Some fast food and traditional restaurants. We’re already considering digital ordering and updating their outdated interiors before the pandemic compelled them to do so. When stores were closing for good, everything moved very quickly. There has been a 16% drop in restaurant patronage in the nearly three years since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Drive-thru demand is still 13 percent above pre-pandemic levels and accounts for 39 percent of all restaurant traffic, so many establishments are adapting to accommodate it.
Fast food franchises have been reimagining. What a restaurants can be like in the twenty-first century by testing out new design prototypes. That incorporates more drive-thru lanes and curbside pickup areas. The dining area, in particular, appears to be taking up less and less space in today’s fast-food establishments.
As more and more chain restaurants reveal their plans for the future. Many of them are decreasing the size of, or doing away with, their dining rooms. Some of the most well-known chains are among the first to embrace the shift towards off-premise dining.
McDonald’s
Last year. At the tail end of 2016. A prototype McDonald’s restaurant. That only serves takeout was unveiled in Fort Worth, Texas. Customers could place their orders at digital kiosks in the restaurant, on their phones, or at the drive-thru window. A mechanical conveyor belt brings the food to the customer’s global design and restaurant development at McDonald’s.
Schlotzsky’s Restaurants
Schlotsky’s, a 300-unit sandwich chain, is one of many businesses that aren’t completely abandoning the dining room. But is instead “dipping its proverbial toe” in the idea. The new spot opened in the middle of 2022. Features both a drive-thru and a dedicated line for mobile orders. Even though the new concept is being considered. The chain’s 3,300 square foot restaurants will still be available as a choice for future locations eats off-premise than on-premise,” Harris said.
Wingstop Restaurants
Wingstop has made a concerted effort to modernize its services in order to facilitate customers’ quick in-and-out visits. And subsequent consumption of wings in the convenience of their own homes (or anywhere else they please). In January of this year, a prototype storefront without seats was opened in Dallas, Texas to offer digital ordering and delivery to locals without accepting cash. With nearly all of their business coming from takeout and delivery. The shift was inevitable.
In the future. It’s possible that all a Wingstop Promo Code will have is a lobby for delivery drivers and racks for customers to pick up their orders.
Taco Bell
Taco Bell was announced in 2022. That it would like to open 10,000 restaurants over the following decade. The chain is planning to expand. And as part of that process. They have developed cutting-edge store layouts that reflect consumers’ shifting priorities. In Minnesota, Taco Bell introduced a new concept called Defy that could be implemented at these restaurants. It has four drive-through lanes and uses vertical lifts to transport food from the kitchen on the second floor to the waiting vehicles below.
Panera Restaurants
New York City is home to a new concept restaurant from Panera. That debuted last year. Unlike traditional Panera locations. This one is only half the size, and instead of quaint booths and nooks. It has only counter seating. Panera Bread has opened a second, smaller location in Union Square called Panera to Go. Which offers only takeout and has no seating.
Burger King
Burger King’s “restaurant of the future,” scheduled to open in 2020. Will have several novel features, including massive drive-thrush, food lockers, conveyor belts, and in some locations, al fresco dining areas. Some of the new concepts for the chain have smaller dining rooms perched directly above the drive-thru lanes. While others have no interior at all, offering only a covered patio for customers to enjoy their meals. Over 800 restaurants across the chain will undergo renovations as part of the Royal Reset programmed over the course of the next two years, the company said.
Portillo’s Restaurants
It’s no secret that Portillo’s is a Chicago institution. And that the chain’s massive dining halls are just as well-known as its famous hot dogs. The chain and its customers, however, face a very different future. Portillo’s new locations. As stated by CEO Michael Osanloo, will reflect the company’s bet on off-premise sales as the primary source of foot traffic.
Portillo’s is decreasing the size of its dining rooms and has even opened a prototype restaurant with no dining area at all. So far, so good. We’re “very pleased” with the results, CEO Michael Osanloo said. “We couldn’t be more impressed with the outcome. It has been performing remarkably well beyond our anticipations.”
IHOP
Although IHOP famous for its dine-in restaurants, the company has also created a fast-food spinoff that is better suited for takeout. Flip’d by IHOP offers a compact version of the classic IHOP breakfast and lunch menu in smaller. More easily transportable locations with limited seating.
Del Taco Restaurants
Del Taco’s post-pandemic restaurant concept known as Fresh Flex, and it features a new design that gives potential franchisees a selection of store sizes to accommodate their business needs. Smaller establishments with just a drive-through and no seating area are one option.
KFC
In a similar vein, KFC has announced plans to gradually replace its current restaurant design (dubbed the “American Showman”) with one that places less emphasis on in-restaurant dining. It has unveiled two new concepts that significantly scale back its conventional dining rooms; one target drive-thru expansion in suburban areas, while the other is better suited to the more expensive real estate found in urban centers.
Chipotle Restaurants
Chipotle is not only increasing the number of its digital-only restaurants. But also the number of Chipotlanes (its proprietary drive-thru on steroids) that it is installing across the United States. There is no place to eat in and no way for customers to place orders at these stores. Customers can’t just walk in and place orders for pickup or delivery. But must use the chain’s mobile app or website instead. This Chipotle model will likely keep spreading across the United States in the years to come.