KFC Ranks Fastest In Drive-Thru Wait Time

One of the stickiest trends that resulted from the virus pandemic is the consumer shift to restaurant drive-thrus. The surge of drive-thru use in the last two years led many restaurant chains to upgrade their facilities to increase the speed of service.

Restaurant chains have long competed for drive-thru business. Some fast-food companies have widened ordering lanes to two, while others have added sophisticated technology to smooth the process. 

Speed and ease of service is the goal of restaurant drive-thrus in a post-pandemic world, and now a new study from Intouch Insight shows out of ten major US restaurant chains and more than 1,500 drive-thrus later, KFC has the fastest average wait time of just 5 minutes. 

Besides KFC, Taco Bell is second at 5 mins 18 seconds, and Hardee’s is third at 5 mins 23 seconds. 

The slowest was Chick-fil-A at 8 mins 29 seconds. Surprisingly, Burger King, McDonald’s, and Wendy’s were all at the lower end of the list between 6-7 min waits. 

Source: WSJ

If there’s any indication of where the restaurant industry is headed. Chipotle Mexican Grill is now adding “Chipotlane” to existing restaurants and new stores to increase sales via drive-thrus. The battle between restaurant chain drive-thrus is well underway. Before the pandemic, it was about the inside experience — now it’s outside.