Minor news, but kinda interesting as a possible vanguard of world with Covid, yet wanting their fast food still faster:

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The plan is to break ground on Taco Bell Defy — "a concept that will defy norms and define the future" — later this month in Brooklyn Park [MN] a news release says, with the opening scheduled for next summer.

The 3,000-square-foot, two-story restaurant will feature four drive-thru lanes…

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There will be one traditional drive-thru lane and three others reserved for those who previously ordered through the Taco Bell app or a third-party delivery app, which will help ease the flow of traffic and ensure speedy service, Taco Bell says.

The three drive-thru lanes for mobile orders will provide "fast, skip-the-line service" via digital check-in screens, so customers who ordered online can scan in their order via a unique QR code, then pull forward to pick up their food. Food will be delivered "seamlessly and in a contactless manner via a proprietary lift system."

From news stories, it’s kind of a two-story-drive-thru-bank meets Star-Trek-food-synthesizer. Drive in, scan your code, and zhoop! your tacos come down the pneumatic tube.

So I guess all we need now are the 3 seashells.

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Good Luck!
Jamie Dresser
Other World Computing

I'm glad someone is thinking about how to redesign the drive through. The current method of queuing up around the building is from an era of suburban design of unlimited land.

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Hurts like a bastid...

Looks like a bank drivethru. I wonder how they plan to deal with dine-in, especially making it ADA compliant.

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“No persons are more frequently wrong, than those who will not admit they are wrong.” -- François de La Rochefoucauld

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I really like the idea of letting the mobile app people go through a different line.
I often get stuck behind an SUV ordering food for a whole baseball team or something, when I have my stuff already ordered.
If a place has an ordering app, chances are, I will use it to order. It is sooooooo much easier and usually more accurate.

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

But how will I get my weed, or deliver it ?

There's positives to that...but I also like to be able to get even a glimpse of the kitchen and people who are handling my food. I have been known to reject my order and drive away when I get to the pickup window and see flies buzzing around inside, or the pickup person wiping their nose with the back of their hand.

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“Live your life, love your life, don’t regret…live, learn and move forward positively.” – CR Johnson
Loving life in Lake Tahoe, CA

That would have been before my time, but my brother worked in that Taco Bell mid-70's.

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vision63

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“Live your life, love your life, don’t regret…live, learn and move forward positively.” – CR Johnson
Loving life in Lake Tahoe, CA

"Eat here
Get gas"

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=TC

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Markintosh
That would have been before my time, but my brother worked in that Taco Bell mid-70's.

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vision63

I worked at one in downtown Chico while going to college there for about a year (2 semesters) circa '79 ish.

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Markintosh
There's positives to that...but I also like to be able to get even a glimpse of the kitchen and people who are handling my food. I have been known to reject my order and drive away when I get to the pickup window and see flies buzzing around inside, or the pickup person wiping their nose with the back of their hand.

I also hate the drive thru. I want to see what's going on back there as best i can. I can also gauge the amount of time until I get my order, see if they put condiments in, etc...

If i am ordering UNHEALTHY fast food, the least i can do is waddle my fat ass in and physically pick it up.

Covid has killed many and much of the inside order and pick up in many places, drive thru only and lines are 10 to 20 cars long, places are also not open as late....

I miss the "good ol' days"

Burritos are perfect for pneumatic tube delivery, but drinks could be interesting

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“No persons are more frequently wrong, than those who will not admit they are wrong.” -- François de La Rochefoucauld

"Those who cannot accept the past are condemned to revise it." -- Geo. Mathias

The German word for contraceptive is “Schwangerschaftsverhütungsmittel”. By the time you finished saying that, it’s too late

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vision63

I miss the original design (and food). I haven't eaten at Taco Bell in at least 30 years.

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It is what it is.

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ArtP

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Markintosh
There's positives to that...but I also like to be able to get even a glimpse of the kitchen and people who are handling my food. I have been known to reject my order and drive away when I get to the pickup window and see flies buzzing around inside, or the pickup person wiping their nose with the back of their hand.

I also hate the drive thru. I want to see what's going on back there as best i can. I can also gauge the amount of time until I get my order, see if they put condiments in, etc...

