Wendy’s new kitchen and dining designs aim to meet high-demand times and customers’ digital needs

Dublin, Ohio – The Wendy’s Company has opened its first Global Next Gen restaurant and is finalizing a high-capacity kitchen design option for times of highest customer demand. Both digital-first designs were created to enhance customer, crew and franchisee experiences, accelerating growth across Wendy’s restaurants.

The first Wendy’s restaurants featuring the design standards are now open, accelerating global growth by enhancing customer, crew and franchisee experiences through design and technology innovations, the company said in a news release.

The restaurants include self-order kiosks, conveniently located passt-hrough order pick-up shelving and dedicated parking for mobile order pick-up help to create a more convenient experience for digital-first customers.

Since unveiling the Global Next Gen restaurant design standard less than one year ago, the first Wendy’s Global Next Gen restaurants are now open in Kansas and Oklahoma, with more than 200 Global Next Gen restaurants slated to open through 2024. Wendy’s Global Next Gen restaurants feature a sleek and modern design with an optimized layout and next-generation technology to deliver more Wendy’s to more people with an emphasis on convenience, speed and accuracy across drive-thru, dine-in and digital order pick-up.

Self-order kiosks, conveniently located pass-through order pick-up shelving, and dedicated parking for mobile order pick-up help to create a more convenient experience for digital-first customers. Photo: Wendy’s

For restaurants with the highest customer demand, Wendy’s developed a new Global Next Gen High-Capacity Kitchen, which is estimated to deliver nearly a 50 per cent increase in kitchen output capacity compared to the Global Next Gen standard. The new high-capacity kitchen features the Global Next Gen design, with the added benefits of a dual-sided kitchen layout and increased equipment capacity:

Dual-sided kitchen design features advanced equipment and layout to maximize kitchen capacity, providing crew members with the tools they need to deliver exceptional quality efficiently, including additional sandwich production areas, dedicated space for digital orders and more prep area.

Reduced travel distances for crew members with strategically placed front counter, drive-thru and expanded storage capacity to enhance overall operational flow while improving crew comfort and speed of service.

Wendy’s developed the design standard to meet shifting customer preferences, including increasing digital order capacity.

“The new high-capacity kitchen design maximizes kitchen throughput for restaurants with the highest volume using Global Next Gen design innovation as the foundation for success,” said Wendy’s president, international, and chief development officer Abigail Pringle. “We are excited to harness both design and technology to unlock digital and global growth to meet the demands of our customers today and tomorrow.”