Hunger always seems to strike at the most inconvenient times. It can be late at night
while you're partying with your friends or during a work meeting. Sometimes, you just
need food--fast. This is why the drive-thru was invented, but drivers must abide by a
certain etiquette. Sadly, some of us out there are definitely doing it wrong.
This technically should be a no-brainer, but you might be surprised at how often people
mix up their fast food menus on a pretty regular basis, according to Tastemade. You may think
the slip is funny — but to the person taking your order, it's annoying.
Drive-thru workers have to be quick and efficient, so ordering "off menu," intentionally or unintentionally,
can lead to a lot of confusion. When in doubt, it's good to use the preview menu to decide
on what you want— just to make sure you don't order a Whopper when you meant to say
"Big Mac."
It's not uncommon to encounter a car that seems to be ordering enough items to feed
a small country.
“Yeah, I’d like 6000 chicken fajitas, please.”
“I beg your pardon.”
“6000 chicken fajitas.”
“And a sausage Mcbiscuit, please.”
This might be one of the most common reasons why drive-thrus get backed up. Of course,
we would never judge someone who has a huge crowd of hungry people waiting for their lunch.
But at the end of the day, all that time you spend ordering a massive list of items, especially
if they have modifications like "no pickles" or "extra special sauce," is only going to
hold up the line. And that just leads to disgruntled customers behind you — and a drive-thru
server who's struggling to keep things moving along.
This is actually such a common behavior, you might not have realized it's a huge pet peeve
of both the people behind you in the line and the drive-thru workers themselves. When
most customers do this, they're really just trying to avoid wasting time by going into
the restaurant to correct a wrong order. It might save you some time, and the hassle of
parking, but it comes at a cost to the drive-thru worker who just served you. According to a
Reddit thread on drive-thru etiquette, most drive-thrus are equipped with a timer that's
set to whatever time goal that restaurant has in place. That timer doesn't stop when
you receive your order — it stops when you pull away. That means that even though you
were served in a timely manner, your server may be penalized for the time you spend checking
things over. Pull ahead before you start digging through your bag.
Every situation is different, but drive-thru employees usually want to get your order right.
That's what they're paid to do, after all. And the person who takes your order is generally
only tasked with entering exactly what you tell them into a computer. After that, it's
transmitted to the kitchen and out of their hands, according to one Reddit thread which
specifically asked drive-thru employees how everyone can make their lives a little easier.
Getting the wrong order is definitely frustrating, and someone certainly made a mistake — but
there's a good chance it wasn't the person standing in front of you. If you do get the
wrong order, try pointing it out politely instead of throwing accusations. At the end
of the day, it really doesn't matter who made the mistake, only that it gets fixed.
We shouldn't have to tell you that you should never be rude to your drive-thru server.
I’m going to come in there, and put my foot in your ass if you say “and, then, again!”
But according to Consumer Reports, we do have to tell you that being too nice is also a
thing.
“Wait, are you being serious?” “There’s no way.” “Tell me it’s a joke. It's
a joke or somethin'?”
Apparently, there are some very social customers who are so endlessly nice to their server
that they're practically having tea and scones with them at the window — even after receiving
their food. This is not the time to tell jokes or ask their life story — or even to find
out what exact shade of nail polish they're using. Take your order, smile, say "thank
you" and then pull away.
Restaurants love the double drive-thru. They speed up service, boost profits, and make
the line look a lot shorter than it actually is. Can you guess who doesn't love them? Customers
— mostly because no one seems to know what to do once they've placed their order and
the two lines merge into one. Who goes first, the first person who stopped to place an order,
or the first person to finish their order? If you guess wrong, will the wrong car get
your food? Scott Redler, a co-founder of Freddy's Frozen Custard, told The Miami Herald that
most double drive-thrus take a picture of the car placing an order, so there's very
little chance your food is going to the wrong person. Redler says to use common driving
etiquette to decide who goes first. Basically, take turns — and if someone is determined
to go ahead of you, you might as well let them.
Are you one of those forgetful types? Chances are you might have accidentally broken this
particular, unspoken rule of the drive-thru. If we're being honest, we all probably have.
Hey, sometimes you get a last-minute craving for a strawberry shake. That's not a crime,
right? Well, turns out, it kind of is. The bottom line is, if you forget something, you're
going to have to grit your teeth, park your car, and go inside to order it. There are
a few reasons why this is better etiquette than suddenly asking for another item, or
changing your order completely, when you reach the window. First and foremost, changing your
order holds up the line — that's pretty much a given. Also, depending on how the restaurant
in question operates, it may force a manager to override your order and start over, according
to Tastemade. Don't be that person!
