Difference between walk-in order and walk up to order

Question

I came across ColleenV's comment in this post:
What are words that can distinguish these two business types?

I clicked the links of "counter service" and "table service" in his comment.
I did not understand the two terms at first, so I used Google search for the terms. Then I came across some other terms, walk in order, walk up to order from the Google results.

I have heard some people say walk in order, but not walk up to orders. I would like to know their difference or if one of the terms is rare.

When I go to a fast food store to order a hotdog or a hamburger in person,
is it called a walk-in order? or I am wrong?

Answer 1

A walk-up is an apartment in a building that lacks an elevator.

A walk-in is a person who comes into an establishment without an appointment or without having phoned beforehand. A walk-in order is an order placed by such a person. Many different kinds of establishments refer to "walk-ins" to describe some of their customers: health clinics, car dealerships, restaurants, spas and salons, and so forth.

You can walk up to the counter and place an order. But such an order would be called a counter order (in AmE), not a walk-up order. [But see @Muzer's answer about "walk-up fares|prices", which are terms used in transportation contexts in both BrE and AmE".]

P.S. I know that "walk-in" is used in AmE, and it seems to be used in BrE as well, though perhaps the term is just catching on in England, since it is such a cultural backwater :p

With this tailor-made EPOS technology, JUST EAT will now be able to offer its takeaway restaurant partners a central system for managing orders, whether online, ‘walk-in’ or over the phone.

And "walk-up" is used in England as well.

"...which tended to be composed entirely ... of walk-up tenement flats..." (Cambridge Cultural History of Britain: Volume 9, Modern Britain edited by Boris Ford. 1992).

Answer 2

In the source, walk-up is not a type of order. The commenter is describing that action taken while placing an order for counter service. They walk up to the counter. You can look for the phrasal verb "walk up" for more information.

Walk-in is more generally used in American English to describe a request for service without an appointment. Some hair studios may have a sign that says "Walk-ins welcome."

You may find some European sources that talk about walking in to a restaurant with a counter inside, or walking up to an establishment with a food service window.

Answer 3

You are right that walk-in order is the more widely used term- in fact this NGram does not find any published occurrences of walk-up order.

I guess one might use the term walk-up about a customer at a street vendor's food stand, as the customer does not have to go inside to place an order. But a street vendor will be unlikely to have tables and waiters, so I cannot see why one might want to make the distinction.

Answer 4

I believe "walk-up" description for restaurants refers to establishments that do not have a lobby or traditional seating. You walk up to a window in the external wall and order food. There may not even be seating from the restaurant to sit at to eat, or possibly a table or two on the sidewalk. They don't have anything inside the building that the customer has access to. Think of a "permanent" food truck that happens to be in a building.

Answer 5

Maybe this should be a comment rather than an answer, but I thought I'd add this similar but not quite related usage.

Not related to the food industry, but I've often heard walk-up used in transport contexts, to refer to fares/tickets which you can buy on the day, rather than ones that must be bought in advance. It certainly applies to the UK rail industry, but I don't know how widely it applies.

For example:

An Off-Peak Return is a walk-up fare, so there's no benefit in buying it before you get to the station.