QSR October 2022

FAST CASUAL ’ S FUTURE

The rise of the pickup window—and how it’s emboldened and empowered fast casuals. / B Y D A N I E L P. S M I T H

On October 1, 2010, the Midland Reporter-Telegram shared an innocuous 110-word news brief about the debut of a McAlister’s Deli location on Wadley Avenue in Midland, aWest Texas town best known for oil and hosting the childhood home of former U.S. President George W. Bush. The copy introduced the Midland restaurant as a “newmodel” for the Mississippi-based McAlister’s franchise, featuring a smaller footprint, patio dining, andWiFi, before tucking in one nondescript sentence unknowingly forecasting the future of fast-casual dining. “The new location also includes a call-ahead windowwhere customers who place call-in orders can pick up their food,” the story read.

www.qsrmagazine.com | QSR | OCTOBER 2022

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