Which fast food restaurant has got the slowest drive-thru and why

It’s called fast food, right? I mean generally speaking, people choose this option of dining out when they’re in a hurry. I mean I love McDonald’s as much as the next person, but if I have the time, I’d rather go to the local steakhouse for a BBQ bacon steakhouse burger, am I right? But sadly there are those times when time is of the essence. Today we’ll be taking a close look at which fast food restaurant has got the slowest drive-thru and why.

We’ll also be taking a look at some of the other slow service fast food restaurant drive-thrus and some of the fastest as well…

‘The excellence of execution…’

I had to borrow a quote from one of the greatest pro wrestlers to have ever laced up a pair of boots. The line belongs to Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart of course, and he was referencing his matt skills as a pro wrestler. In actual fact the man made it look effortless and even though pro wrestling is scripted, he made it look otherwise. A true master.

Now I know some of you know that I also cover the pro wrestling world as a journalist, and no I haven’t confused my assignments. I do have a point, so please bear with me folks.

I used to think of that when I worked part-time in many of the kitchens that are located in my native Montreal. And yes, I did make a few stop offs in fast food kitchen. Unavoidable really, especially when you’re trying to make a buck as you work on something as sure a thing there is as art (please note my sarcasm).

Anyways, it was during those years that I realized the faster you worked and the better you worked, the less you’d get yelled at, and being a cook, you need to work fast and the less you get yelled at, the better your day or night will undoubtedly go. So, I started to think of myself as the excellence of execution…working fast, but the same couldn’t be said for everyone that worked with me.

Which is what brings me to my point here…not everyone in those fast food kitchen wants to be there. This point is valid and it is a massive reason why some workers are slow. I was once at a Taco Bell and it literally took them (there were four of them back there) forty-five minutes to assemble a box of 10 tacos…you now that family pack many of the locations offer.

This proves two things…one, that my above theory is true (especially if you would have seen the look on those workers’ faces…they looked like they were in some prison movie circa 1979), and two, that I really love Taco Bell (yes the box was for me alone).

So…which fast food restaurant has the slowest drive-thru?

As per an article at cbsnews.com (link below), the slowest drive-thru as of the research done for the aforementioned piece, which was published two days ago, is none other than Chick-fil-A.

If you’ve been there, then you know dear readers. I really thought Taco Bell was gonna nab the honor, or dishonor, but the chicken restaurant took home the win, and for such a nefarious attribute.

The study, which is known as a Drive-Thru Report, was conducted by QSR Magazine—it’s an industry publication as CBS states in the aforementioned article—and according to their findings, Chick-fil-A has a 5-and-a-half minute waiting time, which apparently makes them the slowest among the top ten fast food restaurants in the industry.

It looks like they didn’t hear about my forty-five minute fiasco at Taco Bell up here in Montreal.

Coincidentally, there are no more Taco Bell locations in Quebec! Yeah…that’s a whole other problem for me, but I’ll deal with it. The term ‘road trip’ comes to mind…if I ever find the time.

For the record, Wendy’s was the second slowest.

Why so slow?

Well, also according to the report, the numbers of cars that go through the drive-thru are larger or rather are of a higher volume than at other fast food restaurants.

The restaurant chain’s senior director of service, Matt Abercrombie, had this to say about the fact that his service is the slowest:

"“[W]e know in the drive-thru the guest wants speed and accuracy, but they don’t want to feel rushed…We still focus on car counts and speed of service, but accuracy and taste of food as well as overall customer satisfaction and likelihood to return are also crucial indicators…”via CBS"

Which fast food restaurants are some of the fastest in the drive-thru department?

And so who has a bunch of workers that realize that they themselves need to be the aforementioned excellence of execution…? Of course I doubt that they think of it that way….

As it turns out, the fastest Drive-thrus are: The absolute fastest is KFC apparently, at a whopping 302.6 seconds. And believe it or not…an article at cnbc.com states that Taco Bell has the 2nd fastest drive-thru at 317.7 seconds!

Out of the ten slots, Hardee’s (322.6 seconds) clocks in at number 3, Dunkin’ (328.1 seconds) at number 4, and Carl’s Jr. (346.5 seconds) at number 5. For the record, Burger King ranked in at number 7 and good old McDonald’s ranked in at number 8!

Any drive-thru horror stories you’d like to share, dear readers? Let us know.