Pedal-Powered Drive-Thru
Drive Thru Mayhem from Joe Biel on Vimeo.
Northwest fast food chain Burgerville recently modified their policies to allow bicycles in their drive-thru lanes. BikePortland dropped by to check it out and shot some video to document their experience.
15 Responses to “Pedal-Powered Drive-Thru”
Hi.
What can I say? Cycling, burgers and American’s have a health issue. Here is a thought, ride the bike and skip the drive thru :)
Andrew
At least they have a couple of veggie burger options.. :-)
LOL. Missed that, but did see the salads. Like right I am going Burgerville for a salad. Somehow I don’t think so. :)
All that said, great to see them recognising bikes as legitimate transport.
Andrew
Ugh.. harvest burgers. If they are anything like Gardenburgers, I don’t know how people can acquire that taste.
@Todd
We consider ourselves connoisseurs of veg burgers, if such a thing is possible… LOL. We’ve found they vary dramatically in quality and taste, from the stale, frozen variety, to fresh, handmade patties that are absolutely delicious. Homemade are the best. :-)
I’ve ridden through MacDonalds a number of times over the years without issue. Wells Fargo, the bank, though, doesn’t like you using their drive-through lanes on a bicycle and actually will send your deposit back through the vacuumy thing and say you need to go into the bank. So now I just use the drive-through ATM.
As a local northwesterner, just my two cents. As a rule this is the only fast food place I will take my family, for several reasons. The food is higher quality, they buy locally and in season. IMHO several cuts above the typical fare. By the way, their veggie burgers are some of the best I’ve tasted.
@ Matt, i think that Drive thru ATM’s are one of the stupidist things ever “invented” it signify’s the lack of people wanting to get out of the car/bike and spend the time going inside. Are you really that busy? I saw a line up to go thru a drive thru ATM once, every teller inside was free.
I do agree though that they should allow bikes if you willing to wait in the lineup with everyone else.
/end rant
@Gussy
For bicyclists, it’s often a problem of insufficient/inadequate/non-existent bike parking.
If you haven’t been to Burgerville, you can’t pass judgment. I will give you some examples, of the local products that are part of their permanent menu. When you order a lemonade, it is Odwalla, not corn syrup. Same thing with milkshakes. They are real milkshakes, not ‘shakes’ – that garbage that you get from McD’s and other fast food places.
Seasonal offerings like Walla Walla onion rings, that are made right in the store and get carmelized when they cook them. There was a bumper crop of cherries in the NW this year, so they popped up in the menu in milkshakes, a pulled pork cherry-bbq sandwich, and salads. There was also asparagus this year, and it was fresh and firm, not soggy.
@kww
Well that sounds good to me. All that, plus a bike drive-thru; what’s not to like? When are they expanding to CA? :-)
Great, more people distracted by food while driving.
My favourite part of the video is the last bit when the guy explains how car drivers and cyclists have a special privilege to use the drive through since they follow the same rules of the road: yet another example of how the individual human being is marginalised by our car-centric culture.
@Nick
I was a little disturbed watching the cyclist at the end riding off holding a to-go tray of food in one hand.
@Alan
I can take a Gardenburger if it’s deep-fried :-) It basically becomes falafel at that point.
@Alan
They’ll go down to CA when we get InNOut~!
Seriously, though, this has been a long time coming. Hopefully others will follow.
I think it’s not so much about it being a fast food joint… it’s the general acceptance of bicyles as a valid form of transportation. They have now become equivalent in status to the car:)
@Gussy: I’m guessing you don’t have kids. Don’t judge until you have a couple of toddlers, you are by yourself, and you need to get some cash. Sometimes a drive-through is a lifesaver. Or maybe just don’t judge at all. Like bike commuting, you’ll be happier and healthier for it!