Have you been to Jake's Tex-Mex on Oak Street in Bakersfield? It's a similar assembly line concept except their base ingredient is shredded deep pit beef or shredded chicken. You'd be amazed at the different combinations they've come up with using a set of limited ingredients. It ranges from salads to sandwiches to Frito boats to nachos and on & on. All with either shredded beef or shredded chicken. If I recall correctly, it's an "L"-shaped set up with usually two employees on each side of the "L". The first employee will start putting your order together and pass it to the next employee to finish it. The other side of the "L" has the salads & fixin's along with desserts and beverages and the cashier (the 4th employee). While not the same cuisine, it's an idea similar to yours. Also, Subway sandwiches uses the assembly line method and usually has the very long lines to show for it. I think the more ingredients you offer, the more specialized the orders will be ("yes on the tomatoes, no on the onions, yes on the sour cream, no to the cheese") and if they're ordering for their entire office it really sucks to be in line behind them as they special order each sandwich. edited for punctuation! edited again to say now that I've read my post again, Jake's usually has long lines and so does Chipotle (and Subway). There is nothing quick about using an assembly line where the customer has to pick out the ingredients as the item is being put together. Go with eje's suggestion and have a cashier take the order. I think it would be faster by far. ← You make a valid point, but I think the popularity of these places(Jakes,Chipotle, Subway) is because of the fact that the customer gets to create his/her own product. Whether or not you have a cashier take your order and you sit and wait, or if your wait is spent in the assembly line. A 15 person wait is still a 15 person wait. Does that make any sense? Granted, you would have to emply a couple more people to work the line and someone to man the cashier, as opposed to one cook in the back putting orders together one by one. But, from my travels, these types of quick service/casual eateries generally are very popular and busy. The main thing is to offer quality fresh ingredients and stay focused on a handful of select items( ie. In and out hamburgers...what do they have...3 items on the whole menu?). As Erik mentioned, quesadillas would probably take the most time. I think this makes for faster service and a better overall product. Being able to focus on a few main items(Burritos, tacos, quesadillas) Yet allowing the customer to create varying styles and tastes to his/her liking. Alas, I'm no expert, that's why I am hear to learn from the masses.