Did You Know: America’s First Drive-Thrus
The first drive-thru restaurant is considered to be Red’s Giant Hamburg in Springfield, Missouri, which opened in 1947. However, some say that the first drive-thru was Kirby’s Pig Stand in Dallas-Fort Worth, which opened in 1921 and offered drive-in service where carhops delivered meals to customers in their cars. Kirby’s founder, Jesse Kirby, came up with the idea for the drive-thru window after becoming frustrated with not being able to serve enough customers in his parking lot.
In 1948, Harry and Esther Snyder of In-N-Out Burger in Baldwin, California, opened a drive-thru with a two-way speaker system that Harry invented earlier that year. This system allowed customers to order into a microphone at a menu board, then pull up to a window to pay for their food and receive it in a bag. In-N-Out is considered the longest running drive-thru and their invention is credited with launching the modern-day drive-thru.
In 1975, McDonald’s opened its first drive-thru in Sierra Vista, Arizona, which was inspired by soldiers at Fort Huachuca Army Base who had to stay in their vehicles when wearing uniforms off base. The drive-thru was designed with a four-column roof garden to allow two cars to remain covered while ordering.
