Editing Drive-in (section)

{{Short description|Service that motorists can use while parked}}
{{About|drive-in restaurants and similar facilities|drive in theaters|Drive-in theater|other uses}}
[[File:Autokino gravenbruch.jpg|thumb|Drive-in theater in [[Neu-Isenburg]], Germany]]
[[File:Drive-in Wheel.jpg|thumb|upright|Drive-in [[Ferris wheel]]]]
[[File:McDonald's Curbside Pickup.jpg|thumb|[[McDonald's]] Curbside Pickup - Mobile - order and pay]]
[[File:Beany's Drive-In Long Beach Calif 1952.ogv|thumb|thumbtime=77|Scenes in and around a drive-in restaurant in [[Long Beach, California]], 1952 (video)]]

A '''drive-in''' is a facility (such as a [[restaurant]] or [[Drive-in theater|movie theater]]) where one can [[driving|drive]] in with an [[automobile]] for service. At a drive-in restaurant, for example, customers park their vehicles and are usually served by staff who walk or rollerskate out to take orders and return with food, encouraging diners to remain parked while they eat. [[Drive-in theater]]s have a large screen and a car parking area for film-goers.

It is usually distinguished from a [[drive-through]], in which drivers line up to make an order at a microphone set up at window height, and then drive to a window where they pay and receive their food. The drivers then take their meals elsewhere to eat. Notably however, during peak periods, patrons may be required to park in a designated parking spot and wait for their food to be directly served to them by an attendant walking to their car, resulting in the perceived relationship between the two service-types. In the [[German language|German-speaking]] world, the term is now often used instead of "[[drive-through]]" for that kind of service. In [[Japan]], the term refers to a [[rest area]]. In [[France]], this term has become popular because of American movies showing that kind of service, and more recently due to the expansion of [[fast-food restaurant]]s.

The first drive-in restaurant was [[Kirbys Pig Stand|Kirby's Pig Stand]], which opened in [[Dallas, Texas|Dallas]], [[Texas]], in 1921.<ref>{{cite journal| first = Dick | last = Wells | title = SRMA Update | journal = Street Rodder |date = December 1998 | page =298}}</ref><ref name="jones">{{cite journal| first = Dwayne  | last = Jones | url = http://crm.cr.nps.gov/archive/19-9/19-9-5.pdf  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130222090555/http://crm.cr.nps.gov/archive/19-9/19-9-5.pdf  | url-status = dead  | archive-date = 2013-02-22  | title = What's New with the Pig Stands{{emdash}}Not the Pig Sandwich!  |date=2013-02-22 }}</ref> In [[North America]], drive-in facilities of all types have become less popular since their heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, with drive-throughs rising to prominence since the 1970s and 1980s.

The largest drive-in still in operation is [[The Varsity (restaurant)|The Varsity]] of [[Atlanta]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://freeenterpriseland.com/BOOK/VARSITY.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130823101727/http://freeenterpriseland.com/BOOK/VARSITY.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2013-08-23|title=THE VARSITY|date=2013-08-23|access-date=2018-04-27}}</ref>