Every week, Scott Wilson drives to the Outback Steakhouse in Ellicott City, pulls his green truck to the curb and waits to pick up dinner for his family of five.
Inside, two takeout waitresses rush to take phone orders while another runs Wilson's food out to his Chevrolet.
This steakhouse, one of the chain's busiest outlets in the nation, logs 50 to 60 curbside takeout orders each weekday and 150 orders each weekend day, so workers try to keep traffic moving.
"Its very convenient," said Wilson, 47, a Marriottsville contractor.
Wilson, who paid $76 for his family's meal, is one of a growing crowd that is choosing to neither cook nor dine out but instead pick up restaurant meals curbside.
Customers say it's quick and allows them to eat higher-quality food at home with their families. For busy restaurants, the extra income from selling meals at the curb is irresistible. So, restaurants are racing to implement or increase their curbside service.
Chains like Applebee's and Chili's have joined Outback in tapping into this call for convenience.
Bob Evans Farms is testing the program in seven restaurants. Pizzeria Uno started curbside service last month in 77 restaurants, including six in Maryland.
At six out of 10 restaurants with average tabs between $8 and $25, takeout represented a larger portion of sales in 2002 than in 2000, a survey by the National Restaurant Association shows.
Takeout is "a hot area of growth" for the industry, an association official said.
The association's 2002 survey also found that at least half of all 18- to 44-year-olds would use a drive-through if it were available at their favorite table-service restaurant. The same survey showed that more than half of this age group was interested in home delivery with a separate area in the restaurant to order and pick up takeout food.
"With increased time demands on consumers these days, the natural development process is that consumers start using table-service fare more on an off-premises basis," said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of research and information services for the D.C.-based restaurant group.
The curbside trend began five years ago at an Outback in Orlando, Fla.
Parking was tight so the owner found a way to improve takeout service. His plan: Customers call in their orders and car description, and servers deliver the meals to diners waiting curbside.
