Very Important News: Applebee's Announced They Are Adding Drive-Thru Windows To Some Of Their Restaurants

Eater- In an effort to compete with fast-food chains, Applebee’s has announced that it will add drive-thru windows to at least 15 of its locations by the end of the year. If that sounds like a death knell for Applebee’s reputation as a sit-down restaurant, that’s because it probably is. 

Like so many other shifts in the world of dining in the past three years, the plan to install more drive-thrus is, of course, a result of the pandemic. As CNN Business reports, Applebee’s saw a massive uptick in takeout and delivery orders over the past two years — a 27 percent increase — even after restaurants that temporarily closed their dining rooms were allowed to reopen. The company will start off with a limited test run of those 15 restaurants, and if it proves profitable, it’s possible that all of the chain’s more than 1,600 restaurants could end up with a drive-thru. Notably, though, it’s more of a pick-up window than a traditional drive-thru. Patrons will still have to place their orders in advance, either via the Applebee’s website or its smartphone app.

Once again the Baltimore scholar Slim Charles succinctly summed up this entire story better than anyone on Earth could. We knew that the pandemic was going to usher in a plethora of changes to the world and things would never be the same. The rise of TikTok, the fall of common decency while flying on a plane, and now the 'bees getting into the drive thru game.

I'm not an idiot. I realize that simply building a window on your chain restaurant doesn't make it the same as McDonald's or Taco Bell. But if Applebees realizes a good chunk of their money is coming in from customers that are going for the drive thru experience to eat at home over eating good in the neighborhood, won't they buy some more powerful microwaves to make their food a little faster to meet that newfound demand? 

Sure there will be people of culture that will still want to eat at Applebees for the ambiance and/or the decor.

However, if I have learned anything about eating 'Merican during my decades on Earth, it's that the general public wants their food fast and fried. And if that's the case, how are fast food joints supposed to keep up with a place that has burgers, mozz sticks, AND motherfucking lava cakes on the menu? Then once Applebee's numbers go through the roof thanks to a long line of cars waiting outside their restaurants, all the other chains will follow suit because the restaurant game is a copycat league. We are truly about to be living in the future, even thought it may be resembling more and more like the future in WALL-E.

WALL-E is a lowkey awesome movie btw

We dive much deeper in the the Applebee's drive thru announcement on Podfathers along with debating the Will Smith slap from a husband's point of view, why a principal calling students "asshats" shouldn't be a big deal, and much more.

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