The Fast Food World Is Getting Even Faster

The CulinaryWoman Newsletter

Fast food is a relatively rare treat for me. I would much rather sit down and get waited on, or find quality fast casual dining. But statistics show that most Americans eat fast food between once and three times a week, and 83 percent of American families have a fast food meal at least once a week.

During the pandemic, when so many states closed indoor dining, fast food was a lifeline. I remember seeing lines of cars circling completely around our local McDonald’s, and of course, we know about the traffic jams that Chick-fil-A restaurants cause.

That unexpected demand prompted multiple fast food chains to look at the way they serve customers, and to move swiftly to update their designs and technology. Although these efforts are meant to feed the masses, the steps taken by fast food places are influencing the way traditional restaurants operate, too.

Order taking goes digital

One of the most-noticable facets of fast food is its shift from taking orders in person to implementing digital apps. While Shake Shack introduced a digital app in 2016, more than 4.5 million people had downloaded it by last year. Once it added delivery to its lineup, orders spiked by 70 percent.

McDonald’s, Chipotle, Domino’s and Starbucks are among the other brands that have seen ordering shift from the counter and the little speaker in the drive-thru line to digital ordering. At Domino’s, digital orders are now 66 percent of its business. They are 60 percent at Buffalo Wild Wings, and 39 percent at Chipotle (more on them in a second).

The exception to the climb seems to be Restaurant Brands International, the owner of chains such as Tim Horton’s and Burger King. Only 16 percent of the company’s orders are placed digitally.

If you’d like to keep up on this sector of the business, I highly recommend you follow The Pragmatic Optimist here on Substack.

Drive-thrus pick up business

When I lived in Boston in 2016, I was intrigued by a Starbucks on Route 9 that was drive-thru only, save for a couple of outdoor tables and chairs. It turned out to be a harbinger of the future.

In recent years, Chipotle, previously a walk-in proposition, has added new stores with drive-thru lanes it calls Chipotlanes. Chipotle began testing the concept in 2018 as a precursor to developing a traditional drive-thru with a menu board.

But it found that if orders were placed in advance, they could be filled in the Chipotlane in 12 seconds — a tiny fraction of how long it took to fill conventional drive-thru orders.

Now, the idea of a pre-order pick up lane can be seen at chains including Noodles & Company and Chick-Fil-A. McDonald’s also has been testing the idea of dedicated lanes for customers who pre-order food.

Accomodating delivery drivers

I have only ordered fast food via delivery a couple of times — once from McDonald’s, which took forever, and the others from bubble tea companies. The fees have always seemed ridiculous. It cost me $25 to get two bubble teas delivered by Moge Tee, but I was really desperate for a boba drink that afternoon.

However, delivery is now a big part of the fast food world and restaurants are beginning to renovate to accommodate delivery drivers. You’ve probably noticed that a number of restaurants, such as Panera Bread and Sweetgreens, have spots on their pickup shelves for delivery drivers who swoop in to get customers’ food. There are even dedicated parking spots for use by these drivers.

Wendy’s, in fact, has rolled out a completely new building design meant to put delivery first.

The move dates before the pandemic, when Wendy’s executives noticed that fewer people were coming into eat their food or even using the drive-thru window. Instead, they were getting food delivered via third-party apps.

“We changed our kitchen layout, we changed the drive through experience, we changed how people order their food, and really thought about every aspect of how the customer engages with the brand,” Abigail Pringle, chief development officer at The Wendy’s Company and president of its international business, told Fast Company. “It’s a design for the digital age.”

Wendy’s is testing the design in Kansas and Oklahoma, and it’s developing more than 200 restaurants that will feature it.

Many more restaurants

Remember when the Popeyes chicken sandwich caused an uproar in 2019? Popeyes filled as many orders in 14 days as it would in an entire month, and it could have filled more, but many consumers couldn’t find an outlet. There simply weren’t that many Popeyes, compared with much bigger chains like McDonald’s.

Since then, Popeyes has been on a growth tear. When Restaurant Brands International acquired it in 2017, there were about 2,600 Popeyes around the world. Now, there are 4,178. More than 200 opened last year alone, and the building spree is not over.

Another franchise starting with a P — Portillo’s — is also expanding at a rapid pace. The Chicago-based chain, which has 78 restaurants nationwide now, expects to have 920 within the next 20 years. Are there really that many people who are hungry for Chicago hot dogs and Italian beef sandwiches?

Portillo’s thinks so. Its franchises averaged $8.8 million in revenue over the past year — $10.8 million per restaurant in its hometown area, $7.5 million in the Sunbelt, and $5.7 million in the Midwest. When its first Dallas restaurant opened in January, the restaurant made $48,000 a day.

So, while conventional restaurants are searching for ways to stay solvent and expand in these unpredictable times, some fast food franchises may have figured it out.

Where The Phillies Eat

Since none of my favorite teams are the MLB post-season, I have adopted the Philadelphia Phillies. They are certainly one of the most exciting teams during the post season, with a collection of stars such as Kyle Schwarber, a former Chicago Cub, Trea Turner, a former Los Angeles Dodger, and Nick Castellanos, who played for the Detroit Tigers.

Naturally, I wondered what the Phillies eat to keep up their enthusiasm, and in the process, I found out where the Phillies eat. Needless to say, Philadelphia is a great restaurant town, and the Philadelphia Inquirer learned that many of them like the same kind of food.

Not cheesesteaks, per se, but regular steaks. Pitcher Aaron Nola likes Butcher & Singer, an upscale steakhouse in Philly’s Center City, while manager Rob Thomson likes Saloon, an old-school Italian steak house in Bella Vista. Catcher Garrett Stubbs likes eating at Barclay Prime in Rittenhouse Square.

Nola and fellow pitcher Zack Wheeler both like to eat at Vetri Cucinia, a trendy spot that serves a $165 pre-fixe menu.

Superstar Bryce Harper, known for his flowing red hair, is actually a member of the industry. He owns a chunk of The Blind Barber, a cocktail lounge behind City Hall.

If their favorites aren’t to your taste, you can find Phillies cookies at the Famous 4th Street Cookie Company inside the Reading Terminal Market.

Matthew Broderick Cooks For Himself

Matthew Broderick talks about an actor’s life in the kitchen on this very entertaining episode of Your Mama’s Kitchen with Michele Norris. He’s on the hunt for a specific ratatouille recipe (I sent in my version, but perhaps you have a suggestion, too).

Britain’s Theresa May Loves Cookbooks

Former British Prime Minister Theresa May is known for her love of cookbooks. When she took office in 2016, she admitted owning 150.

But since leaving office in 2019, her collection has swelled to 275 volumes. Moreover, she is dedicated to learning a new recipe every week, she said in an interview with Times Radio.

“I enjoy cooking, which has a benefit because you get to eat it as well as make it,” she said in 2016.

Her other hobbies include watching the American TV drama NCIS, she said. You get the impression that beyond her Brexit exterior, she might be entertaining to know.

Halloween Candy Spending Jumps

You probably spotted Halloween candy in your local stores before Labor Day. The market has never been bigger.

According to the National Retail Federation, Halloween candy spending should hit a whopping $3.6 billion this year. That's a 16 percent jump that far exceeds previous annual increases.

M&M’s and Reece’s peanut butter cups are neck and neck as the leading candy this year. Next come Hot Tamales, Skittles and Sour Patch Kids.

The average person will spend about $32 on Halloween candy, and more than half of it is purchased for adult consumption. So if you’ve bought a bag of mini Kit Kats or Snickers to surreptitiously enjoy, you are not alone.

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