If you had 6 orders to place at a fast food joint, would you go inside to order or would you order through the drive through?

Drive through, always unless the line is 8 cars deep.
By the time you park, go in and order and then have to carry all the bags and drinks out, forget it. Hand it all to me through the window please. haha Of course I never have more than one order, my own, on the occasions I get fast food.

I do not use drive through. I always go inside. I get to stretch and a little exercise and I don’t stink up my car with food smell and mess.
I also use the bathroom to wash up.
Neat and tidy,

See @Coloma, I was thinking of all the people who came after me. I don’t think it’s right to keep them sitting there for 10 minutes while the restaurant puts together 6 different orders. Going inside lets more people wait on you at one time and doesn’t hang everyone else up. I wasn’t thinking simply about my own convenience.

@Dutchess_III It really doesn’t take much longer for six rather than two. It’s a fast food place, they just have to put a few more things in the bag. It isn’t “six different orders”; it is one moderately sized order.

Five of us were on a road trip from Louisville to Indianapolis a few months ago; we did the drive through. Went a lot quicker than if we had all gotten out of the car.

I have done both. Depends on the time of day. It also depends on how full the inside lines are.

Well, they do run out and have to start from “scratch.” That’s why they have a parking space in the lot designated for “Customers waiting on drive through orders only.” At least hear they do.

@elbanditoroso I can agree with that.

I never use the drive thru anymore. I notice that it takes much longer than it does inside, even if there are the same amount of people in both lines. I’ve also noticed that there are usually way more people in line at the drive thru than inside.

Also, I like to check my order before I leave. If you are in the drive thru, that is much more of a hassle, and backs up the people behind you. It’s a lose-lose situation for everyone.

If there are more than 6 cars in line I do go inside, because it is fast. But less than 6 cars it’s faster at the drive through.
But I would never order more than 3 meals at the drive through.

If I were going to get other people’s orders, I’d probably just pool the money and give them the change based upon an approximation of what it cost. Like if you got something for 4 bucks and something for thre bucks, I’d figure yours cost about 7.50 with tax. Presumably the people giving up the money are not going to nickel and dime me and vice versa.

For me, as a single order, I sometimes go in and sometimes do the drive through. If I feel like taking my time, I go in. If I’m in a rush for example I have to get home, I’ll do drive through and eat when I get home. In cases like that, though, I hardly ever do fast food as I’m usually not so desperate for food that I need to eat fast food at home. It’s usually a “road” meal that I stop and get in my travels.

Id’ have no problem ordering for six at the drive through, like I said I’d pool the money and dole it out when I returned to the people.

The problem wasn’t the money.

I know, @Dutchess_III. I“m saying that for me, I’d not be doing 6 separate orders anyway.

Well, if I volunteered to be the food fetcher at work I would.

I’d still pool it and dole out the change. It’s what’s easiest for me. If they don’t like it, they’re free to do something else.

That isn’t what the question is about.

Inside. Those people on the microphone interrupt when you’re trying to order and that gets the whole thing screwed up.

I answered it, @Dutchess_III. It might not be the answer that you wanted, but I answered it.

@jca, that’s fine, but the question had nothing to do with the money, or how to divvy it up. Nothing.

@kritiper For realz. They have a hard time keeping one order straight. I’d rather be inside where I have room to double check the order, without holding anyone else up, than in my car.

Oh, the reason I asked this is because at McDonalds today over the lunch hour (I was getting my breakfast, an Egg McMuffin) I pulled up to the pay window and the girl there was kind of hollering at her boss, “The next lady after this one (me) has six orders to place!” She sounded a little panicked. Her boss said something like, “Well, I’ll talk to her when she gets around here.”
Don’t know what she planned to tell her, though.

@Dutchess_III: It’s ok. I’ll sleep tonight knowing the question had nothing to do with money.

Actually, that brings up a good point @jca. Did that lady want 6 different orders and to pay for each order separately? Now that would be a drive through nightmare!
It would be pretty bad inside too, but at least they could dedicate one employee to her while the rest continued with the drive through and the other customers.

She should have gone inside, IMO.

I dunno, I think if you were paying separately for 6 different orders it would hold up all the lines, drive through and inside. Pretty much the same thing whether someone is sitting in their car in the drive through or standing in line at the counter. Either way people are going to have to wait a little longer.

The last time I was at a fast food place, I placed an order that was going to take some time and there was a line behind me. The girl at the window simply pointed to a parking space and said someone would be out with my order. Then I parked it and a person came out with my order. They had about three designated spots for that. Don’t they do that anymore?

But they have more people inside @Coloma. And they can hand out orders at different rates.

If I had volunteered to get the office food, I would have put the orders in a spread sheet, sort the items that were alike, and order it as one order. (2 cheeseburgers, 1 big mac, 1 Quarter Pounder, a chicken sandwich, 2 small fries,2 large fries…like that.)
I would take the receipt back for people to figure out for themselves what their personal order cost.

@Espiritus_Corvus Yeah. We have two spots.

@Espiritus_Corvus Yes, they do, that has happened to me too.

It usually happens when I order a hash brown at lunch time. But that way I know it’s fresh. Unless they fry it in the fish fryer.
Icky.

I avoid drive-thru regardless of the size of my order. I HATE idling in the car. I generally find counter service faster, plus I can actually see what Ithey’re putting in the bag.

That said, I try to avoid fast food joints altogether. Give me sit-down service anytime.

I’ve gotten to where I prefer drive thru. For some reason, the drivethrus at all of the fast food joints in my town are much faster than going inside, except in the late afternoon rush hour. No matter how many orders people place.

I’ve experimented. If there are more than 6 cars ahead of me it’s faster to go in. Less than 6 and the drive through is faster.
They train them to really focus on the drive through.

@Dutchess_III That must be true, I have noticed that, on the rare occasions when I do go in, it takes forever to get my order, while they are dishing out to drive thru peeps like nobody’s business. No matter if it is Taco Smell, Macky D’s, or anywhere else. At the end of the day, they always screw up my order anyway. Like it takes a rocket scientist to comprehend: No pickles!

Six orders? Definitely go inside.

If I go to a fast food place, it means I’m willing to forego more decent food for fast food fast, so I’ll do the drive-thru every time, unless I’ve been driving a long distance and need to get out, stretch my legs, get some coffee and look at people.

GO INSIDE. present the person taking the orders with the written orders provided by the 6 coworkers and demand separate receipts. If you attempt to order for 6 people in a drive thru line, after ten minutes someone behind you in that line is likely to shoot you in the head. And you couldn’t empanel a jury in the country that would convict him.

Agreed.

If you know which McDs you are going to, you can call ahead, place the order, and let them know you plan to pick up in drive thru.
If done fairly regular, they expect you, and things go quite smooth.

That would work too.

We have staff for that

For six orders, I would go inside. I want to make sure that I have everything that I ordered, and that might be tough with six orders in a drive thru line. It also allows me to get everything settled in the car the way I want it instead of tossing it on the seat next to me and hoping for the best.