I did one yesterday and was in the drive through line 12 minutes for 4 cars! My chicken was cold and french fries piping hot???? What's up with that? It's usually the other way around if they aren't both hot. Then I went inside and figured out the problem. There were 9 people in front of me in line, one register and people standing around waiting for their food and I had seen a manager sitting on his butt in the office through the drive through window. Two people had come in and each ordered absolutely bags full of food ($150 $200) at least) including french fries. The people at the friers were backed up and doing the best they could but sandwiches were piled up waiting on them. Unfortunately, all the entees people were getting were cold to lukewarm but at least those fries were piping hot. I had to wait forever to get my food inside. I'm so glad that I got my other shops through before I went for the food. lol

It was like a fast food circus I remember from when I worked as a relief manager at Steak and Shake in my early 20's. There's a rock concert in Louisville on Kentucky Derby eve. It rained during Derby Eve Jam one year and I was working. All the people in that concert got rained out and headed for restaurants. I had me and four employees and had to call in the managers who were off. All the management got behind the cook line and we booked. It was one of the most fun times I ever had in my life. Looking at things as a challenge instead of a trial can really work in lots of situations. I still remember getting to the end of that night with the floor and the cookline and all that stainless steel and me covered in who knows what, but I also remember my customers standing around the counter watching in awe as my management team worked as a team and got 'er done. They were having too much fun watching to be upset at having to wait. And it taught a valuable lesson to those other four employees too. They had given up when the rush hit, but when the management kicked in, they did an awesome service job!

I was at the airport last week dropping off my daughter. Her flight was delayed, so I offered her something to eat while we waited. She decided on a hot sandwich. The line was long and the order taker were working at the speed of maybe turtles, maybe slower. After I ordered, I went to the end of the counter to wait for my sandwich. The two employees there were packing the sandwiches even slower. It was as if it hurt them lift their arm and get the sandwich in a bag. When my turn came, I asked the server to cut my sandwich in half. She looked at me as if I had commited murder. The server put the sandwich in a bag, and then cut it in half. A big chunk of the chicken fell off. She lifted the two pieces of sandwich towards me as if she was giving an offering the the gods.
This was not a shop. It was my own money on the line. I complained to the manager and got a refund.

Would tht be O'hare or Midway...I fly there to see my daughter and will stay away from that counter. Sounds grueling.

Yeah, sometimes those lines are horrendous. But we must wait. 90 minutes is not enough time to do two shops and the drive around beforehand. Sometime after the drive around the perimeter is done, you might have to go back into traffic just to make a U-turn to cone back and do the drive thru portion of a shop.

I’m always worried that the Drive thru personnel is going to recognize me when I walk in. I do the drive thru in disguise. Really!!!!!!!! My walk in is Restroom first, order second.

I almost always perform the dine in BEFORE the drive-thru. Performing the drive-thru first is only a SUGGESTION and is not a requirement of the shop. I think they suggest it so that you have a better chance of STARTING both parts of the shop within the required timeframe.

Only once have I been recognized by a drive-thru employee who said, "Hey, weren't you just in here?" I replied, "Yeah. My spouse just called after I was in the car & wants me to bring home X while I'm here." It worked perfectly & I'm prepared to use it any and every time if necessary. In fact, I'm a little paranoid, so as I get to my car after the dine-in portion, I put my cell phone to my ear and pretend to be talking to someone.

Irene: It was at the Milwaukee airport, near the C concourse. Only two choices to eat there: fast food pizza or Quiznos or long sit down meal at the restaurant. Neither is any good.

O.k. thought it was O'hare...Milwaukee has an amazing space museum, have you been? I better finish or I'll be called on by the wrong thread police...lol.