Minneapolis bans new drive-thrus

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Minneapolis bans new drive-thrus

Proponents of the ban hope it will cut down on vehicle noise and idling, and make sidewalks safer. Opponents say it will make access to businesses and restaurants more difficult for people with physical challenges.
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I’m wondering how businesses will response with regards to the lost drive-thru traffic. It might not matter much if your parking lot could easily take the load, but I’ve seen some restaurants elsewhere (generally Chick-fil-A) that were both overflowing into neighboring parking lots and had a drive thru backed out of the lot, sometimes even affecting the flow of traffic on nearby streets. I’d imagine the stream of people looking for parking would create its own problems on top of the potentially lost business.
 
banning seems a crazy move, but people who own a drive thru now have a more valuable piece of property
 
ZMystiCat said:
I’ve seen some restaurants elsewhere (generally Chick-fil-A) that were both overflowing into neighboring parking lots and had a drive thru backed out of the lot, sometimes even affecting the flow of traffic on nearby streets
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Likewise. A few of our local Chick Fil-A locations came up with some unconventional paths for drive through customers to reduce that load.
ZMystiCat said:
wondering how businesses will response with regards to the lost drive-thru traffic.
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Don’t know. But recently an Atlanta local resteraunt closed because others opened and increased the load on free parking. Paid parking was still available. But someone picking up to-go has no interest in paying to park.
 
Lines will be longer inside. Not good for people who rather than waiting 20 or more minutes behind 10 cars in the drive thru go inside, walk right up to the counter, and are in and out in less than five minutes.
 
ZMystiCat said:
but I’ve seen some restaurants elsewhere (generally Chick-fil-A) that were both overflowing into neighboring parking lots and had a drive thru backed out of the lot, sometimes even affecting the flow of traffic on nearby streets
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I have never understood why Chick-fil-A alone seems to have this problem. I’ve noticed it too in some places, usually where the Chick-fil-A is occupying a tiny space and doesn’t have room for more than 5 cars in the drive-through line. If they can’t figure out how to fill the orders fast enough to keep the line reasonable, then they either need to buy plots of land that are bigger to have space for a line, or they need a process improvement.
 
All the Chick-fil-A’s around me have double drive-thrus and and an extra employee standing outside taking orders during the busy lunch and dinner hours. And there is still long lines. It’s always faster to park, go inside, and get your order to go.
 
humbleseeker said:
All the Chick-fil-A’s around me have double drive-thrus and and an extra employee standing outside taking orders during the busy lunch and dinner hours.
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So do mine. And the drive through lanes wrap around the parking lot instead of only wrapping around the building so that there is a longer path to be driven. That said, while the lines are long the wait times are not as long as one would think from looking at the lines. They are actually fairly fast about preparing orders.
 
The Chick fil a around here have employees that take your order while still not n your car and it’s ready to go by the time you get to the window.Similarily the McDonalds have two windows one for ordering the second to receive the order. Starbucks the same🤷🏻‍♀️
 
Tis_Bearself said:
I have never understood why Chick-fil-A alone seems to have this problem.
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At least where I’ve lived, it’s just a matter of popularity. The Chick-fil-As aren’t any slower than the other fast food places around (often among the fastest), but they’re clearly drawing in larger crowds.

With that said, the worst Chick-fil-A I saw in terms of traffic did have a small lot. The fact that is was on the edge of downtown Bellevue, WA and right off a major interstate exit didn’t help. (Edit: Oh yeah, and they were the only one in the whole Seattle area for a while. From what I hear, people were driving down from Bothell and Woodinville to go there, on top of the heavy traffic from Redmond and Bellevue.)
 
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To each his own. Pickles on a chicken sandwich should incur automatic excommunication. 🤩
 
I just don’t go. Fast food is pretty much off limits to me anymore.
 
We first saw Chick-fil-A in North Carolina in indoor malls. They were immensely popular!

I’m wondering if perhaps the expansion of Chick-Fil-A into actual buildings outside of a mall was started before parking lot design research was thoroughly done. ??

It seems that all the non-mall Chick-Fil-As that I have seen sit in parking lots of major stores (ours is at Lowe’s). This means that the parking lots are already full of customers to buy the retail store’s products, which creates traffic snarls for the Chck-Fil-A. Ours is always a big mess.

Also, in our city, there is only one Chick-Fil-A, which means that everyone who wants it has to go there. No other options, other than driving all the way to Chicago and the burbs.

I wish Chick-Fil-A would just take over old fast food buildings (and locations) and rehab them into the appropriate design for Chick-Fil-A. This would stop retail blight (old abandoned fast food buildings are really ugly!), and it would solve some traffic snarls.

Bu I do agree that the main reason traffic is so bad around Chick-Fil-A is that it is extremely popular.

As for it being “fast food”–yes, it’s fast, but there are several very healthy options at the chain, so those who are trying to eat healthy can go to Chick-Fil-A and not compromise their goals.

My husband and I never tend to go to Chick-Fil-A, though. If we are going out we have several local favorites that trump chicken sandwiches–several pizza parlors, a great Mexican restaurant, and several diners that still serve food like creamed chicken over biscuit, meat loaf, and hot beef sandwiches with mashed potatoes! As for fast food, we have a local chain that is 50 years old that is absolutely delicious and has lots of healthy options (the owner of the chain is also part owner of the biggest health club in the area!).
 
Peeps said:
We first saw Chick-fil-A in North Carolina in indoor malls. They were immensely popular!
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I grew up in Orlando, and Chick-fil-A was a purely mall-based chain at the time, at least in the Orlando area. I can still remember frequently going to the arcade at the mall before getting lunch at Chick-fil-A.

They apparently started expanding into retail stores when my family was in Michigan, where there were none at the time, and it was a bit surprising to see when we moved to Virginia, where there were some. Now I tend to forget that you could only previously get them in malls.
Peeps said:
trump chicken sandwiches
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LIES!!!
 
I love Chik fil a. Unfortunately, the only time I get any is when I’m traveling, and I can’t count the number of times I have gone 6 miles off the highway to a hidden Chik fil a, only to remember, when I finally find it, that it is Sunday.

I have missed it more than I have gone there!
 
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