Jack in the Box Launches New Off-Premise Restaurant Design

Jack in the Box recently announced a new design for its off-premise restaurant prototype. The MK12 is a drive-thru only restaurant that features separate lanes for online pickup and third-party delivery. The sans dining room design gives both customers and franchisees greater flexibility and is the latest fast food chain to unveil its restaurant of the future.

Jack in the Box, the 2,200 unit quick service chain, said the modular nature of the MK12 has a more versatile use than its traditional restaurants, now giving the brand the ability to develop in places like airports, convenience stores and college campuses. The build out cost is also estimated to be more than 20% lower, but options will be available for current franchisees to retrofit their restaurants as well.

“Our goal is to focus on transforming our entire footprint as we are currently finalizing an incentive and investment plan to drive franchise reimages,” said Ryan Ostrom, chief marketing officer for the brand. “It’s a large part of our capital allocation going forward focusing on the drive-thru and exterior of the restaurant.”

Jack in the Box is the latest in a string of fast food giants to release plans for restaurant redesigns that focus on an enhanced digital experience. El Pollo Loco released plans for two designs in 2020, both with very limited or no dining room space and features like dual drive-thru lanes and curbside parking spaces.

McDonald’s is also working on a smaller restaurant footprint concept that does away with dine-in seating and focuses solely on drive-thru, pick up and delivery. It has plans for a larger concept called “MyMcDonald’s,” launching this year, that ramps up the use of technology to include personalized ordering experiences, delivery and digital kiosks.

Taco Bell is among others on board with this digital revolution, incorporating smart kitchen technology to improve order preparation time and guide customers through the fastest experience.

The push to rethink the entire format of fast food restaurants was inspired during the pandemic when drive-thru orders quickly rose to more than half of all sales, which also slowed down the average drive-thru times by 29.8 seconds. Fast food brands are digitizing and automating as much of the ordering process as possible to address the growing demand and volume of customers.

Customers can expect to see these concepts from brands like McDonald’s and El Pollo Loco roll out this year in major markets across the U.S. and expand from their pending success.