Drive-through

From ArticleWorld

A drive-through (or drive-thru) is a business, often a restaurant, which serves customers who drive up in their vehicles. Businesses who serve their customers this way include banks, pharmacies, liquor stores, and of course, restaurants. Even some Las Vegas wedding chapels offer drive-through services.

Red’s Giant Hamburgs

America’s first drive-through restaurant was a café on U.S. Highway 66, in Springfield, Missouri. Red’s Giant Hamburgs opened in 1947 with a window through which customers would call their orders.

How it works

A drive-through restaurant generally consists of:

• A backlit, free-standing sign listing the menu items.
• A speaker and microphone for customers to order from.
• A speaker and microphone, or wireless headset system, for employees to take the customers orders.
• Windows where employees take the money and give out the orders.

The basic steps of drive-through service include:

• A customer pulls up to the menu board/speaker area. A device sends a signal to let the employees know that there is a car at the speaker.
• The employee inside greets the customer and takes the order. When the order is correct, the employee gives the customer the cost total, and instructs the customer to pull forward, to the next window..

• At the window or windows, the customer pays for the order, gets his or her change, and receives their order.
• The customer leaves.

Timing

Ever increasing demands for faster service have made it necessary for drive-through restaurants to track their time. Devices are in place to timestamp each step of the sales process, helping restaurant operators spots areas in need of improvement. The time from which the customer pulls up to the speaker, to the time that same customer leaves is often referred to as the ‘’total’’, or ‘’overall’’.