Lately I've noticed that certain fast food places like Arby's have the actual assembly instructions for their sandwiches on the inside of the wrappers. Simple and effective, in case the workers forget the recipe.
I've also been observing the new McDonald's system, which is similar to the old BK and Wendy's systems. Sandwiches are assembled as they are ordered, with your choice of ingredients. The workers have to watch a TV screen to determine which sandwiches get what ingredients.
I'd like to see a high speed dual-sided non-toxic ink jet printer spit out the wrappers as the sandwiches are ordered. The workers benefit by not having to stare at the TV screen, and we the customers benefit by having our actual order specification printed on the reverse side of the wrapper.
The stores could also benefit by letting the computer custom-print wrapper art instead of buying pre-printed stock. The chains could also put custom art on the wrappers depending on holidays, promotions, coupons, etc. It would also help the front counter staff from picking up your custom burger and sending it out the drive-thru by accident.
Ever get a sack of food for a group of people and then have to partially unwrap everything to figure out who had the no-onions and who had the extra-mayo? This would make life a little easier...-- koz, Aug 22 2000 TWIAVBP http://www.google.com/search?q=twiavbp(Quick search link, in case anyone else was also mystified.) [egnor, Aug 22 2000, last modified Oct 04 2004] Most places have spots for custom markings, but never use them. Checkers is like this, we bought like six burgers, three custom, and one of them had been marked...-- StarChaser, Aug 22 2000 "Checkers"?-- egnor, Aug 22 2000 East/midwest fake 50ies-style drive-thru burger chain.-- jutta, Aug 23 2000 Blakes Lottaburger actually writes your order in pencil on the bag, very retro. A lot of Mom and Pop places do this too. They also mark the outside of your burger wrapper with the same pencil, saving printer ink. Still, there's a good idea here - I'm saving for a printer that can print on a tee shirt, so I can wear my own, exclusive designs and drive others mad with futile envy.-- Scott_D, Aug 24 2000 Sorry, Egnor, I forgot TWIAVBP...Jutta is right...-- StarChaser, Aug 24 2000 random, halfbakery