Chinese restaurants - no drive-thru, no windows

Factual Questions
1

I’m sure this must have come up before, but I can’t find a thread on the subject.

  1. The vast majority of Chinese/Asian restaurants I have patronized in the Northeastern US have no windows in the dining area and are often poorly lit, even the higher-priced upscale restaurants. I can think of no reason for this.

  2. Granting that preparation times are longer than your burger and fries joints, I have never seen a drive-thru Chinese food place. Why not? Do they exist anywhere? Many items in sit-down restaurants are prepared ahead of time and kept heated until ordered, a model similar to other restaurants, so what is it about the food that makes it impractical? In malls, there are fast-food style chains, but never the drive-thru variety.

2

Gee, we’ve got Wong’s Wok in the midwest, it’s got a drivethru and windows. Big chain here.

3

WAG but I bet it is more of a cultural thing. Most of the restuarants are probably actually owned and run by Chinese (or Asian as the case may be) people. Whereas the stuff at the mall is owned by Americans who are more likely to incorporate the fast food thing.

4

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by evilhanz *
**1. The vast majority of Chinese/Asian restaurants I have patronized in the Northeastern US have no windows in the dining area and are often poorly lit, even the higher-priced upscale restaurants. I can think of no reason for this. QUOTE]

It may be that the availability of carry out and delivery fill the gap enough. Moreover, it’s my studied observation (one that just popped into my head) that Chinese restaurant owners (sole proprietors) pretty much stick to a standardized model and don’t innovate much. Most drive-thru restaurants I’ve seen belong to chains and franchises.

5

I would bet that Chinese restaurants fall into two categories.

l. “Down and dirty”–cheap wonderful food, but they need to be located in a hole in the wall to keep their rent down. This means an old “row” building.

  1. Upscale, but still no windows. My experiece says they are in strip malls, etc. which would allow for few windows.

Of course, there is always #3–nobody wants to see a cat dismembered! :eek:

6

No windows … Feng Shui perhaps? Maybe there’s a belief that windows cause prosperity to flow out of the building. Why Feng Shui doesn’t account for prosperity entering the building through the window, or allow windows to let bad luck flow out, I don’t know.

7

I’ve also noticed the following attributes:
Bare white walls with a few large landscapes.
Simple black furniture with little back padding and no armrests.
Flat ceilings that extend to the kitchen.
The total effect is that they were erected in an empty warehouse on a day’s notice.
And this is true for many expensive ones as well.

8

and

On the first question, well, it depends. Here in South Texas, in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, it’s about half and half. Half of the restaurants don’t have windowns or have their windows covered. I think this is done to save on A/C and maybe create a quiet and cozy environment. But the other half, have large windows that are uncovered. On the second question, well, it depends if the restaurant is “upscale” or mainly “buffet” type. The upscales give you the option of take out, but do not have drive-through, but the buffet ones have for most part drive-throughs.

XicanoreX

9

I work in a Chinese restaurant. I wouldn’t call it upscale, more like middle-scale… but we do have windows (on the side facing the street).

My thoughts on #2:
[ul]
[li]Chinese food does take longer to prepare, and costs more. It’s easier to make an impulse decision to spend $5 on a 3-minute burger than to spend $10 on a 10-minute shrimp lo mein.[/li][li]Chinese food is harder to eat while driving. Lots of noodles and juices to spill all over, unlike a burger that you can hold in one hand.[/li][/ul]

10

Thank you, Mr. 2001. I was waiting for someone to point out the obvious. It’s not just the spills – most Chinese dishes need to be eaten with chopsticks (preferably) or fork (if you must). Much more difficult to do while driving.

– Beruang

11

Maybe. However, almost all Fazoli’s outlets have drive-through windows. Damn hard to eat spaghetti in a moving car, IMHO.

12

Not familiar with Fazoli’s. Do they maybe sell Italian beef and sausage and other car-friendly food?

Come to think of it, are there any drive-through steak or seafood places? (Fried fish sandwhiches don’t count.)

13

Italian fast food chain in the United States, located mostly in freestanding buildings in suburban areas. With the exception of pizza, and even that’s a stretch. most of their food isn’t car-friendly – it requires a fork and knife.

14

Last winter I popped in to my favourite local Chinese restaurant wearing my parka. I guess the waiter must have been cold, for he came up behind me, wrapped his arms around me, and moaned out “You’re so warm!” as he snuggled up. Even if that place ever gets a drive up window, I will still go inside in person for my take-out. Now if only the waitress who flirts with me would do the same!