Why fast food is racing to ditch the dining room

Higher end fast food chains like Panera or Chipotle tend to have the dismal atmosphere of a busy airport. They get slammed by lines of office drone types who would rather be somewhere else and are only coming in for convenience, not to really take pleasure or relaxation in the act of eating.

I always enjoyed the slightly downscale fast food places since they tend to be less crowded and people are in less of a hurry. It would be sad, but typical of the “ongoing social atomization” if McDonald’s starts deciding dining rooms are too big of a liability and we all retreat to our burbclaves.

Maybe this might work in city environments, but I find that things get cold and soggy trying to take warm food home to eat here in suburbia. This leaves us trying to eat in the car which really isn’t all that comfortable nor conducive to “the dining experience”. And it’s not possible to eat in the car in the real winter or high summer (Ontario).

So, taking away the cafes and the seating ends up saving us money. Heat-n-eat is available in all grocery stores and there’s more and more cooked food options that are cheaper then chains. Successful companies know their business, but we’ll take the cash.