CenturionIM

First I pull up to the menu board. After 2 minutes and various "hello"s, no response.
Okay. I rode up to the cashier window trying to talk to them and order. The woman was so baffled at seeing a cyclist, she looked so helpless and had to call her colleague for help.
Then I was told "sorry, you have to do a walk-in purchase". For what? It's not like I am holding up the line. Was in no mood to argue though, so I just went home.

Guess it was better this way after all. less junk food in my body and less profit for McDarth Vader.

As I was leaving, I can see that snicker on the motorist's face behind me. Damn bastards.

Roobaix

My friends and I did that when we were like 14. They took our order at the menu, we paid and got our food. It was pretty awesome at the time!

I'm kinda surprised they didn't serve you.

gecho

But how can you steer with your knee while eating if you have to pedal?

wobbooze

She did you a favor

storckm

I did the same thing at the same age. No problems.

terrapin44

I'm a bit surprised too. I went through the local McDonald's once on my bike with no problem. The indoor part was closed at the time though, so maybe they had different rules for that. But anyway, I doubt it is a McDonald's rule, but I guess it could be local franchise thing.

downwinded

+1 That crap will kill you...slowly.

DrakeSuperbus

Around 17 we went through a drive through and got food for the five or six of us we had stuffed in my buddy's jetta. After we got the mound of food, we pulled into a parking spot to make sure we got everything. When we realized we were short on fries, I walked up to the drive through window to get them because the line of cars was wrapped around the building and we didn't want to wait. The lady said she couldn't serve me through the drive through unless I was in a car. I told her it was going to be really hard for the line of cars behind me to get their food with me sitting in front of the window. I got my fries.

hueyhoolihan

it's a fine example of not being able to cope with the unexpected. neither the cashier nor her colleague are good candidates for "employee of the month" IMO.

BTW, it's not uncommon for it to happen at a bank drive-thru either.

David Bierbaum

I've never had problems going through any of the drive-thru's here. In fact, both the Jimmy Johns folks and the Regions Bank tellers kind of get a kick out of it. I still tend to go inside when possible, since I don't really want to annoy cars behind me needlessly.

I think the main problem with getting service is the magnetic sensors not detecting your bicycle.

WorldPax

I walked up to a drive-thru once. The front was closed and they agreed to serve me when I agreed not to try and come back through with my 18-wheeler while pointing back at my truck.

degnaw

I worked at a BK back in high school. There's an underground sensor at the menu that detects when a car is present, which 'beeps' the employees' headsets AND turns on the menu microphone. If you're on a bike, you're probably not triggering that sensor. As for serving you once you get to the window, I certainly understand if some employees are hesitant to violate company policy and possibly get fired.

Now it doesn't make sense to deny service to a legal road vehicle in a drive through, but that's an issue for corporate.

agent pombero

Burgerville, superior to McDs, Wedys, etc in every way, allows bicycles through the drive thru. I went through a couple of days ago to get a shake!

gerv 

If I took my bike thru a MacDonald's drive-thru I'd have an asthma attack from the fumes of those idling cars.

Do yourself a favor.

lasauge 

It's pretty rare, but I've been known to stop at a drive-through in the middle of a long ride for a quick dose of sugars and carbohydrates to stave off an impending 'bonk' in the middle of an unexpectedly long ride. Never had any problems, just some odd looks.

jimblairo

They are afraid that ypou might spill a hot or cold drink on yourself and sue them for 9 million $ like others have.

ka0use

happened to me a lot years ago, not just at mc'coronary's.
had a motorbike and was refused window service.

jon c. 

I faced that problem at the bank drive up window. This was in the days before ATMs existed and only the drive up was open on Saturday morning. Usually a long line of cars, sometimes waiting up to an hour. I waited in the line and got up to the window and they denied service claiming insurance regulations prohibited serving anyone not in a car. I had to lean my bike in the wall and find a friendly driver who let me sit in their car at the window. Subsequently, I skipped the line and just rode up, parked my bike, and found a helpful driver.

GregTR

So do you have a cup holder on your bike?


BTW I love McDonald's! If I could fit it into my caloric budget I'd go far more often.

tdister

Or perhaps some people working for a corporation who probably feels it has to have all kinds of whacky rules to limit liability, with employees not wanting to get fired for stepping outside of the familiar even if it is obviously harmless. maybe a combination of the 2.

PatrickGSR94

Yeah I worked at several Starbucks and there is a detection loop in the ground that the bike probably didn't trigger. So that's why you couldn't order at the menu board. Also I've seen signs on several restaurants saying something like walk-up orders are prohibited. Then there's the issue of when they take orders from vehicles at the menu board, the orders show up on several monitors throughout the joint, in the order they were taken. So if you try to place your order at the window directly it will probably confuse a lot of people working there and they'll likely screw up a bunch of orders after you, which is likely the reason for prohibiting walk-up orders in the first place. Well that and also the issue of safety/security (a person on foot can more easily reach/grab in through the window than a person in a car can).

So it does make sense, really. I did make a deposit at my bank drive-thru just a couple weeks ago while out on my lunch ride, but that doesn't require triggering any detector loops.

I-Like-To-Bike

How did you do that? By riding out backwards?

Telly

Hmm.. I must be the first person in Greece (and probably the last) to ride INTO a McD's!

Was returning home from a friends house and was caught in torrential rain and the area I was riding through was starting to flood, so I decided to head for a McD's located in a gas station to wait it out.
While riding towards the entrance, the manager and a couple of employees where trying to contain some minor flooding and motioned me to quickly ride into the shop through the handicap entrance while an employee was holding the door, since the main entrance had been barricaded. Found myself stopping short of the counter among other customers looking in disbelief!

Of course ended up having a meal and some Pepto-Bismal when I got home.

acidfast7

Haven't had fast food in roughly 10 years.

downwinded

If, after a long period of time of not eating fast food, you do stop in for a sandwich, or whatever, it will not taste very good. At least that has been my experience. Reminds you of why you stopped eating there in the first place.