JERSEY CITY, N.J. -- A McDonald’s quick-service restaurant (QSR) with only drive-thru and walk-up window service in Jersey City, N.J., is the first of its kind in the Northeast. It does not include indoor seating.
This test model, which is located just feet from the entrance to the Holland Tunnel, features two drive-thru lanes for faster service as well as a walk-up window for customers who live in the neighborhood, or motorists who are filling up their tanks at the nearby gas station, a McDonald’s spokesperson said.
“This test restaurant model in Jersey City is a part of McDonald’s ongoing efforts to meet the needs of our customers by offering a convenient and quick alternative for commuters on the go,” the spokesperson told CSP Daily News. “This no-seating model has been implemented as a test in specific markets across the country. McDonald’s is looking forward to gathering valuable feedback from customers about their experience with this concept.”
The 2,225-square-foot test store opened in February 2016 on a 14,050-square-foot developed site. A traditional McDonald’s typically is 3,000 to 4,000 square feet.
The other test markets are in Texas, Georgia and Washington, according to a report by The Record.
The model is Oakbrook, Ill.-based McDonald’s attempt to develop a new kind of restaurant that will cater to customers’ demand for speed and convenience. It allows the company to build smaller, less costly stores that emphasize drive-thru sales, where they typically do most of their business.
“It’s part of an ongoing effort to be more relevant to consumers and meet their needs,” Mwaffak Kanjee, vice president and general manager of McDonald’s New York Metro region, told the newspaper.
The Jersey City restaurant is designed to cut the wait at the drive-thru in half by offering two lanes where customers can place orders, said Bruce Colley, the franchise owner of the Jersey City location, who also owns 29 McDonald’s restaurants in New York, to The Record.
McDonald’s also has seen competitors test drive-thru-only restaurants. Darren Tristano, president of food industry research firm Technomic, said that Burger King this year opened a drive-thru-only location in Illinois, and that drive-thru has become more popular than eating inside.
Drive-thru typically accounts for 70% of the sales at McDonald’s restaurants that have that option, he told the paper: “Fewer consumers are dining inside the store, and the McDonald’s brand has really become more about convenience.”
Drive-thru-only restaurants can be smaller and less expensive to operate, he said. A model such as the Jersey City location, Tristano said, allows McDonald’s “to continue to expand at a lower investment, at a lower cost to manage, but with real emphasis and focus on the convenience through the drive-thru. To me it makes perfect sense.”
The company also is trying out a number of new concepts around the country, the report said, including restaurants in New York and other locations where diners can use touchpad kiosks to order customized burgers with a variety of toppings, and have their meals delivered to their tables.
“We’re trying to stay ahead of our competition and stay ahead of the needs and demands of our customers,” said Colley. “If we can serve good food and do it a little faster than our competitors, hopefully they’ll come back here rather than go someplace else.”
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