kaili cochran
Words by Kaili Cochran
Remember dining in at your favorite fast food place as a kid? Running to the giant play area while waiting for your meal and then heading back after you’ve eaten.
Those spaces are disappearing.
Chains like Chick-fil-A have remodeled to prioritize drive-thrus, leaving play areas up to local owners. Places like McDonald’s and Burger King rarely include them anymore when they get remodeled due to health concerns and budget cuts.
But it’s not just the play areas. Fast food overall is becoming less interactive. Mobile apps, AI drive-thrus and contactless delivery are all replacing counter service. Even inside the restaurants, kiosks have replaced much of the face-to-face interaction.
Loyalty apps like Starbucks reward customers for online orders, giving double the stars compared to scanning in-store. Taco Bell, McDonald’s and Dunkin’ all have their own app-exclusive deals offering free food and drinks when you order online a certain number of times. In some cases, prices are even cheaper when you order through the app with online-only promo codes.
In Jacksonville, these effects are especially clear.
The Chick-fil-A off Southside Boulevard added a mobile order lane, allowing guests to skip speaking to the staff altogether. In early 2025, Chick-fil-A opened its first Jacksonville drive-thru-only location in the city just off Atlantic Blvd.
But it wasn’t the first. In late 2024, Zaxby’s built Florida’s first drive-thru-only location on New Kings Road. In May 2025, Panera added a second lane to its model off Beachwalk Shore Drive in St. Johns County. This second lane is for mobile pickup only. Part of its remodeling includes adding digital ordering kiosks to help with the in-store orders.
Checkers and Rally’s have partnered with Presto, an automation tech company. Pull into their drive-thru and you’ll be greeted by an AI voice assistant that takes your order, promotes specials and sends everything to the POS system where you just pay and go. Presto reported a 98% accuracy in its pilot programs with Checkers and Rally’s, according to “Business Insider.”
Nationwide, these changes are shaping fast food everywhere. The National Restaurant Association reported that takeout, drive-thru and delivery made up 83% of restaurant traffic in 2024.
These changes have been said to help with labor shortages and increase service, but critics believe it also reduces entry-level job opportunities and takes away human elements that were once included in the fast food experience.
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