McDonald's self-ordering screens arrive in Iowa

The Golden Arches is going high tech. McDonald’s is making ordering at its fast food restaurants even faster. And easier.

The company has introduced touch-screen, self-ordering kiosks across the country, including McDonald’s restaurants in Ankeny and Johnston.

The stand-alone ordering stations located near the front of the stores allow customers to order and pay for food with a debit or credit card. Store workers then deliver food to the tables.

The digital menus give customers more ease in browsing food options at their own pace, said Anne Christensen, a McDonald’s spokeswoman. It also will allow people to customize their orders like adding more ketchup or removing pickles. “This is just another way our business is evolving,” she said.

Customers can also order at the counter as they always have, she said.

The kiosks, which have touch screens on two sides, will reduce the number of customers at the counter and allow McDonald’s workers to deliver food and interact with customers “playing the hospitality role,” she said. Workers also will be able to help customers navigate the touch screens.

The company hopes to have a dozen stores in the metro fitted with kiosks by the end of the year, she said. Mobile ordering may also be available at some stores soon, with McDonald’s workers delivering online orders to customers in a designated spot in the restaurant’s parking lot.

The kiosks now are in stores at 2502 S.E. Delaware Ave. in Ankeny and 5494 N.W. 86th St. in Johnston.