Chick-fil-A has opened a "first of its kind" location with four drive-thru lanes and an elevated kitchen with a "unique meal transport system."
The location in Atlanta opened on Thursday, and the restaurant chain says the new concept was "strategically designed to increase speed-of-service and simplify the drive-thru experience for guests."
Unlike traditional drive-thrus where customers pull up to a window attached to the kitchen, the kitchen is above drivers at this restaurant. Chick-fil-A says that meals are moved down a sophisticated conveyor belt system that "streamlines food delivery by quickly moving the meal from the elevated kitchen above to a Team Member on the ground below."
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The restaurant chain says the kitchen is twice the size of its normal locations and the system can handle the delivery of one meal every six seconds. Chick-fil-A added that the new location has the capacity to handle two to three times more traffic than a traditional location.
“Our Guests lead busy lives, and we’re focused on designing our restaurants to best serve their needs,” said Jonathan Reed, executive director of design for Chick-fil-A, Inc. “With the new Elevated Drive-Thru design, featuring our first four-lane drive-thru, we're aiming to deliver quality food and genuine hospitality in a way that’s uniquely Chick-fil-A, and gives our Guests time back in their day.”
Chick-fil-A has not said whether it plans to expand the concept to other locations.
In last year's Drive-Thru Report by QSR Magazine, Chick-fil-A was said to have the longest wait times of major chains, but the report noted that lines were much longer at Chick-fil-A than typical fast food restaurants, so that the restaurants had short wait times per car.
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