A plan by the burger chain McDonalds to make restaurants more high-tech is rapidly spreading across the country, and is starting to pop up here in San Antonio, Newsradio 1200 WOAI reports.
The company is adding self-ordering kiosks to 1,000 locations every quarter. This week, the touch-screen tablets went up at the restaurant near Culebra and Zarzamora.
Owner Carlos Rodriguez says this is what customers want.
"This is evidence of us, being able to respond to the changing need of the customer," he says.
He says what customers love is the ability to customize their order. They can ask for no onions or extra cheese on the burger. At the same time he says the staples of the menu, like the popular french fries, remain the same.McDonald's CEO Steve Easterbrook told CNBC this week that when people spend more time customizing their order, the more they spend and there's a little bit of an average check boost.
"If you think about only two years ago, if you were a customer there were two ways you can get served at McDonald's," he said. "You walked to the front counter and line up and take your drink and find a table or you go through the drive through. We're introducing many options. They can order through mobile, they can come curbside and we'll run it out as well as the existing traditional ways. You can pay in different ways and customize your food in different ways. I think we're trying to add more choice and variety."
McDonalds is also reportedly looking at delivery.
Rodriguez says they've had great luck in a partnership with Uber Eats.
"Any company that is not adapting to change, we see what happens to them. They're not necessarily doing as good."