They just need to add one more lane, bro.

This is probably during COVID when the inside was off limits.

Plenty of people still use the drive through, but the complete lack of anyone in the carpark is sus.

Fast food has destaffed their registers so even with this line it is probably faster to drive through than to wait to order before you wait for your deprioritized food

I was ready to go in here and say I won't get out of my car until I see the others in my group show up to whatever place we're eating. I've got some social anxiety issues though.

This though...this is fucking stupid. I see this shit at coffee stands like Dutch Bros all the time. They have a walk up window. It's like 5x faster to get the fuck out of your car, order at the window, and walk away with your sugar bomb.

The same with fast food. My wife worked at BK on an AFB for a long time. Airmen would line up in the drive through. Inside was near empty. Same deal. It'd be much faster to get out of my truck, go in, order my shit, and leave. Then they'd have the audacity to complain that the place was "wasting their lunch break." Bitch, there's a commissary with fresh sushi in it, always stocked, a made to order deli sub place in the back, and lots of other healthy things. You could also bring your own food from home. You could also get out of the fucking car and get it.

I'm not fully anti car as everyone on here, though I do get it and wish there was better mass transit and walkable areas. I do think vehicles have their uses, and that MT isn't an option for everyone. That said, this type of shit is stupid af. Stop clogging up the roads. Stop wasting gas. Stop polluting with your idling bullshit (I'm seeing at least 3 gas guzzlers in the pic in the comments.)

This is also incredibly dangerous. Blocking a lane causes backups further down. It causes people to have to merge into other lanes. Often times people don't pay attention and dodge at the last minute, or they get frustrated/angry and make stupid decisions.

Everyone behind the silver car at the parking lot entrance is illegally blocking the road. Regardless of the car culture problem or OP's disingenuous use of a CoViD era image out of context, those people needed to go away. If you can't get your coffee without parking in the street, you don't get coffee at that location at that time. Safety is more important than someone getting their sugar/caffeine fix.

Well. Some places don't offer counter service and their doors are locked. You have to use the drive thru. Otherwise I agree with you except I don't get to even talk to a human, I am directed to a kiosk. And they flash a tip option. A tip for what?

Just yesterday I wanted to go out to see my "local" town. I ended up going out for about 3 hours, 2 or which were "sitting" in the car commuting from a "livley" area to another "lively" area.

Business like the one shown in this photo posted by OP have become to far apart from one another, separate by seas of parking and 8 lanes of pavement.

Its astonishing that this is considered "normal" in North America. Just going to the local Walmart to get some milk can take about a hour or two of your day.

Walking is almost out of the question, just imaging leaving the Walmart that is probably located on the other side to arrive at the front door of this coffee chain.

Was this taken during covid lockdowns when the indoor section was closed and there was no other option?

Looks like covid lockdown time.

Until you realize that they purposefully understaff and now your front counter guy has to prioritize drive thru times over your order because that's the only metric corporate measures.

Is nobody mentioning the fact that there are 4 lane roads surrounding the entire coffee shop? Like thats absolutely the least or one of the least efficient ways you could do urban planning. In areas similar to this where I live, the block sizes are at least like 5x wider and longer than whatever this is.

Reminds me of how my (able bodied) mom would drive around looking for a closer parking spot for far longer than it would have taken to just walk from the first available one.

First, the city should be ticketing every single vehicle that is parking in the road and blocking traffic. If I was a cop, I would just park myself right there and hand out easy tickets all day every day. Being in line for a drive through does not excuse blocking traffic.

But the bigger issue that people here are missing is that going into the store may not actually save you any time. Often when I've tried that at places like McDonalds, the drive through is far faster than waiting in the kitchen. Their whole operation is optimized for the drive through, and in-kitchen orders end up stuck in this weird ghetto backlog that they'll get to when they feel like getting to it.

Sometimes the drive through is just as fast as going inside. I’ve been at a mcD’s where I went in cause the line looked like this but I ended up waiting 20 mins for my order inside cause they were just slammed at that moment

Not to excuse it but some restaurants prioritize drive through over the people who order inside.

I love me a drive thru when I'm so exhausted I don't want to get out of the car. Car has comfy seats and HVAC. Normally I do prefer going in to get the order faster though.

What tunnel vision does to a mf

Because if you go in there is just no one taking your order and they completely deprioritize it too. Takes just as long or longer half the time I've tried

You point of order does not affect the maximum throughput, I guess.

If there's a line like this in the drive through I just move on. The inside is gonna be even slower than just waiting for drive through.

I hope this isn't a photo from mode pandemic... I mean fuck cars and all that, but drive thru was clutch for a bit there.

The brain rot is insane. Every Starbucks and Chickfila.