--- title: "Burger King Introduces New Restaurant Model for a Post-COVID World" url: https://burnaze.com/article/02bd68a0-f0d8-4365-a86f-e8039f7ce7b1 source: "1851 Franchise" original_url: https://1851franchise.com/burger-king-introduces-new-restaurant-model-for-a-post-covid-world-2713814 category: "Burger" industry: "Restaurants" segment: "Burger" published: 2020-09-03T19:14:08.000Z modified: 2026-11-01T02:01:19.904Z image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/2a6517abf34f73ef964aa415a5377c7d5515.jpg --- # Burger King Introduces New Restaurant Model for a Post-COVID World **TL;DR:** Burger King introduces a new restaurant model with dedicated mobile order and curbside pickup areas, drive-in, and walk-up order sections in response to changing consumer behavior. The new design prototype will be built in 2021 in Miami, Latin America, and the Caribbean. *originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2020-09-03. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/burger-king-introduces-new-restaurant-model-for-a-post-covid-world-2713814).* ## Key facts - Burger King introduces new restaurant design - 100% touchless experience available - First new look to be built in 2021 ## Story Burger King announced a new design prototype that boasts dedicated mobile order and curbside pickup areas, drive-in, and walk-up order sections, an enhanced drive-thru experience, exterior dining spaces, and sustainable elements. This launch comes amid changing consumer behavior in response to dining room closures and municipal social distancing mandates. Surging use of drive-thru lanes, online ordering, and delivery in recent months has pressured operations across the QSR segment. The idea of consumers using restaurants in an off-premise setting isn’t likely going away when the pandemic subsides. - Customers will now be able to park in a drive-in area under solar-powered canopies. - They can place orders through Burger King’s app by scanning a QR code at their parking spot, and have food brought to their cars. - Guests can notify restaurants upon arrival through the app as instructed on the parking signs. - Mobile and delivery orders will also now be available for pickup at coded food lockers facing the exterior of the restaurant. One of the new design options replaces Burger King’s traditional indoor dining room with a shaded patio featuring outdoor seating for customers who prefer to dine on-premises. A living wall frames a guest’s view into the kitchen interior, complete with Burger King broiler branding. Additionally, an external walk-up window on the glass façade will be an alternative ordering point for takeout. ## New restaurant models In perhaps the most notable feature, one of the models includes a suspended kitchen and dining room above the drive-thru lanes configured to reduce the building footprint, making it ideal for urban driving cities. Drive-thru guests have their order delivered from the suspended kitchen via conveyor belt system, and each lane features its own pickup spot. This specific design features a triple drive-thru, with a dedicated lane for delivery drivers. Guests who want to dine in can access the dining room and covered outdoor seating situated above the drive-thru entrance. Plus, the model is a 100 percent touchless experience. “In March our in-house design and tech team accelerated new restaurant design plans and pushed the limits of what a Burger King restaurant could be,” said Josh Kobza, chief operating officer for Restaurant Brands International, which owns Burger King. “We took into consideration how consumer behaviors are changing and our guests will want to interact with our restaurants. The result is a new design concept that is attractive to guests and will allow our franchisees to maximize their return.” ## Implementation plans Burger King plans to build the first of these new looks in 2021 in Miami, Latin America, and the Caribbean. RBI’s real estate is shifting overall. The company noted in August it would close “several hundred more restaurants than we might in a typical year” across its Burger King, Tim Hortons, and Popeyes footprints in 2020. ## Industry trends Other QSR chains are also reevaluating how customers will interact with their brand. Taco Bell announced it is launching a new restaurant concept called Taco Bell Go Mobile that is designed specifically for diners to order ahead through the chain's mobile app. Shake Shack announced in May that it will remodel some restaurants to a "Shack Track" model that includes drive-thru lanes and walkup windows, and Chipotle plans to pivot its entire portfolio to its mobile-drive thru Chipotlane formats. The changes in restaurant design that are currently happening because of COVID-19 are not unprecedented, they were already coming, said Buffalo Wings and Rings CEO, Nader Masadeh. The brand began planning a revamped restaurant design a few years ago with a focus on off-premise offerings, outdoor seating, and digital ordering. Now, the restaurant revamp is perfectly positioned for a post-COVID world. “COVID-19 really just expedited where the industry was headed,” said Masadeh. “For example, the demand for variety within an indoor/outdoor restaurant space has always been there, and the shift to off-premise and delivery services was already well underway. In addition, the need for technological integration has been a primary focus over the past few years. Now, it just so happens that all of these changes have been accelerated to combat COVID-19 and position brands for success in the new normal.” ## Entities - 1851 Franchise (publication) - Restaurants (sector) - Taco Bell (company) - Burger King (company) - Chipotle (company) - Miami (location) - Shake Shack (company) - qsr trends (topic) - mobile ordering (topic) - Restaurant Brands International (company) - Josh Kobza (person) - drive-thru experience (topic) --- Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/burger-king-introduces-new-restaurant-model-for-a-post-covid-world-2713814). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/02bd68a0-f0d8-4365-a86f-e8039f7ce7b1).