Entertaining guests in closed rooms is a tricky task in times of Corona. The Burger King designers , who have been working on a new branch concept for the fast food chain over the past few months, must have had this in mind. In any case, the plans that the group presented this week fit well into a world with Covid-19.
The “restaurants of the future”, as the Burgerbrater calls the stores in a promo video, require 60 percent less space than a normal Burger King branch – and they are designed so that many customers no longer have to enter the store at all.
The customer can stay outside
This is ensured, among other things, by additional drive-through options; the designs provide for two or even three parallel car lanes. The space for additional lanes is made free by moving the kitchen and seating to the first floor, while cars can drive along below .
You also no longer have to enter the shop if you order in advance using the Burger King app and then pick up your food bag at a pick-up point on the outside wall. The compartment wall shown in the visualization is reminiscent of a DHL Packstation with visible windows. There is also the option of informing employees via the app that you have pulled up to the parking lot and would like to have your order brought to your car. In some parking spaces covered with solar panels, you can also stop to eat your fast food in your own four walls.
Those who absolutely want to get out of their car to eat are offered outdoor seats as an alternative to eating in a restaurant . So it is fitting that the first new Burger King restaurants are to open in 2021 in sun-drenched Miami, in Latin America and in the Caribbean.
The new designs take up trends that many restaurants and fast food chains are already practicing. Ordering and picking up food in the USA – just like here – is particularly popular in the wake of the pandemic. However, the managers of the big chains assume that the trend will persist even after the end of the pandemic, because it is largely related to the possibility of convenient mobile ordering. This is why other large US chains such as Taco Bell would also adapt their concepts accordingly, analyzes the business magazine Forbes.