurants on the grounds of environmental and health concerns from engine idling[31]
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's drive-throughs in particular has led to traffic problems, police interventions, and complaints by neighboring businesses in more than 20 states.[32] [33] [34]
Some other examples of drive-through businesses include:
Pedestrians sometimes attempt to walk through the drive-through to order food. Many establishments refuse drive-through service to pedestrians for safety, insurance, and liability reasons.[38] Cyclists are also usually refused service with the same justification given.[39] However, in the summer of 2009, Burgerville gave use of the drive-through window to bicyclists.[40]
Some companies 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 kitchens, kiosks, or concession stands. These walk-up windows are value-added services on top of the full services provided inside the stores.[41] Since the COVID-19 pandemic an increasing number of restaurants, including bakeries and pizzerias, have introduced sliding windows that are licensed by the local municipality for customer transactions.[42]
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.[43] 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.[41] 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.[44]
Similar issues can arise in rural areas for people on horseback or in a horse-drawn carriage.[45] On 20 July 2013, a woman was fined for taking her horse inside a McDonald's restaurant in Greater Manchester, United Kingdom, after being refused service at the drive-through. The horse ended up defecating inside the restaurant which caused distress to other customers.[46]
In May 2016, Scott Magee filed a United States federal class action lawsuit pursuing action against McDonald's due to the company being unwilling to serve people who are visually impaired, when only the drive-through lane is open.[47]
On 24 May 2018 a law came into effect in Portland, Oregon, requiring multi-modal access to drive-throughs.[48] 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."[49]
After one year, the Portland law was working well.[50] The Willamette Week tested five locations, and in all cases customers without cars received satisfactory service:
| Mode of Transportation | Restaurant | Address | Service | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scooter | Super Deluxe | 5900 SE Powell Bvld. | Satisfactory | |
| Bicycle | McDonald's | 1520 NE Grand Ave. | Satisfactory | |
| Bicycle | Burgerville | 3432 SE 25th Ave. | Satisfactory | |
| Pedestrian | Wendy's | 1421 NE Grand Ave. | Satisfactory | |
| Several | Taco Bell | 725 NE Weilder St. | Satisfactory |
McDonald's first opened a ski-through called McSki in the ski resort of Lindvallen, Sweden, in 1996.[51]