Helped by pandemic, drive-thrus find fast lane to profit
Among the many places to get a banh mi in Houston is the drive-thru lane at Saigon Hustle.
The 7-month-old spot was started by Cassie Ghaffar and Sandy Nguyen, in part to create something for busy parents who don’t want to deal with getting kids out of cars and into restaurants.
“It’s convenient and accessible to not only moms like us but people who aren’t familiar with Vietnamese food,” Ghaffar said. “We wanted to streamline and simplify how to get Vietnamese food quickly and efficiently and without compromising authenticity.”
The colorful restaurant is set on the site of a vintage gas station and has a 40-seat patio. The menu features spring rolls, Vietnamese iced coffee and a variety of such build-your-own entrees as vermicelli noodle bowls, rice bowls and salads, with add-ons such as chargrilled barbecue pork and lemongrass tofu.
The restaurant is already on its way to hitting $1.8 million in revenue, originally set as a thirdyear target. The owners are planning a second location in Houston, twice as big as the original spot, with indoor dining and an expanded menu offering pho and fried rice.
“The pandemic heightened the concept and added value to it,” Ghaffar said. “We’re already looking at a projected five locations.”
Saigon Hustle is one of the many drive-thrus that flourished during the pandemic as Americans grappled with health concerns and capacity restrictions in sit-down dining rooms. They stand in stark contrast to the restaurant industry as a whole, which took a beating, with 98 percent of restaurants across the country suffering declines in sales. Across the United States, orders at drivethrus grew 20 percent from February 2020 to the same month in 2022, according to a study by the NPD Group, a global retail data company. Not only has the trend expanded restaurateurs’ conceptions of drive-thru food, it’s also given rise to innovative building designs.
Tim Condon owns the Lonestar Cheeseburger Co. food truck in San Angelo, which quadrupled sales during the pandemic to an annual revenue of $1 million. Noting his customers’ preference for convenient takeout food and encouraged by the sales jump, Condon is now betting on drive-thrus. The chef from Omaha, Neb., who also owns an American bistro called Angry Cactus in San Angelo, is building a seven-lane, drive-thru-only restaurant on five acres.
The enormous building, modeled after the Alamo, will be 50 feet tall. Its seven lanes will feature one designed for large vehicles, including 18-wheelers; others are designated for delivery drivers and traditional drive-thru customers. There will also be a “speakeasy lane,” Condon said — specifically for alcohol to go. The restaurant will offer all the items on the Lonestar Cheeseburger menu. Drinks will include margaritas, daiquiris and Davy Crocketts, a mix of Dr. Pepper and Jack Daniels named for the frontier hero.
Amy Mills launched her drive-thru sandwich shop, Faye, after the model proved successful at both locations of her smoked-meat spot, 17th Street Barbecue, in Murphysboro, Ill., and nearby Marion, Ill. Faye also houses an all-day coffee shop in partnership with Onyx Coffee Lab. Items such as bologna biscuit sandwiches and summer peach salad are on the drive-thru menu.
If the pandemic has opened a door for entrepreneurs to invest in drive-thru restaurants, it’s also put fast-casual and fast-food chains in the category’s express lane. Among the big companies focusing on car-friendly locations is Taco Bell Corp, owned by Yum! Brands Inc. Its futuristic Taco Bell Defy in Brooklyn Park, Minn., is a twostory drive-thru with four lanes and digital screens to enable ordering on the spot. Orders are delivered to customers via a vertical chute from the secondfloor kitchen. The system isn’t just modern-day Jetsons: the burrito specialists claim it will reduce service time to two minutes or less.