McDonald's Making Big Change to Its Dining Rooms

Pour one out for your favorite soft drink combo. Following a decades-long tradition of McDonald's customers filling — and refilling — their own soft drink cups, leading to some crazy drink concoctions, that will soon be a thing of the past. McDonald's announced that by 2032, the self-serve beverage station will be a thing of the past and customers will be handed a filled beverage from employees behind the counter.

The beloved fast food restaurant chain announced the plan to phase out the beverage stations this week, explaining in a statement to FOX Business that "this change is intended to create a consistent experience for both customers and crew across all ordering points, whether that's McDelivery, the app, kiosk, drive-thru or in-restaurant." Self-serve beverage stations, which were first introduced in 2004, will be phased out over the next decade, but it is unclear if locations outside the U.S. will do the same.

According to The State Journal-Register, several McDonald's locations in Illinois have already phased out the self-serve stations. Store owner-operators cited "food safety, theft prevention and a lack of dine-in customers" as factors that led to the decision to remove the stations. Mikel Petro, a franchise owner, told the outlet, "It's an evolution towards convenience and (the result of) the growth of digital service."

CNN notes that the decision to phase out self-serve beverage stations comes amid a reduced need for them. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a change in consumer behavior, including a surge in business through its drive-thru and delivery services. According to McDonald's most recent earnings report, digital sales (app, delivery, and kiosk purchases) made up almost 40% of systemwide sales for the second quarter of 2023. As a result, fewer people have been dining inside, reducing the need for the stations.

With the change in consumer behavior in mind, McDonald's, as well as other fast food restaurant chains, has put a focus on enhancing drive-thrus and delivery app experiences. Back in 2021, the Golden Arches began testing automated drive-thru ordering. The chain is also looking to establish restaurant designs with smaller or no dining rooms dubbed CosMc's.

McDonald's is not the only chain changing daily functions to reflect consumer behavior. Last month, Yum! Brands Inc. men, the parent company of Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut, boasted about the profit increases that came with converting to digital sales channels. Meanwhile, Chick-fil-A is currently testing pick-up-only service and a new elevated kitchen that uses a four-lane mobile order drive-thru to deliver food to customers at locations in Atlanta and New York.