Seattle McDonald's closes dining room after repeated violence and assaults

A downtown Seattle McDonald’s at 3rd Avenue and Pine has permanently closed its indoor dining room and is now serving customers through a reinforced hatch, a change the franchise says responds to repeated violence, drug use and assaults in and around the restaurant. Employees told reporters that the shift in operations followed a pattern of threats, an instance in which someone barged through the hatch to take food, and continuing worries about being followed home.

Management at the franchise made the operational change to reduce worker and customer exposure to what it described as high‑risk street conditions outside the store. The reinforced hatch limits direct contact between staff and the street, and the closure of the dining room removes a space where staff say incidents frequently occurred. The move reflects a broader challenge for restaurants operating in dense urban cores where public safety problems intersect with typical retail and food service work.

Current and former staff described a workplace where frontline crew and shift managers contend with more than the usual rushes and inventory problems. Employees reported feeling threatened on the job, dealing with intoxicated or impaired customers and encountering drug activity near the premises. One staff member recounted a person forcing their way through the service hatch and seizing food, underscoring how quickly routine interactions can become safety incidents. Workers also reported off‑hours fears, saying they had been followed home after shifts, heightening concerns about personal security beyond the store.

For employees, the change alters daily routines and the nature of customer interactions. Serving through a hatch narrows the point of sale, potentially increasing speed and physical separation but also concentrating pressure on the crew assigned to the front window. Managers must adapt scheduling, assign staff for hatch shifts and manage morale among crew who may be reluctant to work late or overnight. The situation can affect hiring and retention in an industry already facing staffing shortages, and it raises questions about whether franchisees or the broader company should provide additional security resources, hazard pay or counseling services.

The case at 3rd Avenue and Pine is a localized response to a difficult urban environment rather than a formal public safety determination. Still, it highlights questions that employers and policymakers will confront as cities address street-level drug activity and violence: how to protect service workers, what operational changes are reasonable, and who bears the cost of added security.

For workers and managers, the immediate concern is practical: staying safe on the job and getting the support needed to do it. Longer term, this episode may prompt other urban franchises to review safety protocols and push for clearer corporate and municipal responses to protect employees who serve the public in risky settings.