Drive-in restaurant
A drive-in restaurant (also drive-thru , American abbreviation for drive through ) is a fast-service restaurant in which the customer - without leaving his car - can place his order at a counter specially built for motorists as well as receiving the ordered items in the car. In the USA , a drive-in restaurant usually refers to a fast-food restaurant where you are served in the parked car.
In order to take into account the convenience of the guests and their desire for speed, American fast food chains in particular adjusted to serving their guests in the car. Later on, the guests simply drove around the restaurant, ordering via microphone at a counter . During the payment process, a third party compiles the order and issues it to the guest.
A large number of fast food chains have drive-thru restaurants (also known as drive-in or pick-up windows), such as McDonald’s , Burger King , Kentucky Fried Chicken , Wendy's , Taco Bell , Popeyes or Chick-Fil- A . In the meantime, traditional providers in the food sector such as bakeries are also completing their service portfolio with Drive-thru.
In Germany, the first drive-in restaurant was opened in Hanover in 1961 .
Wendy's opened the first pick-up window in the USA in Columbus in 1971 . McDonald's followed suit in Sierra Vista , Arizona in 1975 .