According to etiquette expert Diane Gottsman, being on your cell phone in the drive-thru
will absolutely slow down the entire drive-thru process. If you need to call home to take
orders, do that ahead of time. If you have some important messages to reply to or an
unavoidable phone call to make, check that off the to-do list before getting into the
line. And if your phone rings while you're waiting, call them back — it'll only be
a minute or two. It's not just courteous, it's also safe driving.
We all get it: You're in a hurry. And some people are in so much of a hurry they can't
possibly wait for more than two seconds for their turn to arrive. So, their oh-so-elegant
solution is to honk their horn, according to one self-identified fast food worker on
the forum The Straight Dope. Being louder isn't going to make the drive-thru move any
faster. If you're not sure employees can hear you, feel free to use your normal voice rather
than speaking too softly, or worse, yelling.
“Say that again?” Schweppes. I said Schweppes. Can I be over there please? You don’t know
what you’re doing.”
Drive-thru workers taking your order are wearing headsets. Unless they ask you to speak up,
they can hear you loud and clear.
You got the craving for fast food. You've taken the time to drive all the way to the
restaurant. There can't possibly be a chance that you have no idea what you want to order,
right? Well, there are a lot of wishy-washy people out there who just can't seem to decide
between their nuggets or hamburgers. One fast food worker wrote on Spoon University that
there are two preview menus at their particular restaurant, which is usually the case at most
fast food joints. One menu is for you to stop and decide what you want, and it's probably
located a little further back in line. The other one is for ordering. So, try to decide
what you’re going to eat while you're at the first menu, not the second.
If you want efficient service, everything needs to go on one ticket, paid for by one
person — and please take care of pooling your money before you get to the window. The
person who is closest to the speaker should be the one to order for everyone.
One user on a Reddit thread also noted that some notorious offenders of this rule can
also be parents who try to coax their child to order their own meals. While this may seem
like a nice way to teach a youngster some confidence and social skills, it can be a
little awkward at the drive-thru speaker. It's OK, not everything has to be a learning
opportunity. Go ahead and order that Happy Meal for them — or, you know, go inside.
In general, if you have even a little bit of a wait, this is a good time to grab your
wallet to take out your bank card or cash. It's all about efficiency. Some lines to the
pick-up window can span several minutes, so what else can you do with that time? It beats
staring blankly ahead of you, thinking about how hungry you are and how delicious those
fries will be.
Smoke and water-splashes can travel farther than you think. First, if you're a smoker,
it's common courtesy to put out your cigarette before you reach the drive-thru window in
order to stop second hand smoke from wafting into your server's area. Even if it's in the
ashtray, don't assume smoke can't travel out of your car. And on days when it's pouring
rain, be sure to turn off your windshield wipers before you get up to the window. Since
you've stopped momentarily, you don't really need them anyway. Plus, you'll keep your server
dry.
Just like honking and yelling into the speaker box, any excess noise can bungle your order
or even just hurt your drive-thru server's ears. You definitely wouldn't love loud engines
or thumping car stereos ringing in your head all day. According to one drive-thru worker
on Reddit, their headsets actually amplify the sound coming through the speaker — which
is why talking at a normal voice is perfectly acceptable. Even when you're done ordering,
the sound can still make it hard for the worker to hear the next customer. Similarly, cars
with diesel engines are especially loud when coming through the drive-thru. In order to
have a successful and pain-free experience, simply turn off the engine while you're at
the speaker box. Then, turn it back on when you're ready to move on.
Unless the restaurant has some sort of amazing deal going on, chances are you're just going
to get what you pay for. This is a business, after all, not your mother's kitchen. Still,
many people seem to think they're entitled to more than that. According to a fast food
employee on the forum The Straight Dope, customers should never ask employees to "hook them up"
with free food — and they do it more frequently than you might think. Employees can get in
trouble for giving away items without their manager's approval — technically, that's
stealing. Of course, if you have a coupon or a voucher that entitles you to a free item
or a discount, by all means, use it. However, you should mention the coupon while you order
at the speaker, before pulling up to the window, says one user on The Straight Dope.
Drive-thrus can be a stressful place, which can lead to some sticky driving situations.
While it's very possible to be stuck in a drive-thru traffic jam with cars behind you,
honking to make you move forward every possible inch, don't give in. Inching forward until
you're bumper-to-bumper really doesn't move the line any faster and can lead to fender
benders.
“Aww s--t.”
Plus, you do not want to be stuck behind a car that suddenly needs to back up and cause
a chain reaction. If that grumpy customer behind you thinks they're having a bad day
now, they'll be in for a big surprise. A good rule of thumb is to just use proper driving
etiquette. At the very least, leave a few feet between yourself and the car ahead of
you for some wiggle room. However, don't leave too much room either. According to Diane Gottsman,
if you have a car's length between you and the person in front of you, feel free to pull
forward a little.
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