Wendy's drive‑thru redesigns

Wendy’s is testing restaurant formats that put the drive-thru, pickup and delivery ahead of the dining room as the chain remakes stores around off-premise orders. (wendys.com) The company rolled out its “Global Next Gen” design in 2022 and said in August 2023 that the format was built to handle higher digital and drive-thru volume. Wendy’s said the redesign can unlock up to 400 times the digital capacity of older layouts. (wendys.com) Those stores add features aimed at speed outside the dining room: a walk-up window for delivery drivers, dedicated pickup parking, mobile-order shelving, pull-ahead spots and a back-of-house convenience door for runners. Wendy’s said the first examples opened in Kansas and Oklahoma, with more than 200 slated to open through 2024. (wendys.com) The redesign follows a customer habit Wendy’s has been describing for years. In its May 2023 announcement with Google Cloud, the chain said 75% to 80% of its customers preferred ordering through the drive-thru. (irwendys.com) Wendy’s has kept investing around that lane. The same 2023 announcement said the company was piloting “FreshAI” in Columbus-area restaurants to automate some drive-thru ordering, part of a broader push for faster service and fewer order errors. (irwendys.com) The backdrop in 2026 is a weaker U.S. business and a push to improve restaurant operations. Wendy’s reported on February 13, 2026 that fourth-quarter U.S. same-restaurant sales fell 11.3%, while the company said it was executing a domestic turnaround plan called “Project Fresh.” (irwendys.com) At the same time, Wendy’s is still opening stores. The company said it added 157 net new restaurants in 2025 and ended the year with 7,397 locations worldwide, up from more than 7,000 locations listed on its investor site this month. (irwendys.com 1) (irwendys.com 2) What is not confirmed in Wendy’s public filings or official news releases is the specific claim that the new layouts are being deployed in “high-crime” cities such as Oakland and Seattle for safety reasons. Wendy’s official materials describe the redesign in terms of digital demand, throughput and crew efficiency, not crime. (wendys.com) (irwendys.com) So the clearest read from the record is narrower than the social-media version: Wendy’s is building more stores around cars, couriers and app orders, and the company has tied that strategy to volume, speed and operations. The company has not publicly tied the format to crime in the sources reviewed here. (wendys.com) (irwendys.com)