Things seem to have more or less returned to “normal” since the height of the Covid pandemic, although there are still some inconveniences, like the Seattle Central Library only having three of its 10 floors open for business, public restrooms few and far between, and many retail businesses in downtown Seattle having disappeared completely. Some “business models” have changed too; the recreational gear retailer REI once had its regional headquarters in Kent, but since it was decided it was too small and outdated, there would be a move to a state-of-the-art playhouse in Bellevue. Then the pandemic hit, and after the company discovered it was saving money having customer service people working at home, they decided it was a more “efficient” model to ditch the playhouse idea and just lease a few cheap floors in randomly-selected office buildings.
Now, you may be telling yourself that changing the “model” shouldn’t work in the restaurant industry. People like the “eating out” experience. But at least around here, despite the “end” of the pandemic and mask-wearing no longer required, the only fast food restaurant that I encountered that actually has walk-in dining room service is a Wendy’s in Kent. But other than a McDonald’s in downtown Seattle that has window service (since it can’t accommodate drive-thru service), there is no walk-in or dining room service anywhere for fast-food chains, in at least King County. The other McDonald’s that was still open for business in downtown Seattle (there used to be four), closed during the pandemic because it couldn’t find a way to “accommodate” walk-up service. Today, that McDonald’s on Third Avenue is the last remaining fast food location in downtown Seattle.
Of course that means that people like me who don’t do drive-thru dining are no longer customers of McDonald’s and its brethren. Do they care if they are losing business? Apparently not. We are told that major chains like McDonald’s, Burger King, Taco Bell and KFC are either phasing out in-door dining, are replacing existing facilities with new designs that lack dining rooms altogether. A Jack-in-the-Box in “downtown” Kent saw its existing building redesigned ten years ago to shut down in-door dining (probably because the employees were "frightened" by vagrants who were hard to get rid of), but since it didn’t have much space to accommodate increased drive-thru service, it at least still allows walk-up service.
We are told that the drive-thru business is “thriving”; well why wouldn’t it be if that was the only “option”? But not everyone has a car or wants to give-up the “eating out” experience. Earlier this year, Business Insider reported that “Chick-fil-A is one of the biggest players in the fast-food drive-thru game, but some of the success might actually be driving customers away,” and that 30 percent of potential customers leave because of long lines and wait times. Gas is expensive enough without having burn it away waiting in a line when you could be somewhere else. There are new “models”—such as this Burger King…
…that are supposed to improve the “drive-thru” experience, and some of the designs will offer “outdoor” seating, which really isn’t the same as in-door dining, if the point is to get out of the weather. And for most chains, it’s the “bottom line” that is important, rather than the customer experience. According to Restaurantbusinessonline, “The simple fact is, restaurants without dining rooms don’t need to have people cleaning tables,” or pay people to do it. Besides, once people get used to the "new" way, why go back to the "old" way if you can get away with it?
In-door dining was always a part of the restaurant experience, and “eating out” doesn’t mean it has to be an expensive “experience,” and not everyone is in the mood for teriyaki. For me, it just means a permanently lost customer who just wanted to eat out while using free Wi-Fi access. Hell, that’s probably the real reason for closing down in-door dining.
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