This idea speaks to our society's obsession with doing everything more quickly and efficiently. Here, in the Midwestern US, we have a franchise restaurant called Sonic that is an old-fashioned drive-in. You park in a stall order from a speaker next to your car. A "carhop" brings your food to you, and you can take it with you or eat it there. A&W and Dog&Suds restaurants also were this type. Jiffy-lube and it's bastard sons no longer lift your car to change your oil. They actually have a pit below the vehicle. So the idea is a hybrid of Sonic and Jiffy-lube. Have lunch, get your oil changed and never get out of your car. Obviously, the kitchen would be separate from the garage for hygiene reasons.
-- dana_renay, Feb 27 2002

Abu Dhabi http://www.enoc.com...21jun01/21jun01.xml
Nearly baked: "Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) has launched its first drive-thru restaurant at the ENOC service station on the Dubai Abu Dhabi road near the Abu Dhabi border." [hippo, Feb 27 2002, last modified Oct 04 2004]

Guess what they do with the used oil.
-- angel, Feb 27 2002


Oh! I was enjoying the notion based on the title and then I got here and saw angel's annotation. Still, a plus from me.

Seattle has Burgermasters which sound a lot like the Sonic drive-ins dana_renay describes here.
-- bristolz, Feb 27 2002


You'll notice that I didn't specify whether they used cooking oil in your engine or engine oil in the deep fryer.
-- angel, Feb 27 2002


Your lack of specificity made it all the worse for my imagination.
-- bristolz, Feb 27 2002


I like the idea, but I think it would be impractical for a food place to offer oil changes -- after all, they want their customers to return more frequently than every three/six months. On the other hand, an oil-change place offering food would be nice, but would they have enough captive customers at meal times to justify the expense? Probably the best solution is a freestanding oil change place right next to a freestanding fast food place (or possibly sharing a building but with independent businesses and hours), which is baked. Still, I voted for this one.
-- beauxeault, Feb 27 2002


[beauxeault] I see this more as a cooperative venture where the oil-changers make part of the investment, the restauranteers make the other part, and they operate the business jointly - not the oil-changers offering food or the restaurant people offering oil changes. This idea came to me because I was at a Sonic, there was a Jiffy Lube next door, and both places were packed. But your point about repeat customers is well taken. Perhaps a few oil-free bays for food only customers?
-- dana_renay, Feb 27 2002


But who could eat while sitting in a garage? The smell of oily car parts may lessen my appetite.
-- devilben, Feb 27 2002


Walking to the neighborhood "20/50" minute dinoservice shop would be best -- that way you can enjoy a meal and watch other people's cars being serviced. Woo Woo.
-- reensure, Feb 27 2002


For some the smell of an oily car engine is an aphrodisiac.

Maybe just a oil change/cappucino bar? I know that would fly in Seattle/Vancouver.
-- rbl, Feb 27 2002


to continue the "erksome" phase of today, and the fact that men have recently discovered the "benefits" of colonic irrigation, then perhaps the way to go is for both car and owner to have their oil changes together.
-- po, Feb 27 2002


po: Maybe modify car seats to allow this?
-- rbl, Feb 27 2002


if you didn't have to get out of the car, you could I suppose have a snack as well, and read a book. I am all for time management.
-- po, Feb 27 2002


I'm due for my prostate exam, could we work this into the process?
-- rbl, Feb 27 2002


How about:
Oil change/drive-in theater?
Oil change/ferry?
Oil change/parking garage?
-- phoenix, Feb 27 2002


If you need me, I'll be at the oil change/ferry, but surely you'll not need me.
-- reensure, Feb 27 2002


And I thought oil-change / Walmart was nifty enough...
-- RayfordSteele, Feb 28 2002


[phoenix] Oil-change/parking garage is baked in a way. When I lived in Dallas, there was a company there that would come to your place of business and change your oil while you were at work.
-- dana_renay, Feb 28 2002


in my homemtown, this is baked. it's called a super wal-mart.
-- efarns, Feb 28 2002


[dana_renay] I know of similar services. I wondered whether or not they would be allowed to change oil in such a structure and would they be charged for entering?
-- phoenix, Feb 28 2002


There is a laundromat/drycleaner/arcade/greasy spoon/carwash place in a town I used to live in (Fort Knox). Grab a bite, wash your drawers, while waiting for your car to be detailed. Don't recall if they changed oil. If they dont, would be a brilliant addition!
-- Skyloo, Feb 28 2002


Why not just make the restaurant itself a themed-restaurant -- hang hub caps and old racing pictures and stuff all over the place, and have a sign outside that says, "We love cars so much, we'll even change your oil for you while you wait! No, really, we will! Honestly!" In other words, make the oil changing portion of it secondary.
-- MrJustin, Apr 17 2003



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