Despite the big smiles, these are nervous times for Ronald and Jack. Tommy and Carl Jr. are getting a little edgy, too.
Cars may be king in Southern California but local governments are slamming the brakes on drive-through fast-food restaurants following growing complaints by neighbors about noise and traffic.
After defining the regional landscape since the 1960s, and then spreading nationwide, drive-through eateries are now being cast as the land-use pariahs of the 1990s, joining strip malls and landfills.
The city of Sierra Madre this year banned drive-through restaurants. Last year, Burbank barred fast-food restaurants from operating drive-through windows 24 hours a day. Officials in South Pasadena have imposed a temporary ban while they draft tougher drive-through restrictions. And Los Angeles is starting to charge higher permit fees to new outlets to pay for traffic improvements.
Several other Southern California cities have begun restricting the hours that restaurants can operate drive-through windows, a trend industry representatives worry may begin to spread to cities around the country.
Even the state's Air Resources Board has taken a shot at the ubiquitous drive-through, saying that cars idling in line contribute to Southern California's air pollution.
Drive-through restaurants are largely victims of their own success. The country's fast-food giants--McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's--scored record sales this year, with franchises being added as fast as 14% annually.
Profits from fast-food outlets nationwide are expected to surpass traditional walk-in restaurants this year for the first time.
For a $100-billion industry that earns nearly half its profits from drive-through windows, the restrictions and bans are clearly worrying industry leaders.
"This is not a good trend," said Stan Kyker, executive vice president of the California Restaurant Assn.
Kyker and other fast-food industry representatives, who prefer the label "quick-service restaurants," say drive-throughs simply serve motorists already traveling on nearby roads, and therefore do not create traffic problems.
Planning and transportation experts seem to agree.
Although there are few studies on the subject, George Lefcoe, a USC land-use and real estate professor, said most drive-through customers stop at the restaurants on the way to another destination. The restaurants, he said, should not be blamed for the traffic that they serve.
