QSR October 2022

0 CARS ■ McDonald’s 12 % ■ Chick-fil-A 8 % ■ Wendy’s 5 % ■ Burger King 5 % ■ Dunkin’ 3 % ■ Arby’s 2 % ■ Taco Bell 2 % ■ KFC 2 % ■ Hardee’s 1 % ■ Carl’s Jr. 0 % ��� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� ��� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� � � allows for a connection that happens at the beginning of the drive-thru,” Abercrombie says. That’s one part of it—this notion Chick-fil-A can move the line but not in a way where the customer feels less cared for. Think of it like a full-service restaurant conducting table checks instead of seating a guest and disappearing for 30 minutes. The other element, though, is it’s redef ined the static nature of classic drive-thrus. As Abercrombie describes, if you pull into a drive-thru and there’s a car ahead with a 6 CARS ■ Chick-fil-A 9 % ■ Arby’s 2 % ■ McDonald’s 2 % ■ Dunkin’ 2 % ■ Burger King 1 % ■ KFC 1 % ■ Wendy’s 1 % ■ Taco Bell 1 % ■ Carl’s Jr. 0 % ■ Hardee’s 0 % 7 CARS ■ Chick-fil-A 4 % ■ McDonald’s 2 % ■ Arby’s 1 % ■ Burger King 1 % ■ Dunkin’ 1 % ■ KFC 1 % ■ Taco Bell 1 % ■ Wendy’s 1 % ■ Carl’s Jr. 0 % ■ Hardee’s 0 % 8 CARS ■ Chick-fil-A 6 % ■ McDonald’s 2 % ■ Dunkin’ 2 % ■ Wendy’s 2 % ■ Arby’s 0 % ■ Burger King 0 % ■ Carl’s Jr. 0 % ■ Hardee’s 0 % ■ KFC 0 % ■ Taco Bell 0 % 9 CARS ■ Taco Bell 1 % ■ Chick-fil-A 1 % ■ McDonald’s 1 % ■ Burger King 1 % ■ Wendy’s 1 % ■ Arby’s 0 % ■ Carl’s Jr. 0 % ■ Dunkin’ 0 % ■ Hardee’s 0 % ■ KFC 0 % 10+ CARS 1 CARS ■ Burger King 29 % ■ Hardee’s 29 % ■ Arby’s 28 % ■ Wendy’s 24 % ■ Dunkin’ 24 % ■ Carl’s Jr. 24 % ■ KFC 21 % ■ Taco Bell 21 % ■ McDonald’s 18 % ■ Chick-fil-A 16 % 2 CARS ■ Arby’s 17 % ■ McDonald’s 17 % ■ Wendy’s 16 % ■ Taco Bell 15 % ■ Burger King 13 % ■ Chick-fil-A 11 % ■ Hardee’s 10 % ■ Carl’s Jr. 9 % ■ KFC 8 % ■ Dunkin’ 8 % 3 CARS ■ Wendy’s 13 % ■ McDonald’s 10 % ■ Taco Bell 9 % ■ Arby’s 8 % ■ Carl’s Jr. 7 % ■ Chick-fil-A 7 % ■ Dunkin’ 5 % ■ Burger King 4 % ■ KFC 4 % ■ Hardee’s 3 % 4 CARS and hospitality, says the brand has approached drive-thru consistently through COVID—“This idea that we know in the drive-thru the guest wants speed and accuracy, but they don’t want to feel rushed,” he says. Chick-fil-A was one of the early brands to shutter dining rooms back in March 2020. Its focus went right to bring ing hospitality outside. Face-to-face ordering is a model Chick-f il-A has deployed for years, and one that’s started to proliferate industry-wide, as Wendy’s hinted. “We believe that looking eye-to-eye with the customer VEH I CLES IN L INE How many other vehicles were in line for service (in front of you to the speaker) as you entered the drive-thru line? 5 CARS ■ Chick-fil-A 11 % ■ Burger King 4 % ■ McDonald’s 4 % ■ Dunkin’ 3 % ■ Wendy’s 3 % ■ KFC 2 % ■ Taco Bell 2 % ■ Arby’s 2 % ■ Carl’s Jr. 0 % ■ Hardee’s 0 %

■ KFC 61 % ■ Carl’s Jr. 60 % ■ Hardee’s 56 % ■ Dunkin’ 53 % ■ Taco Bell 48 % ■ Burger King 44 % ■ Arby’s 40 % ■ Wendy’s 34 % ■ McDonald’s 31 % ■ Chick-fil-A 11 % ■ Chick-fil-A 16 % ■ McDonald’s 2 % ■ Arby’s 1 % ■ Wendy’s 1 % % ■ Burger King 0 % ■ Carl’s Jr. 0 % ■ Dunkin’ 0 % ■ Hardee’s 0 % ■ KFC 0 % ■ Taco Bell 0 % �������������� � ����� �������� � � DRIVE - THRU REPORT ICON IMAGE: ADOBE STOCK / IMDPRODUCTION 44 OCTOBER 2022 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com