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Fast Food’s Future?

BLOOMSBURG — Several McDonald’s restaurants in our area recently got an upgrade in technology. Now you don’t have to wait in line. With a push...

BLOOMSBURG -- Several McDonald's restaurants in our area recently got an upgrade in technology. Now you don't have to wait in line. With a push of a button, the food comes to you.

It's the calm before lunch rush at McDonald's in Bloomsburg. Busy days are the norm for this restaurant, but this day is different. There is a new way to order. The new addition is a kiosk, aka another way to order food. McDonald's says it's been in the works for over a year. The chain is unveiling them slowly. Only about 2,500 stores nationwide have them. That now includes locations in the Poconos, Scranton, and Pottsville, which all got them this week.

"Not only can they take their time and put their order in on their own, they can sit down and relax. We'll bring the food out to them," owner Roland Kissinger said.

Yes, the future of fast food at McDonald's includes table service.

"We have this new system where it actually shows up on a map what table in the restaurant they're at so we can take their order out to them," Sandy Gatrell said.

After you get your meal, a couple of minutes later an employee comes back over to check on you. This adds to the guest experience. So far customers are "lovin' it."

"It took me a while, where do you find this at, where do you find that at? And then when she showed me, I'm like, 'oh, this is pretty easy,'" Matthew Brown said.

The pictures on the kiosk make it easy for customers to see what they want. Maybe too easy.

"And then he wants ice cream," Justin Miller said.

Employees say some customers are concerned that this new technology will eliminate some jobs, but McDonald's assures us it won't.

"Because of the table service and because we have somebody out here working with the customers," Kissinger said.

McDonald's says the goal is for all 14,000 stores in the United States to have the kiosks by the end of 2019.

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