On the Horizon. . . No 2 hour drive for a Double Double!

[buzglyd]

Wow! Mark Wahlberg really stays busy! The brothers already have Wahlburgers. I knew about the Tequila. (Yes, celebrity-branded liquor is big!). Mark also has a sneaker & athletic wear line, Municipal. Plus, he's still starring in movies and promoting his Catholic faith with the Hallow app, etc.

Agree about Dutch Bros.

He’s also an owner of F45 fitness. I’m a customer. The classes are brutal.

 

[Cornell]

Speaking of traffic, we are just starting to get Dutch Brothers around here, it's a tiny kiosk like operation, but the lines were horrendous. They set up a cone course in the shopping center parking lot, but that filled and went up the street.

I haven't been, I do not partake of the high sugar coffee drinks. I did see people comment on the local buzz that they don't have plain coffee, it's all specialty drinks.

Mark Wahlberg just opened a high end Mexican restaurant here, he has branded tequila now, several stars are doing liquors. It's another place I won't visit, we have a local dive that has good home style Mexican and $3 margaritas on Mondays.

Dutch Bros very popular with "the kids"

 

[RX8]

Only a two hour wait Jim? That’s for babies. When In-N-Out came to Colorado the wait was 14 hours! I’d eat at McDonalds before waiting 2 hours let alone 14 hours.

People waited 14 hours in line for the first In-N-Out burgers ever served in Colorado as police tweeted about traffic jams and other local spots to grab food instead

The iconic California fast-food joint opened its first locations in Colorado on Friday, causing a miles-long line and a 14-hour drive-thru wait.

www.businessinsider.com

 

[DaveNV]

It just seems to take so long for such a simple menu. It doesn't seem that hard to put in a few more grills, fryers and high schoolers to make the food a bit faster.

I worked for McDonald's in Hawaii during high school. I remember the managers pushing us to work faster, to serve the customers, and to keep the lines down. They'd tell the grill workers things like "12-24-12" during the lunch rush. I learned that meant a tray of 12 burgers, a tray of 24 burgers, then another tray of 12. (Luckily, I never had to work the grill!) The goal was to keep the food coming as the demand was there, until the rush was over. Luckily, I usually worked the window, but even then, speed was of the essence. They had rules for working the window, how to take the order and so forth, and we were graded on our speed and performance in our duties. If the rules weren't followed, we'd be demoted and put on the fry machine, making milkshakes, or the worst of all - sweeping the parking lot and taking out the trash. (Horrors!!) There was a real effort on giving good customer service, and I took a certain amount of pride in what I did. I was once complimented by Ray Kroc himself during a visit to our location. He was watching how I did my job, and singled me out to the managers as a good example of what they expected.

Contrast that now to just about ANY fast food place. Insolence, indifference, and "f-you" attitudes are prevalent. Nobody gives a crap if you're satisfied, and you'd better check your order before you leave - there's a good chance they won't get things right. I don't go into a fast food restaurant so I can stand at a machine and place my own order. At least they could pretend to provide a shred of customer service for the incredibly inflated prices they're charging these days.

First world problems, for sure.

Dave

 

[dioxide45]

but even then, speed was of the essence.

The same was true at Walmart once. My MIL worked there many years ago and she said it was all about how fast they could scan items. These days it seems to be all about how slow they can do it, or make you do it instead.

Contrast that now to just about ANY fast food place. Insolence, indifference, and "f-you" attitudes are prevalent. Nobody gives a crap if you're satisfied, and you'd better check your order before you leave - there's a good chance they won't get things right. I don't go into a fast food restaurant so I can stand at a machine and place my own order. At least they could pretend to provide a shred of customer service for the incredibly inflated prices they're charging these days.

I very much prefer using apps these days and just pulling through the drive through or parking for curbside delivery. At least I know they got the order in their system right, but it doesn't negate the need to check it before I leave.

 

[DaveNV]

I very much prefer using apps these days and just pulling through the drive through or parking for curbside delivery. At least I know they got the order in their system right, but it doesn't negate the need to check it before I leave.

Try ordering a Double Filet-of-Fish at McDs through the app or the kiosk inside the restaurant. You can't do it. I don't mind ordering at a drive-through, but if I'm going to go to the trouble of going inside, I'd like a human to wait on me.

Same restaurant: The guy at the Pick-Up window handing a bag of food through the car window.
Me: Is the order right? There was a grill request in it. I don't want to get home and find out you guys forgot something.
Guy: I have no idea. They hand me the bag and tell me which car to give it to.



