Chick-fil-A Unveils Elevated Drive-Thru Concept
The location features two stories and four drive-thru lanes.
Aug 22, 2024 | 2 min read
Chick-fil-A opened its first two-story, four-lane “elevated drive-thru” restaurant in McDonough, Georgia, near its headquarters in Atlanta this week. The QSR stated that the concept was strategically designed to increase speed of service and simplify the drive-thru experience for its customers.
Inside the restaurant, the kitchen, located on the second floor, is two times larger than a typical Chick-fil-A restaurant kitchen, and the food conveyor system allows for a meal to be delivered down to a team member every six seconds. As with some other existing Chick-fil-A drive-thru only locations, there is no dining room or dine-in services at this restaurant.
“Our guests lead busy lives, and we’re focused on designing our restaurants to best serve their needs,” said Jonathan Reed, executive director of design for Chick-fil-A Inc. “With the new elevated drive-thru design, featuring our first four-lane drive-thru, we're aiming to deliver quality food and genuine hospitality in a way that’s uniquely Chick-fil-A, and gives our guests time back in their day.”
According to a report from Axios Atlanta, drive-thru makes up 60% of Chick-fil-A’s sales, and company executives think the new layout could accommodate three times more vehicles than a standard Chick-fil-A restaurant drive-thru.
At the restaurant, guests will have two options when ordering: (1) they can order ahead through the Chick-fil-A app and pick up using the dedicated Mobile Thru lanes; or (2) they can place their order with a team member in the traditional drive-thru lanes.
The company said that this elevated drive-thru location is its second of two innovative test concepts from Chick-fil-A this year. The first one, a mobile pickup only restaurant, opened in March.
Andrew T. Cathy, chief executive officer of Chick-fil-A, said on LinkedIn, “Pursuing what’s next is in our DNA at Chick-fil-A. These two innovative concepts meet a unique need for our ‘on-the-go’ guests and fit nicely within our varied portfolio of restaurant formats.”
