The California Cities Beefing With Fast Food Drive-Thrus episode artwork

EPISODE · Aug 11, 2026 · 54 MIN

The California Cities Beefing With Fast Food Drive-Thrus

from KQED's Forum · host KQED

The burgers are so good that they’re causing traffic jams. At least that’s what’s happening in Culver City, where the line of cars at spots like In-N-Out Burger spills beyond the parking lot and into the street. Now officials there are trying to ban new drive-thrus outright. These bans are not an entirely new phenomenon — San Luis Obispo banned drive-thrus back in 1982 — but they’re getting newfound attention as recent pushes gain national attention. We’ll look at California’s role in the rise of fast food drive-thrus and examine whether the current moment could be the beginning of the end for a fast food staple. Guests: Shawn Hubler, Los Angeles bureau chief, The New York Times Adam Chandler, food columnist, The Wall Street Journal; author of “Drive-Thru Dreams: A Journey Through the Heart of America’s Fast-Food Kingdom” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Aug 11, 2026

Embed this episode

Ready to play

The California Cities Beefing With Fast Food Drive-Thrus

0:00 54:48

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

No similar episodes found.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of KQED's Forum?

This episode is 54 minutes long.

When was this KQED's Forum episode published?

This episode was published on August 11, 2026.

Can I download this KQED's Forum episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.
URL copied to clipboard!