McDonald’s opened its first automated restaurant, with machines taking orders and delivering food. This caused a lot of controversy.
“When you step inside the test restaurant concept, you’ll notice it’s considerably smaller than a traditional McDonald’s restaurant in the U.S.,” McDonald’s said in a statement. “Why? The features—inside and outside—are geared toward customers who are planning to dine at home or on the go.”
The Fort Worth, Texas, area utilizes innovation to limit human collaboration while requesting and getting food. The restaurant has an “Order Ahead Lane” where customers can place orders using a conveyor belt.
The initiative is part of McDonald’s “Accelerating the Arches” strategy, which aims to improve and innovate the customer experience. However, not everyone is happy with the restaurant chain’s decision.
@foodiemunster, a TikTok user, posted a video of their experience, which showed them entering a small, empty McDonald’s with a single kiosk where customers could order food and a conveyor belt that would deliver it when it was ready.
“Inside the restaurant, there’s a delivery pick-up room for couriers to retrieve orders quickly and conveniently,” McDonald’s explained in its statement. “There are also kiosks, where customers can place their orders to go, and a pick-up shelf for orders.”
“Outside the restaurant, there are several parking spaces dedicated to curbside order pick-up, as well as designated parking spaces for delivery drivers.”
McDonald’s emphasized that a staff member will remain to assist with order preparation, and the elimination of tasks like handling the register and delivering food to the front or drive-thru lanes will aid in the team’s ability to put together orders.
“The technology in this restaurant not only allows us to serve our customers in new, innovative ways, it gives our restaurant team the ability to concentrate more on order speed and accuracy, which makes the experience more enjoyable for everyone,” explains Keith Vanecek, the franchisee operating the test restaurant.
“I am immensely proud to have this new restaurant concept serving our customers in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.”
Online entertainment reaction showed individuals didn’t generally concur whether this was a positive or negative change: While some hailed the innovation as a step toward faster and more precise orders, others were more pessimistic and predicted that “millions of jobs” would be lost.
“Honestly, if they go through with this I’ll just boycott McDonald’s. Their food’s mid at best anyway,” one user said.
