Photo by George Mahe
The drive-thru window at Nachomama's in Rock Hill
Watching the line of cars snake around the Nachomama’s parking lot, John St. Eve can’t help but chuckle, a moment of levity in such serious times. Twenty-seven years ago, his request for a drive-thru as part of the buildout for his fast-casual Mexican spot was anathema to the officials inside Rock Hill’s government. They said it would jam up traffic on Manchester Road and pose a safety hazard, he recalls. Their apprehension made getting his license a fight, but now, nearly three decades later, the business model is thriving.
“I keep thinking how ironic it is that, when I was going for my business license 27 years ago, all these little communities wanted to put a stop to drive-thrus,” St. Eve says. “Thank goodness this is the direction I went.”
Photo by George Mahe
Cars at Nachomama's wrap the parking lot and spill out onto Manchester Road
St. Eve’s ability to maintain nearly normal levels of business points to the role that drive-thrus could play in the restaurant industry once the pandemic subsides. Many restaurant professionals suspect that the COVID-19 virus will alter people’s dining habits. Already, it’s made restaurateurs rethink how they conduct business. Many anticipate a dining public that remains wary of full-service, dine-in restaurants.
Chris LaRocca of Crushed Red wishes that transitioning to a drive-thru model were as easy as putting in a window and speaker system. The food portion of his business model—healthful pizzas and salads—easily translates to a take-and-go operation. As he explains, though, it’s not that simple. “We developed a drive-thru prototype for a franchise group and have one in the hopper, but that is a free-standing building,” LaRocca says. “Most of our locations are in-line [attached buildings], which takes drive-thru out of the equation.”
LaRocca expects the virus to have lingering effects on patrons' behavior and anticipates a dramatic impact. “I’m a restaurateur that crams as many seats as I can into my restaurant, because we need it,” he says. “We could potentially lose 40 or 50 percent of our seating, because we have to spread the tables out. Booths that are back-to-back—you won’t see that anymore. Community tables—no more. We will still have bar tops, but instead of fitting 20 people, we will fit eight. That’s the part that scares me most: You have a business model that requires a certain number of seats to pay rent and be profitable, and now that doesn’t pencil out.”
LaRocca is not hopeless, however, because he sees a likely uptick in take-home orders. Delivery, carryout, and curbside pickup seem here to stay, with drive-thru providing a lifeline for those who can find a way to make it work.
Photo by Ed Aller
Brazell is also a partner at The Tenderloin Room in the CWE
Bob Brazell didn’t have that problem when he opened Byrd & Barrel five years ago. The restaurant's building, a former Popeye’s, already had a drive-thru, albeit one that was in bad shape. Rather than patch it up and pretend it never existed, Brazell embraced the notion of quickly getting quality food to his guests without them having to leave their cars.
“I always said, back when we opened Byrd & Barrel, that the concept was to find an old fast-food place and do casual food but actual food,” Brazelll says. “I wanted to change the fast-food game, and it really lit a fire under me when I was driving down Jefferson and all I’d see was a Rally’s and McDonald’s. I wanted to give people a better option.”
When Brazell opened the fried-chicken restaurant in 2015, his peers mocked him for having a drive-thru. The perception was that the drive-thru was meant for pre-made, frozen food that could be cooked and thrown into a bag in under three minutes. A respected chef who spent the first part of his career in fine dining, there was a disconnect for people when they imagined him using a speaker and window system to feed his guests. Granted, it represents only 20 percent of his business, give or take, but it took a while for him to break down the stigma. Five years later, he’s thankful he has the experience under his belt and is set up for, what he believes, will be a major part of his operation going forward.
“I think curbside, pickup, and drive-thru are going to be huge because the culture has changed,” Brazell says. “I’m thankful we have the systems in place. We learned a lot over the years: stacking cars, how to position the menu and pickup window, the menu. I think businesses are going to have to adapt, whether that is a pickup window or a drive-thru window. We’re lucky that’s been a part of our business since day one.”
Courtesy Yolklore
Like Brazell, John and Mary Bogacki wanted to change the notion of what fast-casual food could mean when they opened Yolklore in 2016. Like Brazell, they found themselves setting up shop in a building that came with a pickup window, even though they never imagined it would be a part of their business when they originally sketched out their ideas. Mary’s sister, a mother of young children, pushed her to embrace the drive-thru, insisting there was a demand for good food that didn’t require getting the kids out of the car. With a little prodding, the Bogackis relented. Part of that meant translating their service element to the format without sacrificing the guest experience.
“We have standards with the drive-thru like we do with dine-in,” Mary explains. “If you hear the bell, you have three seconds to greet the guest, even if you can’t immediately take their order. We treat them the same as if they are standing in front of us: Tell them the specials; ask about their day. We have regulars who only come through the drive-thru, so we build relationships just as if they came in.”
Like most of her fellow restaurant owners, Mary thinks recent cultural changes are here to stay. She believes restaurants shouldn't expect a return to full dining rooms—at least not right away—and owners should brace for a changed landscape that forces them to rethink how they do business.
While Mary believes drive-thrus can help restaurants meet this need, she notes the potential structural challenges for some restaurateurs. “It’s really hard to find a place where you can put one, let alone somewhere that already has one,” Mary explains. “I don’t see guests flocking in dining rooms anytime soon, so businesses will have to adapt to a carryout crowd however they can.”
Few restaurateurs expect a return to businesses as usual, and all are scrambling to find ways to survive in an already grueling industry. For those like St. Eve, Brazell, and Bogacki, who already have the system in place, the drive-thru is providing a lifeline.
“I got into cooking because I love feeding people and seeing them come together and have a good time,” Brazell says. “Now, bringing people together is what we can’t do, so I have to get creative. Hopefully, someone will come through our drive-thru, get a beer and a good chicken meal, take it home, and have laughs around the table with their family. If I can do that, it’s all good.”