If i am ordering UNHEALTHY fast food, the least i can do is waddle my fat ass in and physically pick it up.

Covid has killed many and much of the inside order and pick up in many places, drive thru only and lines are 10 to 20 cars long, places are also not open as late....

I miss the "good ol' days"

I refuse to do drive-thru unless there are absolutely no other options available. And I FLAT OUT will not do drive-thru at In-N-Out - those lines are always INSANELY long.

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It is what it is.

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N-OS X-tasy!
I refuse to do drive-thru unless there are absolutely no other options available...

"Pandemic" ... Never heard of it.

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A big problem during the pandemic has been all these restaurants going drive-thru only, and refusing to serve those of us without cars. Even in normal times, they'll often lock the dining room up at night. Several times I've had no way (short of calling a taxi) to get any food from the only restaurant open in the entire area. I know it was also a serious issue for big rig drivers last year.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/15/2021 12:55PM by Mr Downtown.

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Mr Downtown
A big problem during the pandemic has been all these restaurants going drive-thru only, and refusing to serve those of us without cars. Even in normal times, they'll often lock the dining room up at night. Several times I've had no way (short of calling a taxi) to get any food from the only restaurant open in the entire area. I know it was also a serious issue for big rig drivers last year.

You're right. Even back in the day they wouldn't serve walk-up customers after dining room hours. That was frustrating. I used to have to ask people to order food for me.

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Ombligo
Burritos are perfect for pneumatic tube delivery, but drinks could be interesting

Well, I was kind of generalizing a bit. I think it’s going to be more of a new-tech mini-dumbwaiter that comes down with your food.

I do kind of like the idea of a burrito cannon tho (kinda like a T-shirt cannon). Incoming!

Can't ID employee-abuse if there's nobody allowed up to observe.

And employees can't talk about demanding higher wages or organizing a union (which generally can't occur on the employer's premises) if they can't leave the premises on their breaks because of the time and effort that it takes to leave the elevated building.

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Sarcany
Can't ID employee-abuse if there's nobody allowed up to observe.

And employees can't talk about demanding higher wages or organizing a union (which generally can't occur on the employer's premises) if they can't leave the premises on their breaks because of the time and effort that it takes to leave the elevated building.

Some McDonalds already are automating cooking tasks. You order from an electronic board taller than you are, pay there and they bring you the food with just a handful of employees. I don't even think it would be worthwhile robbing those McDonalds outlets.

Best of all, if your car has a sun roof, you can choose the chute delivery method (for orders of 75 tacos/burritos or more). Customers selecting this option must be wearing hooded raincoats.

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Sarcany

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N-OS X-tasy!
I refuse to do drive-thru unless there are absolutely no other options available...

"Pandemic" ... Never heard of it.

I was anti-drive-thru even before the pandemic.

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It is what it is.

I always (99%) walk into a place with a drive through window but it was nice to have it recently, and it was great to have the option when my kids were small and asleep in the back seat.

The thing that pisses me off is that they give the bums rush to the customers at the counter.

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Hurts like a bastid...

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Mr Downtown
A big problem during the pandemic has been all these restaurants going drive-thru only, and refusing to serve those of us without cars. Even in normal times, they'll often lock the dining room up at night. Several times I've had no way (short of calling a taxi) to get any food from the only restaurant open in the entire area. I know it was also a serious issue for big rig drivers last year.

It could fairly be called a ‘no car tax’ but in many, if not most, places you in fact can order from restaurants of just about all kinds, fast food and not, using the delivery ‘partners’ like DoorDash, GrubHub, and UberEats.

The delivery charges hike the price considerably, but it buys you access to a big swath of formerly out of bounds eateries if you’re carless.

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A priest, a rabbit and a minister walk into a bar.
The bartender asks the rabbit "what'll ya have?"
The rabbit says "I dunno. I'm only here because of Autocorrect.


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I rarely eat at fast food places, but have usually found it's much faster to park and go inside and get my food than go through the drive thru. I'll make note of the last car in the line, and when I come out, they're usually still in line.

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rz
I rarely eat at fast food places, but have usually found it's much faster to park and go inside and get my food than go through the drive thru. I'll make note of the last car in the line, and when I come out, they're usually still in line.

