The trend: After years of bold promises but little real-world progress, drone delivery is finally gaining altitude in the US, particularly for quick-service restaurants, per Business Insider.

• Uber Eats partnered with Flytrex to launch drone delivery pilots in select US markets by the end of 2025.
• Dave’s Hot Chicken joined forces with Matternet to test its M2 autonomous drones in Northridge, California, enabling local customers to order directly through the Dave’s app.
• Chipotle began testing Zipline drones in Dallas in August, delivering burritos and bowls by air.
• GoTo Foods—parent of Auntie Anne’s, Jamba, McAlister’s Deli, and Schlotzsky’s—is teaming with DoorDash and Alphabet’s Wing to launch service in Frisco, Fort Worth, and Plano, Texas.

Why now? A mix of looser regulations and advancing technology is fueling restaurants’ interest in drones and their potential to speed up deliveries, cut labor costs, and boost customer satisfaction.

Our take: For now, these efforts remain small-scale pilots, and there’s little evidence they’ll achieve more than earlier short-lived experiments—like Uber Elevate’s McDonald’s deliveries in 2020 or Flytrex’s brief partnership with El Pollo Loco in 2021.

While the sight of drones delivering an Auntie Anne’s Pretzel Dog and lemonade may not move the profit needle, it's a PR win, having spawned headlines and social buzz that position brands as bold, tech-savvy innovators. Even if the trials stall, the marketing lift alone can make the experiment worthwhile.