Toast has introduced Toast Drive-Thru, an enterprise-grade platform designed to help quick-service restaurants improve throughput and order accuracy by bringing drive-thru operations into a single system.
The launch comes as more than 140,000 drive-thru locations across the U.S. face growing pressure to deliver fast, accurate service while managing labor constraints, according to Technomic Ignite data. At the same time, the rise of AI voice ordering has left many brands trying to layer new technology onto fragmented systems.
Toast’s approach centers on consolidating those systems into one platform that integrates point-of-sale (POS), kitchen display systems, digital menu boards and AI ordering capabilities.
“By seamlessly integrating POS, KDS, outdoor digital menu boards, and AI voice ordering partnerships, Toast Drive-Thru gives operators the tools they need to keep pace with peak demand today, and the flexible foundation required to adopt new innovations in the future,” co-founder Steve Fredette said in a statement.
Digital menu boards from Delphi, which Toast acquired in 2023, display orders in real time so guests can confirm accuracy before they are sent to the kitchen. It also includes a drive-thru-specific POS mode with features like vehicle ID and lane tagging.
AI voice ordering is also integrated through partners including Incept AI, with additional providers expected later this year.
For operators, the goal is not just adding AI. Gilberto Salinas, manager of information systems at Taco Palenque parent Palenque Group, said the system has helped streamline operations in high-volume lanes.
“Toast has always made it easy and intuitive for our staff to enter orders, and even more so now in our drive-thrus with POS Drive-Thru Mode. It gives our staff options to easily highlight the make, model, and color of the vehicle on each drive-thru order,” Salinas said in a statement.
“Before implementing Toast’s Advanced Order Confirmation Screen, our staff had to repeat drive-thru orders back to guests before firing them, which took extra steps. Now guests can verify their orders right on the screen, helping to save time. The Order Confirmation Screen also helps to make sure the experience guests have in our drive-thrus matches Taco Palenque’s brand identity, which is a necessity for our drive-thru operations,” Salinas added.
Toast Drive-Thru will roll out first to enterprise brands with 15 or more locations in the coming months.
