Subway has always prided itself on being one of the most convenient fast-food chains in the world. It has a huge variety of choices, prepares the food quickly, and has over 37,000 locations globally, so there’s likely a Subway close to you.
However, one of the most convenient services that many major fast-food chains offer is the drive-thru service. A question you may have is, does Subway have a drive-thru? I’ve researched whether Subway has a drive-thru, how it works, and much more!
Does Subway Have a Drive-Thru?
Subway does have a drive-thru in the United States. In 2017, around 10% of Subway restaurants had a drive-thru service. Because everything at Subway is made to order, the drive-thru naturally takes slightly longer than other fast-food chains. However, the drive-thru is still growing at Subway, with the process and timing improving every year.
If you want to learn more about Subway drive-thru, how it works, how fast it is, what other options for getting food there are, and more, then read on!
How Does Subway Drive Thru Work?
Subway drive-thru works similarly to most fast-food drive-thru’s. For example, customers drive up to the speaker system, state what they want, and go to the next window to pay.
Finally, customers drive to the third window to collect their orders. Or, if the food isn’t ready yet, Subway asks that customers move to a designated collection parking bay.
That said, the biggest issue with Subway drive-thru when it started was the length of time. For example, ordering over the speaker system can take a while, and employees might miss items when they’re ordering bread, meat, sauce, and toppings.
That’s why some Subway restaurants include touch screens for ordering along with drive-thrus.
However, this technology is still in the early stages. That said, in 2017, there were only 200 Subway locations with a touchscreen, but that number is slowly growing.
How Fast Is Subway Drive-Thru?
The overall process of ordering at a Subway drive-thru can be significantly longer than other fast-food chains such as McDonald’s.
With McDonald’s, the ordering process is usually quick and simple, and a lot of the food is cooked and ready to go as soon as you order.
With Subway, the ordering process can take a lot longer because the ordering process involves choosing all the individual elements of your sandwich, including the bread, protein, toppings, and sauces.
Once you’ve ordered your sandwich, because every item is made to order, you will have a wait about five minutes longer than you would for a McDonald’s order.
How Many Subways Have a Drive-Thru?
As of 2017, over 2,000 Subway locations had a drive-thru service. Out of these locations, roughly 10% have touch screens for ordering items.
If Subway can find ways to speed up the ordering process and the time it takes to get the food to the customer, the number of locations with a drive-thru will keep growing.
What Other Ways Can You Order at Subway?
Drive-thru is still a relatively new venture for Subway to undertake. With that, there are multiple ways to order your food from Subway that existed before the drive-thru.
The obvious option is to go into a Subway store, place your order, choose your bread, sauce, and toppings, and pick up your sandwich when it’s ready.
However, some other ways to order from Subway include:
- Ordering through the Subway mobile app. You choose your sandwich filling, bread, toppings, and sauces, place the order, and the app will inform you when the sandwich is ready to collect.
- Ordering through a food delivery app (UberEats, DoorDash). You place your order on a delivery app and choose all your extras, and then a courier will collect your food from Subway and deliver it to your home.
What Does the Future Look Like For Subway Drive-Thru?
When you look at the bigger picture, Subway’s drive-thru is still in its infancy.
That said, there still aren’t many Subway stores that have a drive-thru system, and there are even fewer stores that have touchscreen ordering to speed up the process.
So, the next step should be to eventually implement touchscreen ordering at all Subway stores with a drive-thru and then gradually grow the number of Subway drive-thrus from there.
Not only does touchscreen ordering speed up the process, but it also allows for fewer mistakes, so it’s essential to have these as a standard feature at Subway drive-thrus.
To know more about Subway, you might also be interested in reading up on Subway catering, how old is Subway, and if Subway is fast food.
