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First Fast Food Restaurant Opens
White Castle becomes America's first fast-food burger chain -
Kirby's Pig Stand Drive-In
Kirby's Pig Stand was the first drive-in style restaurant chain to open in the US. Restaurants had little or no indoor seating and customers parked their cars, placed orders with carhops, and ate their meals in their cars. -
Period: to
Great Depression
Increased food prices (especially meat) require Americans to stretch meals further. In cities, soup and bread lines and cheap meals of burgers and hotdogs were common. -
Red's Giant Hamburger
The first restaurant to feature a drive thru window where patrons could order and receive their food without leaving their car. -
In-N-Out Burger
The first fast food chain to feature a two-way intercom system for ordering before paying for and receiving food through a drive thru window. -
Invention of Car Cup Holder
Popularity of drive-in and drive-thru dining influenced the development of cup holders for vehicles, but did not become standard in every car for 30 more years. -
Jack in the Box
The first drive-thru-focused restaurant chain opened in the US, influenced by the increasing popularity of personal vehicles. Now includes indoor dining at many restaurants, but 85% of business is from drive thru or to-go orders. -
McDonalds Adds First Drive Thru
McDonald's was late in incorporating drive thrus into their business 20 years after opening their first restaurant, but now receives 60% of its business from drive thru orders. -
Wireless Intercom
Wireless intercom technology allowed restaurant employees to work on other tasks while also taking customers' orders. -
Auto-Greeters
Restaurants can record standard greetings, advertise promotional items, automatically greet customers when they pull up to the intercom. -
Remote Order-Taking
Instead of a person inside the store taking orders, McDonald's began using remote order-taking in which people took orders through a restaurant's intercom from a call center or from home anywhere in the world and orders were forwarded to the store. -
"Ask Your Target Market" Survey
36% of people eat fast food at least once per week
34% of people prefer to use the drive thru over going inside
