A month ago, local eco-fast food chain Burgerville announced a new policy that would allow people to use bicycles in the drive-through lanes at all of their 30 something locations, after a woman was denied service on her bike broadcast the incident online.
Last Thursday they sealed the deal with a promotion at their Hawthorne location — anyone showing up by bike got a free blackberry milkshake with their purchase during a two hour window.
Joe Biel and I decided to head over there with his video camera to get some milkshakes, see how it worked, and talk with the officials on hand. Here’s the movie that resulted:
Drive Thru Mayhem from Joe Biel on Vimeo.
It seems there is still some development to be done on the “cycle-thru” concept. I liked the convenience of not having to lock up, and it was nice not to have to wonder whether or not I would be served, but sitting behind an idling car while waiting for my food was a pretty substantial downside.
It’ll be interesting to see if other companies follow Burgerville’s lead and start changing their bikes in the drive-through policy.
Oh, and this didn’t make it into the video, but the Burgerville honcho also told me that they’re looking into installing new bike parking at all their locations (most currently have only a wave rack, and a few have none at all.