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CHICK-FIL-A has been testing a new restaurant layout at select locations, but some customers are already spotting issues.
The fast food chain continues to streamline its services, specifically its drive-thru process for efficiency and quality.
Chick-fil-A has opened a new restaurant design for customers in a key state[/caption]
The layout features an outdoor ordering area[/caption]
After the height of the coronavirus pandemic and social distancing requirements, Chick-fil-A adapted at many of its over 3,000 locations nationwide to better serve diners, per a press release.
Drive-thru lines were restructured to have designated lanes, and instead of having to wait to order at the drive-thru screen and speaker, employees would carry tablets and walk to cars to get orders.
The system has become a signature aspect of Chick-fil-A.
Over the past few years, it’s also been testing a new design that emphasizes quick ordering and drive-thrus at more than 30 locations, per Nation’s Restaurant News.
They feature no dining room, an outdoor walk-up and order window, and an expanded dual-lane drive-thru.
NEW DIGS
A location with the updated layout was brought to Hawaii last year — and now, a new location in Conroe, Texas, about 40 miles north of Houston, opened this summer.
“It’s a drive-thru focused location with a drive-thru and walk-up window,” wrote local customer Bob Connors in a post on Facebook.
Connors included a snapshot of the walk-up order window, with outdoor tables and digital screens.
Some weren’t too happy with Chick-fil-A’s innovation, pointing out the lack of options to eat inside as a negative thing, and feared for their free refills.
“I’m not eating outside and I want my free refill,” a customer commented on Connors’ post.
“So overrated, but….whatever,” another fumed.
Still, Chick-fil-A continues to adjust restaurants for the areas in which they reside.
DINE NO MORE
In March, the brand opened a first-of-its-kind digital-only restaurant in New York City strictly for mobile pick-up and delivery orders.
The location opened on the Upper East Side and also features no dining area or spots for customers to eat outside.
Chick-fil-A Hours
At a minimum, Chick-fil-A locations are open between 6:30 am and 9 pm, Monday through Saturday.
However, some restaurants serve customers later.
Since opening in 1946, all Chick-fil-A locations have been closed on Sundays.
The founder chose to close on Sundays to allow employees to worship or rest.
All locations are also closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas.
The design offers smaller pathways for customers to walk in and pick up orders they made through the Chick-fil-A mobile app or allows them to create new orders once they arrive at one of a few cashiered areas at the front of the restaurant.
Digital screens are also placed to show order status at the front of the pathways for delivery drivers and customers.
Most of the space is taken up by a larger kitchen area where employees work to complete all the mobile pickup orders.
Chick-fil-A said the decision to test the store was due to an uptick in sales for mobile delivery and pickup orders, so it wanted to accommodate New York City customers, who mostly make those types of orders.
The company also launched a new way for customers to earn rewards this summer as long as they can find the “cows.”
Chick-fil-A also brought back an iconic summer milkshake offering for the 15th year in a row to customers’ delight.
