Applebee’s Is Going To Test Out Drive-Thru Windows For Takeout Orders

Applebee’s will try out drive-thru windows in an effort to compete with fast-food restaurants.

Applebees’ takeout orders skyrocketed during the pandemic and now cover more than a quarter of the food chain’s sales. Because of this, Applebees has come up with the idea to open drive-thru windows, The New York Post reports.

By the end of 2022, Cywinski says the restaurant plans to have drive-thrus at 15 of its 1,578 locations. Last year, Applebee’s debuted its first two drive-thrus in Monroe, Louisiana and Texarkana, Texas.

“We think there’s a really strong argument for it,” said the president of Applebees’s, John Cywinski, to CNN, The New York Post reports. “We will scale it, should the business case be clear. My instinct says yes, there’s a genuine need.”

Cywinski says the company’s moves are in an effort to beat their competition in the fast-food arena. All drive-thru orders will have to be ordered ahead of time through the Applebee’s app or online.

“If you didn’t have 1.5 hours to dine-in and you were on the go… you’re probably thinking about McDonald’s Wendy’s and Burger King and maybe a burger, fries and a Pepsi through a drive-thru window,” he told investors, The New York Post reports. “We are competing directly with” fast food restaurants, he added.