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I was watching "the founder" the other day and in the first McDonald they made a point to have your order ready in 39 seconds.
I remember going to almost any fast food place and my food was on a try or in a bag by the time I fished the money out of my pockets(70's/80's - early 90's). flash forward 20+ years and it's a frustratingly long wait even if you ordered off the menu(no special orders or grocery lists).
When I worked in fast food unless they had a "grocery list" we got their food to them in seconds.
no long as lines or hungry people waiting.
I thought the whole point of fast food or the niche it served was for when you did not feel like cooking that night or you were out and about and wanted something to eat RIGHT NOW.
(A grocery list is what we called it when someone ordered a bunch of stuff that was special ordered and slowed down the process because you actually had to think about what you were doing instead of going into autopilot and letting muscle memory take over or just grabbing said item from under the heat lamp. IE hold the pickles, extra onions, hold the mayo etc etc.....)
How fast does fast have to be? I never, and I mean never, eat "fast food". But I sometimes buy it when I'm with my kids on trips. Last year it was an In and Out in CA, I think it took 5 minutes for our number to be called. Last weekend, traveling to a family wedding, it took no more than 5 minutes at a McDonald's (fresh beef y'all). I admit to being a bit surprised at McDonald's, I was used to the pile of burgers ready to go. And nobody said the burgers were any better this time. But I still think 5 minutes qualifies as "fast".
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Yes, 5 minutes is fast, but I’d be happy to wait 10-20 and have decent food, like Fatburger or 5 Guys, or better yet, wait longer while sipping a beer and having my burger at a place like the Ram, HopJack’s, or BJs.
How fast does fast have to be? I never, and I mean never, eat "fast food". But I sometimes buy it when I'm with my kids on trips. Last year it was an In and Out in CA, I think it took 5 minutes for our number to be called. Last weekend, traveling to a family wedding, it took no more than 5 minutes at a McDonald's (fresh beef y'all). I admit to being a bit surprised at McDonald's, I was used to the pile of burgers ready to go. And nobody said the burgers were any better this time. But I still think 5 minutes qualifies as "fast".
As fast as it can be, below is what I remember from childhood(even though the scene if from the 50's and I was born in 1970)
And below is how they did it. by comparison to what I remember from childhood to early 20's 5 minutes seems like forever it was the mid 90's - early 2000's that fast food went to crap as far as service.
PS: I've waited much longer than 5 minutes.
Food was fast then they made up a bunch of burgers, wrapped them in paper, set them on a warming tray, and when you ordered one, they handed it to you. Or roller skated out to your car and set a tray on the window. Now you have to wait for somebody on the line to make one up exactly the way you want it.
More and more people want their burger grilled after they order it, an served hot. That's not gonna happen if you want it in 39 seconds. Restaurants are responding to customer demand, and diners would rather have it cooked to order, than off the stack.
I guess "fast" is relative but we usually get our food at McDonalds within two minutes, which seems pretty fast too me. I suspect that's the norm, a restaurant with a drive-through just couldn't reasonable function if every order took 5 minutes. Granted we almost always order simple double cheeseburger combos, and every once in awhile the tray sits there with everything but the fries for an additional minute while waiting for the heavenly beep-beep sound of another batch finishing.
Slowest seems to be Jack-in-the-Box, but they do have a really big quirky menu. We'll have a chicken teriyaki, two tacos, and a cheeseburger please.
Maybe it just seems much longer to me. 3 minutes vs 30 seconds feels huge just count to 180 when you are hungry as opposed to counting to 30 and I remember 30 seconds being on the long side because usually they handed you food right after handing you your change. (if you did not make a grocery list) because they already had 20 of the burger you ordered under the heat lamp. and making it fresh does make it any hotter, I remember having to blow on heat lamp burgers. making it fresh just makes you have to wait longer, lines don't move nearly as fast. also they usually only have 2 or 3 people in the kitchen, when I worked at burgerking(in 1991) there were usually around 5 of us back there and it was literally like working on a conveyor belt line.
I am normally a very controlled person in public. Last Tuesday, when I took my youngest son to McDonalds as promised; it took 47 minutes to go through the drive-thru & by that time I was screaming out the window.
On the other hand, it’s probably the first time in about 3 months (I take him twice a month) that they managed to not screw up my order & the ice cream machine was even working (not that’s it’s really broken when they say it is. It’s just a huge PITA so they won’t refill it).
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