Like many businesses and restaurants, Shepard’s Drive-In made multiple adaptations to fit customers’ needs in their off season. The main addition to the family-owned drive-in was their new online ordering system on toasttab.com. The site can be found on both their Facebook page and their Google search result sidebar.

When clicking on the site customers are opened to a page where they can enter the time they would like their food to be ready. This feature is great for ordering in advance because it allows for customers to place an order for the next day. I started my order at around 11 and chose to pick up my food at noon. 

Another benefit to the online ordering system is that you can clearly see all of the menu items separated into categories. Although I have been eating at Shepard’s all of my life, I was able to discover items that I never knew Shepard’s served. 

That being said, I still went with my usual chicken strips, french fries, and upside down banana split. Once I added everything to my cart I went to check out. At the checkout I was given the option of paying online or in person. I chose to pay online and this made getting my food very easy. 

At noon I went to get my food. All I had to do was go in, let someone at the window know I was there for my online order, and my food was out in minutes.

As for the food itself, it did not disappoint. The chicken tenders and fries were each wrapped in the classic Shepard’s white bags. Inside the food was hot and fresh. The ice cream cup was filled to the very top with all the banana split toppings. 

Since this service worked great on a small scale, The Red ‘n’ Green decided to test it on an order with food and ice cream to serve 17 people. The process of ordering the food went more smoothly, and quickly than it has in the past ordering over the phone. 

Although things went a little wrong when school was let out early for the power outage, entering a phone number in the site proved to be another benefit of this system as it allowed for easy communication through text.

The addition of the online services and curbside pick up are great new features to Shepard’s Drive-In for not only this year, but years to come.