Even a behemoth such as McDonald’s hasn’t been immune to the effects of the pandemic, especially when broken down to the local level.

“March was really scary and April was no fun,” said Brian LaPat, owner of the franchise in Kingfisher since it opened in 2007 as well as the one in El Reno.

LaPat was the guest speaker last Thursday of the Kingfisher Lions Club.

He said business at his Kingfisher restaurant was down about 2 percent from June 2019 through the same month this year.

That despite the state being on virtual lockdown for parts of March and April, limiting customers to drive-thru service only.

Despite drive-thru being the bulk of the business even in normal economic times, restaurants like McDonald’s suffered financially.

That affected franchise payments, vendor payments, advertising budgets and more.

“You start thinking about how you’re going to pay your employees if your revenues go down and you start thinking about your home life,” LaPat said.

Fortunately, he said, vendors offered ways to ease the burden and, as he said, “the government allowed us to lean on them for a while” to help with payroll.

“And we leaned on the forgiving hearts of the people we serve,” said LaPat.

He said customers’ positive responses via a feedback hotline have increased by 25 percent.

“While I think we work to do a good job, I know we haven’t gotten that much better,” he said. “People are more understanding right now.”

LaPat said his two restaurants serve about 1,900 customers combined each day.

The Kingfisher location has exceeded initial projections set by McDonald’s prior to it being built.

That led to a dining area that’s not as large as it should be and a drive-thru lane that’s often congested, especially during peak times.

Although there is room for two drive-thru lanes, only one has been operational in the restaurant’s 13-year existence.

“That’s one question I get asked a lot,” LaPat said. “When will you open the second drive-thru lane.”

The answer - apparently - is later this month.

The restaurant is awaiting one piece of equipment, but once it arrives, LaPat said an employee will start taking orders in a second lane, much like Chick-fil-A.

“We are targeting breakfast and lunch peak times,” he said. “Hopefully that will alleviate some of the traffic issues that we have.”