‘Started with Walmart closing all their registers’: Customer films McDonald’s automated drive-thru being run without any employees

A McDonald’s customer is going viral for documenting their experience at a McDonald’s drive-thru being run without employees.

In the eleven-second clip, which amassed 1.9 million views since it was posted on Dec. 23, TikTok user KeKe Mendez (@kekemendez) recorded herself driving to a McDonald’s drive-thru. When she approached the window, there wasn’t an employee in sight. Instead, she was met with an automated machine handling her order. The machine placed the bag down and pushed it on a conveyor belt to the window.

According to the text overlay, the video took place at a McDonald’s in Fort Worth, Texas.

While most viewers in the comments were thrilled about the prospect of an automated McDonald's, others thought issues they had with human workers would be exacerbated.

“They never give napkins or sauce so this seems like a bad idea,” one viewer wrote.

“Definitely never gettin my sauces now,” another commented.

“What if they get the order wrong ?” a third asked.

In an email to the Daily Dot, a McDonald's representative provided this statement about the automated restaurant, which is a test location in Fort Worth:

“The test restaurant uses enhanced technology to make ordering and pickup more seamless than ever before, but there is a significant human component. The concept is not fully automated. We anticipate this restaurant format necessitating a comparable number of team members to a traditional store based on initial testing: there is an interaction between customers and the restaurant team when picking up orders via the food and beverage conveyor, and the restaurant team may also support guests using the self-order kiosks.”

The Daily Dot reached out to Keke Melendez via TikTok comment.

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