[discardable_dan]

The writing between the lines is that McDonald's is preparing to do away with human order-takers altogether, replacing that role with a food runner that can occasionally take an order but mostly just takes food to people's seats. The ordering will move to digital kiosks and online.

And when you do all of that, having the fountain machine on the customer side makes almost no sense.

[pests]

A lot of McDonalds around me are already like that. There is no ability to place an order at the counter. They still have a register and menu but all in-store ordering is via the kiosk.

The one I visit the most already removed the self-service fountain drink station and you need to ask them for refills.

[judge2020]

This is mostly due to understaffed (cough underpaid staff at) locations needing to help in the kitchen so often that having a cashier only increases frustration for customers that are waiting in line and don’t see it moving. Easier to place a sign saying “order at kiosk” to make sure the kitchen has enough staff to keep up.

[tshaddox]

I haven't experienced it at a McDonald's, but twice in the last 2 years I've attempted to walk into big chain fast food restaurants during normal business hours only to find the doors locked, even though I can see workers inside and the drive-through window is open. I suspected this is because they're understaffed and/or swamped with orders and can't be bothered to also open the dining area.

One such time was at a Taco Bell, and I was trying to go inside because I saw that the drive-through line was massive. There was a hastily-drawn note on the door that said "go to drive-through for online pickup orders," which I thought would be pretty frustrating if you had ordered ahead! (Not that I blame any of the workers, of course.)

[qingcharles]

In Chicago this happens regularly for the reason you've stated, and also because there are so many fights inside McDonald's restaurants in Chicago.

The solution I use is to order on the app and then they have to give you your food, either by bringing it out or by pushing it through the drive-thru window.

[WorldMaker]

A Taco Bell and a McDonald's in my vicinity have seemed to have closed their dining rooms permanently.

I think another reason for this is that it is also the easiest solution for handling the homelessness crisis. Requiring all orders go through the drive through by someone in a car is one way to avoid dealing with unhoused people looking for shelter/restrooms/water for a few hours and not spending money that they don't have.

[gedy]

Their kiosks area pain and confusing to use, and I consider myself a savvy UI type person.

[joot82]

They're only there for people that don't want to install the app, just sit down at a table and order it right to your seat.

[irjustin]

I'm in Singapore now and all the main fast food brands do this.

There's one or two normal "registers" and like 3-5 touch screens.

[tshaddox]

I'm not sure how that change would result in self-service soda fountains making any less sense. Surely it would still be cheaper to let the dine-in customer fill their own cup regardless of whether humans take orders. Unless of course McDonald's got rid of dine-in altogether.

[JohnBooty]

The old process was: Order at counter --> Stand there until your order was ready --> Fill your own drink --> Sit down and eat (or leave with your take out bag)

The new process is: Order via kiosk/app --> Sit down and relax --> Food delivered to your table --> Now stand up again and get your own drink

The last step is kind of awkward and inefficient. So, it kind of makes sense for them to bring your drink with everything else.

The faster you can move customers out of the restaurant the more money you make during the busy hours, so efficiency matters.

Source: I worked with McDonalds 20 years ago as a vendor. They're pretty obsessed with efficiency. They even hire "actors" to simulate customers to test out new technologies, food items, and procedures in their test kitchens so that they can objectively measure the impact of various tweaks.