Covid 19 coronavirus: McDonald's, KFC, Subway, BurgerFuel - when your favourite fast food stores will open

New Zealand's fast-food chains are getting ready to start serving the nation again following a temporary hiatus during the coronavirus lockdown.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced alert level 3 would start from Tuesday next week, which was welcome news for thousands of people.

Uber Eats would be operational in time for the lunch period next Tuesday, delivering meals to customers' doors without contact.

But when exactly can you get your fast-food fill?

McDonald's

McDonald's was confident the majority of its restaurants with drive-thrus would open across the country when lockdown lifts.

McDonald's logo. Photo / Supplied

About 130 of its 170 restaurants offered drive-thru and the company was working on providing contactless training to its 10,000 staff and ensuring further hygiene, sanitation and food-safety procedures.

It was also in the process of working with its suppliers to confirm whether it could access stock and help franchisees ensure they could openly safely.

Subway

All 250 Subway restaurants across New Zealand would open from Tuesday through delivery or contactless pick-up.

Customers could have their meals delivered by Uber Eats and could order them off the Subway app or online.

Domino's

Domino's expects to open most stores for contactless delivery from Tuesday, with remaining stores opening the next day.

KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and Carl's Jr

Restaurant Brands, which operates KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and Carl's Jr, were not able to report when the restaurants would open to the public.

However, a spokesperson told the Herald further information would be made available in the coming days.

KFC. Photo / Getty Images

Starbucks

Coffee-fanatics can expect a different looking Starbucks following the break of the lockdown in New Zealand.

It was working on its mobile order experience to enable contactless pickup starting at selected stores towards the end of April.

More stores would be progressively re-opened as the Covid-19 situation continued to develop, Starbucks New Zealand chief executive Charles Belcher said.

Customers were told to visit the official Starbucks Facebook and Instagram social media channels for updates.

BurgerFuel

BurgerFuel kitchens would open from Tuesday to enable people to order online for contactless pick up at their stores.

Some stores would also offer contactless kerbside pick up and delivery. Some stores could only offer a limited menu due to supply.

Kiwis were asked to check the BurgerFuel website from Saturday to see their local store's operating hours.

Burger King

Burger King was hoping to open its 83 outlets on Tuesday, it told Stuff. Once open, Burger King would offer drive-thru and delivery through Uber Eats.

Reprieve for restaurants but Covid-19 has taken its toll on many

Kiwis hoping to move away from the stovetop to the restaurant table next week will be forced to wait a little longer despite the move to alert level 3.

But it's not all bad news, with meals from restaurants only a phone call or few clicks of the mouse away.

Uber Eats would be back in action from Tuesday next week in time for lunch-time trade with contactless delivery the default setting.

Businesses were thrown a lifeline by the Government yesterday, which decided the nation would leave lockdown at 11.59pm next Monday.

None possibly were in more need than those in the hospitality sector who were optimistic about the outlook, the Restaurant Association told the Herald.

"Restaurants, cafes and takeaways will be operating in a contactless world," Restaurant Association of New Zealand chief executive Marisa Bidois said.

Marisa Bidois, chief executive of the Restaurant Association. Photo / Supplied

"All orders at this stage will be basically taken online or via the phone and most payments will need to be contactless as well.

"People will be familiar with a lot of these delivery services anyway, like Uber, where you select your order, pay for it and it's delivered to your door."

Before operating, businesses would need to get approval from the Government.

Contactless delivery on the Uber Eats app was set to default to get rid of human to human contact during delivery to customers' homes.

Meanwhile, a restaurant tipping feature would also be introduced on the app.

The feature had been used in Australia with restaurants receiving more than $500,000 in tips during the first week of the roll-out, Uber Eats said.

Customers were not allowed inside restaurants, bars and cafes during alert level 3, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment website said.

Businesses could sell prepared food and non-alcoholic drinks by contactless delivery and collection.

However, many would not have the capacity to open while for others it would not be worth the effort, Bidois said.

"We're looking at around 20 per cent, one in five, businesses not being open at the end of this, many have been hit hard," she told the Herald.

"Many of them are struggling but many of them are remaining optimistic though as well which I find absolutely incredible.

"For many, it's a lifeline - for those who are set up, have systems in place, it will be a lifeline."

Burger King. Photo / 123RF

New Zealanders were encouraged by Bidois to support businesses by purchasing products from those were able to reopen.

Many of the Restaurant Association's 3600 members were crying out for more funding and they were hoping to see action from the Government soon.

"Our businesses are crying out for more assistance, that's the major message we're getting from our industry at the moment," Bidois said.

"We think that the Government is aware that small to medium businesses do need extra help at this time but we haven't seen any action on that just yet.

"We're hoping that will change though."

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