Why do people use the drive-thru at a drive-in restaurant when they have absolutely no idea what they are going to order?

It’s an oportunity to remake the drive thru. Putting a waiting area for people who can’t decide what to order.

Lazy and inconsiderate?

If with children, maybe the kids are indecisive?

If only adults, then I’d say inconsiderate or maybe they’re fussy about special orders.

Any time a fast food establishment is visited, I’ve learned to treat it as an adventure in cultural sociology. The first time I visited a Sonic, it was because friends were raving about the chili dogs. Instead of going through the drive-thru or pulling into one of the drive-in spots, I parked in a side slot and walked in. The staff looked at me as if I was about to pull out a gun and rob them. They explained the process and politely asked me to choose one of the other options for ordering.

In the case of your scenario, I agree with @jca. It’s the adult that doesn’t discuss with the children beforehand what they want. I’ve overheard these discussions while waiting behind them in line. Clerk: “May I take your order?” Parent to a child of two: “What do you want?” Child: “Ice cream.” Parent: “Do you want a burger or chicken nuggets?” Child: “Coke.” etc. Meanwhile, the line behind them grows.

There could be other factors. As @jca points out, special orders may take time. Or, what if it is one person picking up lunch meals for a gaggle of co-workers? What if there are complications on the establishment’s side?

Fast food today is hit-or-miss when it comes to being fast. Maybe we have become accustomed to the instantaneous reward from ATM machines, etc. We just seem to have become more impatient.

We also seem to have become more self-concerned instead of looking at the bigger picture. I catch myself doing this every day. If we all were more in tune to how our actions create a ripple effect, it might be less stressful for all of us.

But that’s my point, @jca & @Pied_Pfeffer.

If you’re unfamiliar with the restaurant, you have unruly kids, you have special orders or you’re ordering for a group, why not pull into an order station, shut off the car, look at the menu, and order at your leisure? You’re obviously not in a hurry, why use the drive-thru?

I suspect that part of the problem at Sonic is that the servers are paid server’s wages, or possibly as low as $2.50 per hour. The server could rightly expect a decent tip for all that extra attention, but there’s no tip at the drive-thru.

I’ll take @JLeslie‘s “Lazy and inconsiderate?”
It’s not a question about why a drive-thru can be slow, it’s a question about why people who know their order is going to take time choose the drive THRU when there is a drive IN option.

What happens with me a lot is that I may order something without any sauce on it – for example, a hamburger, I don’t want mayo on it. I think that’s gross. Chicken sandwich, same thing. Mayo on hot chicken is gross to me. I do want extra pickles on the burger (I get my roughage any way I can). So that takes extra time.

I don’t usually use the drive thru but on occasion, when traveling, if the daughter is sleeping, I have no choice. Yesterday we came home from vacation and she was sleeping. I ordered a chicken sandwich without sauce (which they screwed up and I have to call McD’s asap). I know that takes a few extra minutes and they always have the choice of telling me to pull up and then they bring it out to the car.

I’ve not been to a Sonic recently, and have only once in my lifetime (unimpressive).

Again, @jca, the question is not about why drive-thrus may take a long time, and certainly not about Sonic specifically.

Doesn’t _anyone read the details?

I was behind a man and woman that took at least 7 minutes to order.
I see it frequently and I am only in the drive-thru for a custom drink.

Sorry. Never mind.

They are like kids in a candy store… all amazed and confused.

Isn’t the drive-thru to take the food home? Drive-in is to park and stay?

FYI: a large part of the country doesn’t have drive-ins like Sonic, so jellies might not be registering that you are talking drive-thru vs drive-in. Most fast food is drive-thru or walk into the restaurant.

The first time I saw a real life drive-in was in my 30’s. I had never heard of Sonic before that, except a friend of mine mentioned she worked at one when we were in our early 20’s, but I had no idea what type of fast food that was. We lived in different states. In TN I had 5 within 25 miles.

Just thinking more, maybe they think they are being considerate by not taking a parking space?

In my book, @JLeslie, 10 minutes is park and stay.

A&W was a pervasive drive-in around here when I was a kid.

Seems there are still a lot of drive-ins on the map.

Regarding the question, when I’m interested in a question but I find a term undefinable, I state “The question is not answerable as asked.” and state the reason why.

I took the drive-in station immediately in front of the van, @JLeslie, as I wanted to get my order in ASAP. There were plenty of open spots, all around the building. It was 4 in the afternoon.

