Some people don’t drive, but are passengers. And some people walk up.
What are we defining as “fast food” here? I sometimes go to Red Robin, which isn’t as fast as, say, McDonald’s, but it’s not fine dining, either. And I can get an alcoholic drink there.
I voted in favor, but that was before I’d considered the teen workers. Yeah, probably a bad idea to have teens serve beer or wine, let alone anything harder. Back in the Stone Age, my husband worked part time at a Pizza Inn while he was in high school. He bussed tables and did prep work, and he wasn’t allowed to pick up a glass with even a drop of beer in it, he had to get someone else to pick it up. So, I wouldn’t like to see more impediments to teens getting a first job. It’s hard enough for them.
Fine idea. Hell, I frequently have a beer with my lunch at the inimitable Fatburger - and I don’t drink fountain drinks, period - because they are nasty.
I would like this as an option at run-of-the-mill fast food joints.
As for teens serving alcohol, it seems to me that fast food jobs are increasingly going to seniors anyway, and the impact on the demographic would be marginal since one person would easily be able to “serve” all comers, since we’re only talking from tap to tray in the standard model.
Yes! Why DOESN’T Krystal offer tequila? Do you think anybody sober would be trolling their cuisine at 2 o’clock in the morning? That’s the only time anybody has the bright idea that a gut-buster would be good.
Also, I think Wendy’s should serve a nice Chianti.
Our local Chuck E Cheese serves beer. No joke. I know it’s not considered fast food, but some of these parties can last a long time, and that’s a lot of opportunity to get crocked while your kid gets hyped up on cake.
I was thinking about Chuck E. Cheese too. That’s such a kid-oriented place, if they can serve beer, anyone can.
I think fast food restaurants should serve beer if they want to, and not if they don’t want to. Many obviously choose not to, so teenagers can still get jobs. But even if they did choose to sell alcohol they might still employ teenagers. I worked at McDonald’s at 15 and we 15-year-olds couldn’t flip the “on” switch on the coffeemaker (we could do everything else involved in making and serving coffee, just not flip that dangerous switch), among other silly laws, and they still hired us. We just had to get somebody else to do the things we couldn’t do.
There’s already fast food-ish places that serve booze.
Chipotle’s, Moe’s, Fuddruckers (kinda of skirts the line…like halfway between FF and a casual restaurant.)
I see no problem with it, and it should be up to each restaurant (both nationally and each franchise owner) if they want to serve booze, and up to each state to decide if they want to give them a liquor license. This way, if it’s a state that doesn’t allow anyone under 18/21 to serve alcohol, they can deny it based on a large percentage of the staff being under age.
The argument of “people can get in and out much faster” holds no weight because I can go to any bar in my town, walk up to the bar, get a beer, or a shot, and Hell, a beer and a shot, down them inside of a minute, and walk out. I’ve even been to casual restaurants just to sit at the bar and have a quick beer before…a little longer than the bar scenario, but I was still in and out inside of fifteen minutes.
Hell, you can even add some little rules…like obviously no booze at the drive through, and maybe even going so far as to say “limit 1 beer per customer.”
Attended my nephew’s birthday party there recently. Normally I’d take pruno over Budweiser, but after ten minutes in the Chuck E. Cheese hellscape the King of Beers became the nectar of the gods.
I like the idea of selling alcohol wherever. If there are problems with people who cannot handle the option of open availability, then by all means increase the penalties for those people.
I interpreted the OP as asking whether you would prefer that fast food places sell alcohol. So it’s perfectly reasonable to answer “No, I don’t think they should” without necessarily thinking it should be a legal ban.
yep, as Vinyl Turnip says, Chuck E. Cheese pretty much has to serve beer, or else parents would never consent to take their kids there Place is f’n loud.
I have been places in Europe where this is common - beer at McDonalds, Burger King, etc. Never saw any problems with it but it sure was odd the first time I saw someone order a Big Mac, fries and a beer!
Interesting. How did the price and quality of the beer compare to what you’d get in a real restaurant? Do McDonalds and Burger King have their own exclusive brands of beer?
FatBurger in Redmond, WA serves bottled beer. It is as much a fast-food place as McDonalds is. Well maybe a tad bit slower but it’s no “Bar and Grille”.
I said “yes”. I don’t think it’s a “great” idea but I don’t think it’ll have any significant impact.
People have named some already but I’ve been in enough places that qualify as fast food and sell beer/wine to know that most people just don’t buy it. It’s not as though everyone would be stumbling out of White Castle drunk off their ass (unless they entered that way… which is a safe bet). In fact, I expect most places would run it as a pilot program and ultimate drop it or limit its locations because it just won’t be profitable against the licensing, inventory and whatever issues come up from it.
I’m torn on this. On one hand there really is nothing wrong about it, on the other hand fast food is food on the go and in the US that means using vehicles which doesn’t generally mix with alcohol well. You almost need a different category of restaurant due to the way fast food is generally consumed in the US and how it fits into our life style to have ones that serve drinks.
Place is f’n loud.