This is why I don’t do drive-thru.

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It is what it is.

Hm.

My older version of Safari won't open pdq's pic.

Trying to open it in another tab (which usually works) doesn't.

It just downloads a .webp file which also won't open.

Anyway...

All the McDonald's near me have added a YKK type drive thru that seems to work fairly well, so far.

As cool as four lanes for a Taco Bell are, it's the preparation of most of their food items that takes up time.

From the article, it looks like one scans their app order to confirm they're at the store, then drives to a traditional pick-up point to get their order.

No sending the drinks through a pneumatic tube in a Glad Bag.

But it's a NoGo for me, for the same reason I don't do Wendy's — no Apple Pay.

QR codes are for animals.

Pay with an Apple Pay compatible app (like McDonalds's) drive up to the mic, tell them one's order number like a civilized person, and get the food.

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Is a 3oz cardboard burger with fake cheese really worth the hassle?

If/when I want a takeout burger, I'll call a local place and order takeout. Price is the same and taste is so much better.

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“No persons are more frequently wrong, than those who will not admit they are wrong.” -- François de La Rochefoucauld

"Those who cannot accept the past are condemned to revise it." -- Geo. Mathias

The German word for contraceptive is “Schwangerschaftsverhütungsmittel”. By the time you finished saying that, it’s too late

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Ombligo
Is a 3oz cardboard burger with fake cheese really worth the hassle?

If/when I want a takeout burger, I'll call a local place and order takeout. Price is the same and taste is so much better.

Here, the "local place" while better, is at least 4x the price of In N Out. (a decent burger is $18, a Double Double is $4). When I want a "good" burger, I want a place to sit and eat it, and table service (in non-pandemicy times, that is). When I want something to eat quickly and conveniently, I'll go through the drive-thru, or walk into, depending on time of day, In N Out.


Our Local Taco Bell has the slowest drive through in North America. The last time I used it (and it was the LAST time I'll use it), there were three cars in front of me. It took 45 minutes to get to the window. Forty. Five. Minutes. Had there not been three cars BEHIND me, I'd have bailed out of that. This was unusually long, but, half an hour for a freakin' taco was not unusual... Walk-in was not substantially shorter. I haven't been to that Taco Bell in a decade... but I drive by it every day, and the line still moves just as slow in the drive through.

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Paul F.
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A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand. - Lucius Annaeus Seneca c. 5 BC - 65 AD
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Good is the enemy of Excellent. Talent is not necessary for Excellence.
Persistence is necessary for Excellence. And Persistence is a Decision.
--

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Eureka, CA

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rgG
I really like the idea of letting the mobile app people go through a different line.
I often get stuck behind an SUV ordering food for a whole baseball team or something, when I have my stuff already ordered.
If a place has an ordering app, chances are, I will use it to order. It is sooooooo much easier and usually more accurate.

Chick-Fil-A has been pretty good around here w/ segregating mobile ordering. Unfortunately, Taco Bell's drive thru's are currently mostly poorly designed, so the SUV thing currently rings true. Would look forward to planned improvements, but not sure how many of their existing locations would accommodate the redesign.... best guess would be <40% in our urban areas.

OTOH, minor niggle; our Taco Bell's and Mickey D's, etc. can, and do, screw up app orders just as well as they screw up voice ordered meals. Our drive thru's have screens that show/confirm what's been ordered, but that doesn't mean that it's gonna resemble what ends up your bag when you open it.
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vision63

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Markintosh
That would have been before my time, but my brother worked in that Taco Bell mid-70's.

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vision63

I worked at one in downtown Chico while going to college there for about a year (2 semesters) circa '79 ish.

Lit'l bro, and his then honey, wife since shortly thereafter, were finishing up there at that time.... bailed from Chico fall '79, and bro started at mothership in Cupertino first biz day Jan '80. Gotta ask 'em if they "ran for the border" back then.
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RAMd®d
My older version of Safari won't open pdq's pic.

Trying to open it in another tab (which usually works) doesn't.

It just downloads a .webp file which also won't open.

I right-click downloaded .webp files and open them in GraphicConverter. Likely other suitable apps as well, but when it worked in GC I looked no further.