Abner’s Famous Chicken Tenders has been an Oxford staple for 20 years since Abner White first opened his restaurant in January of 1993. Two decades after opening, Abner’s is expanding their drive-thru business.
Abner’s has always been known for it’s great quality chicken tenders and other menu items. The pick-up window has been used at some Abner’s locations for convenience so customers could call ahead, go to the pick –up window to get their orders and not have to get out of their cars.
Earlier this year, Abner’s began expanding on the pick-up window service by making the pick-up window at the Jackson Avenue Abner’s in Oxford, a traditional drive-thru.
“There are a lot of people that like to use the drive-thru that don’t have a phone with them or don’t want to call (an order) in,” Doyle Phillips, Abner’s Operations Manager, said. “That was the thought process. Giving our customers in the Oxford market a much better opportunity to visit the restaurant without getting out of the car, without having to call an order in. It’s a convenience.”
The Jackson Avenue Abner’s isn’t the only location that will be getting a drive-thru. The Abner’s in Starkville in mid-September opened up their drive-thru and according to Phillips, the Tupelo Abner’s will be opening a drive-thru in early 2014.
Most drive-thrus normally are known for getting food out to the customers quick. Abner’s drive-thru is going to get their food to you quick but it will not be 30 seconds or less because they want to put out and give you the same great product that their customers are used to.
“We’re not going to get our product out in 30 seconds. We’re not trying to be McDonald’s, Wendy’s or Chick-Fil-A. We’re not trying to be them, ” Phillips said. “We want our customer to get our quality of product fast. But it’s going to take longer than 30 seconds to get that.”
The drive-thru is really convenient for game days because people who order their tailgating food can pull around and pick up their orders without ever having to get out of their car. If you have an order of 100 chicken tenders that you have called in you can pull up to the drive-thru speaker, tell the Abner’s employee the name on the order you called in and drive around to pick it up.
“Game day Saturdays we do a lot of business. It’s really easy for people to come through that drive-thru and order 20 tenders.” Summer Farrell, Office Assistant at Abner’s, said. “You won’t get it in 30 seconds but we want people to know they have the option for smaller orders.”
If you do want to continue to call your orders in and pick them up at the window, you are still free to do so. All Abner’s asks is that you stop at the speaker, tell the employee that you called in an order and they will have it waiting on you at the window when you pull around.
“We would like to ask customers that do call in to please stop at the speaker and let us know you’re there, give us your name and we can have the food sitting at the window so you won’t have to wait,” Phillips said.
For those that plan on visiting the Abner’s locations with drive-thrus, the hours are the same as the restaurant, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
—Justin Taylor, Associate Editor, HottyToddy.com
—You can email Justin at justin.taylor@hottytoddy.com
