Marines at Camp Pendleton get a new dining hall drive-thru for quick meals

Marines looking for a meal on the go can now pay a visit to the dining hall by car with a new drive-thru at a chow hall on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California.

The Tres Habaneros drive-thru is a new addition to the base’s 62 Area dining hall. The drive-thru is operated by the Sodexo Group, a private food services company that runs other branches of the Mexican-inspired meals at university and hospital cafeterias. 

Master Gunnery Sgt. Marcus Jenkins, a food technician with Marine Corps Installation-West, said officials on the base conduct a monthly focus group with the Marines to get feedback on dining facilities, and one of the issues raised was accessibility.

“Those discussions, they kind of help us guide our efforts to make the meals more convenient and accessible,” Jenkins said. “For example, some of the Marines work in the field, or maybe they work with diesel mechanic stuff, and their uniforms are sometimes dirty, where they don’t want to go into the dining facility. So they have that capability to just drive through and be able to get chow as well.”

A photo of the drive-thru sign posted by base officials shows that it’s open Monday to Friday during breakfast from 6 to 8:15 a.m.; lunch 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; and dinner 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Marines can get quick breakfast meals like a breakfast egg and veggie burrito with meat additions, toppings and a side like fruit, yogurt, or oatmeal. Lunch and dinner options include burgers, chicken sandwiches, and Caesar salad plates.

Jenkins said junior enlisted Marines can pay using a swipe of their meal card plan. Otherwise, meal costs for 2026 are $4.50 for breakfast, $7.25 for lunch, and dinner for $6.25. The drive-thru is the second on Camp Pendleton, along with one that has been open at the 22 Area Chow Hall since 2013. The Army has drive-thru facilities at several bases, including in Colorado and Kansas.

The Orange County Register visited the new $33 million dining hall located on the north side of the California base in April. The 62 Area dining facility replaced a 72-year-old chow hall in March. It now has floor-to-ceiling windows, new menu items, a pizza oven, and a massive salad bar.

The origins of fast food drive-thrus, however, can be traced back to the military after a franchise owner saw a decline in soldiers eating at the restaurant near Fort Huachuca, Arizona, in 1975. 

The McDonald’s in Sierra Vista, Arizona, was having trouble attracting military customers during the day, under Army rules in place at the time that required soldiers to stay in their cars when wearing duty uniforms off-base.  According to a franchise history page on the McDonald’s corporate website, “licensee David Rich solved this problem by installing a sliding window in the wall to facilitate Drive Thru orders. And just like that, McDonald’s first Drive Thru was born in Arizona.”