Before COVID-19, Chick-fil-A’s drive thrus deployed “face-to-face” ordering about 60 percent of the time. Meaning employees circulated the line, chatting with guests, and taking orders from a tablet. Some even walked upstream from the speaker box to take orders, which allows the brand a chance to greet guests when they arrive at the restaurant. It also enables Chick-fil-A ample time to prepare each guest’s order, despite lengthy lines. It’s one reason, the brand said earlier in the year, it continues to front the field on quality and accuracy scores, as the 2019 QSR Drive-Thru Performance Study proved.
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Chick-fil-A recently provided an update regarding what steps its drive-thru—serving as the chain’s lifeblood during COVID-19, with dining areas shut down nationwide—is taking to heighten safety precautions.
Chick-fil-A said, following advice from the CDC that handwashing with soap and water is the most effective way to reduce risk of infection, it’s started adding new outdoor handwashing stations for employees. The stations will be added to all drive thru and mall/in-line curbside locations systemwide by April 11.
Employees are being asked to wash their hands a minimum of every 30 minutes and every time they interact with cash. The company also provided Purell Wipes as a way for workers to regularly sanitize their hands in addition to handwashing. Employers ae frequently disinfecting other items they may touch as well.
The brand recently listed a guide to contactless ordering on its site.
Chick-fil-A said it’s encouraging employees to ask guests using credit/debit for payment to swipe their own cards. Additionally, to further limit person-to-person contact, diners are encouraged to use mobile ordering and mobile payment through Chick-fil-A’s app. Delivery is live at many restaurants, too.
As an added precaution, many employees are wearing face protection while working in restaurants. Chick-fil-A first announced it was closing dining room seating March 15.