Do most restaurants in your area have both a drive-thru and a place to park and order? In Germany, the latter does not exist.

@ibstubro Jellies didn’t write they couldn’t answer the question, because they thought they understood the question.

10 minutes is ridiculous. Even 3 minutes is ridiculous. The people must have misunderstood how the place works. I would have put my car in park (left it on) gotten out, and told them they are blocking the line and move forward. Or, I would have called over to an employee to do something about it. Or, I would have given a few honks, but I would be loath to honk at a restaurant.

That you sat for ten minutes might be partly your own fault for doing nothing about it. Maybe you tried to do something and I’m missing a piece? My MIL will complain we didn’t call her when we were driving over to her house, and that she was worried. Well, then dial the phone! She’ll sit and worry rather than just call us once. She’s right. My husband always says to her he’ll call when we are about an hour away, but he should also call if we are running over an hour behind schedule.

@longgone No. I don’t care where you live in the US there are many more fast foods that don’t have drive-in than do have it. McDonalds, Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Wendy’s, Arby’s, Chick Fil A, Zaxby’s, Hardee’s, none of them have that service. The first 5 I listed are the most commonly seen around the country. The others are more regional, but still pervasive. There are additional fast foods not listed that don’t have drive-in.

I know the OP doesn’t want to accept there are millions of Americans you have never seen a drive-in, or have seen only one or two in their life time and it doesn’t register for them, but there are millions of Americans like that. Just half of NYC would be millions. There is not one drive-in that I know of where I live now. Within 300 miles of me I don’t know where one is if there is one. I’ve never come across one here. Within 300 miles of the houses I grew up in same thing.

However, there are pockets in the US that have drive-ins as a more common thing.

^ Thanks!

I just googled and there are 8 Sonics drive-ins within 30 miles of me. I had no idea they existed so close to me where I live now. I have never driven by one living here, or if I did while driving where I rarely go, I missed it.

@ibstubro I think @Pied_Pfeffer‘s answer about not knowing what to do might be possible for the people taking too long. Or, the kitchen screwed up like @jca said, and the food had to be made over. Then I would blame restaurant for not asking the customer to drive ahead and running the fixed meal out to them.

When I lived in the south I was stunned how stores and restaurants finished with the person they were with before going on to the next customer no matter how long it was taking. They couldn’t, or wouldn’t, triage. They didn’t take a quick question from one customer in the middle if helping another customer at length. They didn’t end a BS conversation have nothing to do with the transaction if a line was forming. I guess for them it’s impolite to quickly help another customer who is waiting. Maybe that’s what happened? I’m not saying all the stores in the south function like this, just saying I came across it more there.

Like @JLeslie said, I thought I understood the question.

Ah, thanks for the clarification @ibstubro. Yeah, the person with all of the children should have pulled into a drive-in booth. What a missed opportunity for a different experience. And it’s not like they have to eat it in the car.

I didn’t sit behind them for 10 minutes, @JLeslie. They were within my view for the 10 minutes it took me to order, pay and leave – ultimately from a drive-IN stall. Millions of Americans have never seen a live cow, but that doesn’t mean we can’t ask questions that define a cow from a horse.

Dead horse, @jca, and I’m not the one beating it. I was just trying to keep the question from being re-defined as “Why do drive-thru lines take so long?” which is, IMO, another dead horse.

Exactly, @Pied_Pfeffer. If people have nothing better to do, I don’t begrudge them spending 30 minutes ordering food – just do it in the politest way possible. If I’m unfamiliar with a fast-ish food restaurant’s menu, I’ll either stop one lane away from the order box and read the menu, or I’ll take the time to go in and decide what I want and ask questions before I get in the order line.
Drive-IN is the best of all possible worlds if used considerately.
Sonic even has tables where you can sit outside and read a menu before you order.

In the US, @longgone, drive-in harks back to the 1950’s and the golden age of the American automobile. Initially the only way get food was to sit in your car and have a car-hop take your order and bring your food – your car was your booth and the car-hop the waitress. The food version of the drive-in theater. I think A&W started as a drive-in, and it was a rare treat for us to go there when I was a kid (dad was particular about his cars).
Modern day drive-ins have added a drive-THRU for speed and convenience. The question is essentially the same as “Why do people with a heaping cart of food insist on using the express lane at the grocery?”