Mega drive-throughs explain everything wrong with American cities

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by dave8721

What I have definitely seen is restaurants being more geared towards Uber-eats than actual in restaurant eaters. We just went to this restaurant that we used to love to go to and they have cut their sit down space in half and opened up a big counter for all the uber eats take-out orders.

Oh my gosh Uber-eats/DoorDash delivery folk. I've been starting to hate them as much as Uber/Lyft drivers and Amazon delivery people---double-parking, blocking traffic, running down sidewalks while looking at their phones nearly bumping into people...

On a recent restaurant visit, my partner and I saw a DoorDash (or whatever) guy pick up his stapled bag to deliver, but then before leaving, he used the restroom. We both looked at each other and we thought the same thing: What "clean" area of the restroom did he put the bag on while he went to use the restroom? And did he wash his hands afterwards? Blech.

[Toasty Joe]

Originally Posted by badrunner

From the linked article:


https://www.timeout.com/usa/news/dri...omeback-051220

This is actually a really good case for policy for any libertarian or otherwise anti-government folks you know. We can't be trusted not to take advantage of the system in a way that hurts everyone but ourselves, especially behind the anonymity of a car. So we need to enact policy that structures a built environment that allows for more of a team win.

[JManc]

Hate on these all you want but there is a pent up demand for them. Put a Chick-Fil-A in the middle of North Beach SF and people will flock to it in their Teslas and Priuses.

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by JManc

Hate on these all you want but there is a pent up demand for them. Put a Chick-Fil-A in the middle of North Beach SF and people will flock to it in their Teslas and Priuses.

Being that they're anti-LGBTQ, I seriously doubt that the SF government and residents would even want a Chick-Fil-A within its city limits.

[plinko]

Having designed both an InNOut and several Starbucks, I cringe every time we get the site survey. There’s never enough room for the amount of cars expected in the drive-thru. It’s completely insane.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by JManc

Put a Chick-Fil-A in the middle of North Beach SF and people will flock to it in their Teslas and Priuses.

Thank Pizza God that SF is one of the rarified places in our ugly nation that wouldn't tolerate such awfulness.

If only more US cities had such respect for themselves.

[craigs]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

Thank Pizza God that SF is one of the rarified places in our ugly nation that wouldn't tolerate such awfulness.

Also, San Franciscans would on principle oppose an incursion by the rabidly anti-gay Chick-Fil-Assholes.

[JManc]

I dunno. The Chick-Fil-A up in Fremont with the *three* (always packed) drive-thru lanes plus the swamped curbside pick up tells me there is a pent up demand for chicken sandwiches in the Bay Area.

[craigs]

Originally Posted by JManc

I dunno. The Chick-Fil-A up in Fremont with the *three* (always packed) drive-thru lanes plus the swamped curbside pick up tells me there is a pent up demand for chicken sandwiches in the Bay Area.

Fremont isn't North Beach, San Francisco, and you know it.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by craigs

Fremont isn't North Beach, San Francisco, and you know it.

Yes but people love chicken and I'm sure a Chick-Fil-A would do well in SF if given the opportunity. Most are franchises anyway so no connection to the bigoted CEO in corporate. There's one in Emeryville for all those Berkeley students eating some nuggets in the DL.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by craigs

Also, San Franciscans would on principle oppose an incursion by the rabidly anti-gay Chick-Fil-Assholes.

Culture war stuff aside, my point was about SF not allowing one of these urbanism-killing mega drive-thrus from defiling its city scape.

Yes, Chick-fil-A is one of the more egregious offenders of this typology, but there are certainly others (that don't serve up a side order of conservative theology) who build this trash as well.

You might not have them in Cali (yet), but here in Chicagoland, there's a dog & beef chain called Portillo's whose restaurants are of the exact same terrible model.

[DetroitSky]

Ideally drive throughs should be incorporated into parking garages. But then again if we're talking ideals neither of those would exist.

[craigs]

Double post

[craigs]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

Culture war stuff aside, my point was about SF not allowing one of these urbanism-killing mega drive-thrus from defiling its city scape.

And you are correct. I can't say if San Francisco has outright banned new drive-thrus legislatively, but after working for several years at a developer's firm I can say that the city's planning department wouldn't approve any (or new gas stations, either).

Yes, Chick-fil-A is one of the more egregious offenders of this typology, but there are certainly others (that don't serve up a side order of conservative theology) who build this trash as well.

You might not have them in Cali (yet), but here in Chicagoland, there's a dog & beef chain called Portillo's whose restaurants are of the exact same terrible model.

In-N-Out is California's most egregious drive-thru traffic generator, hands down. Here in LA, you can always tell you're driving up on an In-N-Out location because of all the cars idling alongside the curb for half a block or more.

San Francisco's only In-N-Out location has no drive-thru.

[SpawnOfVulcan]

The ones that get me are the Chick-Fil-A drive throughs down here. My god, the number of cars that queue for those... when I'm on my way home and pass the one nearest my apartment there can't be fewer than 40 cars in the line, all crammed onto the same lot, not wrapped around the street.

[ColDayMan]

Originally Posted by DetroitSky

Ideally drive throughs should be incorporated into parking garages. But then again if we're talking ideals neither of those would exist.

So Columbus started this several years ago with implementing fast-food in mixed-use buildings that "refused to open without a drive-thru" with this on side streets:


www.columbusunderground.com


www.columbusunderground.com

Am I happy with it? Meh, it's in an alley, the cars are mostly in the garage so I don't see them affecting traffic, and you get your chicken rings. And the urban yuppie box gets to yuppie box.


https://www.skyscrapercity.com/

[meh]

In this case (i.e. the development discussed in the article) St. Louis' municipal fragmentation and dysfunction compounds the problem. There are 99 separate municipalities, including U. City, vying for sales tax revenue. That's why this atrocious Costco/Chick-Fil-A abortion exists.

(P.S. It must the "shit all over St. Louis" part of the news cycle again.)

[mhays]

Even if the drive-through is hidden, it's still encouraging people to drive.

[badrunner]

Originally Posted by mhays

Even if the drive-through is hidden, it's still encouraging people to drive.

It's reducing the number of curb cuts and making more efficient use of space. But it looks awful and feels kind of dystopian, and it wouldn't work with busier drive-thrus.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by ColDayMan

So Columbus started this several years ago with implementing fast-food in mixed-use buildings that "refused to open without a drive-thru" with this on side streets:

I don't hate it. And I tend to hate both drive-thrus and an excessive number of above ground parking structures