Dave

 

[davidvel]

Try ordering a Double Filet-of-Fish at McDs through the app or the kiosk inside the restaurant. You can't do it. I don't mind ordering at a drive-through, but if I'm going to go to the trouble of going inside, I'd like a human to wait on me.

Same restaurant: The guy at the Pick-Up window handing a bag of food through the car window.
Me: Is the order right? There was a grill request in it. I don't want to get home and find out you guys forgot something.
Guy: I have no idea. They hand me the bag and tell me which car to give it to.



Dave

There is probably a good reason they don't let you order a DOUBLE FILET-O-FISH.

 

[PcflEZFlng]

Only a two hour wait Jim? That’s for babies. When In-N-Out came to Colorado the wait was 14 hours! I’d eat at McDonalds before waiting 2 hours let alone 14 hours.

Two years ago, we were on a road trip that took us through Colorado. Looking out our hotel window in Northglenn at 9 pm, we could see a loooong double line of cars snaking around the block to get to the recently opened In-N-Out.

I hadn't been to In-N-Out in probably a year, but this thread got me craving it the other day (thanks TUG). The one closest to me is in a very busy area at the intersection of two freeways - and right next to Raising Canes, Chick-fil-A and Del Taco, but I got lucky as I sailed in at 1:30 pm with only two cars ahead of me.

 

[b2bailey]

The info about planning space for drive-through caught my attention.
Many CA locations did not plan ahead for that and it's a pain to attempt a visit to a neighboring venue -- as the line snakes through parking lot.

 

[clifffaith]

We had lunch at Longhorn Steakhouse today, which is becoming one of our favorite lunch stops. Huge burger and fries for $9.99 between 12-4 PM. I had the steak salad, which also came with a side, and I chose broccoli. The broccoli was actually very good, but not much steak for $11.99. It was still wonderful.

During lunch, my SIL proceeded to tell us how much she hates In-N-Out. Likes Burger King and Wendy's better. I think In-N-Out is great, and all the grandkids love it too.

She also doesn't like the ride Small World, Disneyland in general, and of course she also hates Disney World. She has never been to a Disney park. Go figure. My SIL is just angry.

Now you’ve done it! “It’s a world of laughter, a world of tears…” Today’s ear worm!!

 

[dioxide45]

The info about planning space for drive-through caught my attention.
Many CA locations did not plan ahead for that and it's a pain to attempt a visit to a neighboring venue -- as the line snakes through parking lot.

This seems to only be an issue with two restaurants that I am aware of and sometimes a third. It seems that only In-N-Out and Chick-fil-a have this problem. Sometimes Starbucks. In Canada it is Tim Hortons. Chick-fil-a has done a good job of designing their drive throughs on new builds in such a way to mitigate the issue.

 

[DaveNV]

There is probably a good reason they don't let you order a DOUBLE FILET-O-FISH.

You can do it, but you need to ask someone. They used to have it on the menu, but it disappeared when they went to this automatic ordering thing.

I live with a fish fanatic, and a filet with two fish portions is standard fare. (I pick my battles. )

Dave

 

[davidvel]

The info about planning space for drive-through caught my attention.
Many CA locations did not plan ahead for that and it's a pain to attempt a visit to a neighboring venue -- as the line snakes through parking lot.

There is a new Chick Fil A coming to Carlsbad literally next door to an In and Out. They are not allowing the CFA to have a drive through as the area is so impacted already. I do not know where everyone will park. There are a few CFA and IAO co-located in North San Diego, they seem to compliment each other: chicken and beef.

 

[RunCat]

Only a two hour wait Jim? That’s for babies. When In-N-Out came to Colorado the wait was 14 hours! I’d eat at McDonalds before waiting 2 hours let alone 14 hours.

People waited 14 hours in line for the first In-N-Out burgers ever served in Colorado as police tweeted about traffic jams and other local spots to grab food instead

The iconic California fast-food joint opened its first locations in Colorado on Friday, causing a miles-long line and a 14-hour drive-thru wait.

www.businessinsider.com

New In-n-Out coming to Longmont near the Costco. There's enough traffic on the 119 already. This will just make it worse.

 

[clifffaith]

The In-N-Out food truck is coming to the old folks home next week as part of two days of festivities celebrating the 5th anniversary of opening. Sadly chips for 300 people rather than fries!

This wasn’t your normal food truck that showed up today. We are talking two full size freight trucks with cabs to pull them. They worked seamlessly and put out an excellent burger/chips/drink lunch for 500 people. We were quite impressed!

 

[Passepartout]

This wasn’t your normal food truck that showed up today. We are talking two full size freight trucks with cabs to pull them. They worked seamlessly and put out an excellent burger/chips/drink lunch for 500 people. We were quite impressed!

That's amazing! I'd love to see it.