Texarkana Opens First Applebee’s Drive-Thru Window

The restaurant industry has been hit really hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Texarkana is blazing the trail in the restaurant world by opening the first drive-thru window Applebee's in the nation. I am not a huge Applebee's fan, but something about being able to run by a drive-thru, grab a ribeye and head back to work excites me. It also excites me that Applebees will look at the performance of Texarkana location to determine if future stores should be built with a drive-thru window.

Scott Gladstone, vice president of strategy and development at Applebee's Grill + Bar gave Nation's Restaurant News the following statement. 

"We look forward to assessing the performance of this installation, understanding feedback from our guests and operators, as well as any impact to business performance. If positive, we will determine whether pickup windows should be included in our building design packages."

COVID had a big affect on my weekly dine-in lunch dates. So  curb-side and drive-thru windows have been my best friend for almost a year now. So guess where I'm headed for lunch.... yep! Applebee's here I come. I'll follow up and tell you about drive-thru time vs other fast food joints and of course I'll let you know how well the food came out. Stay tuned!