What does carhop mean?
Carhop is a chiefly North American occupational term for a server who takes orders and brings food to customers who remain in their cars, especially at a drive-in restaurant. The word combines car and hop and evokes the server's movement among parked vehicles, although today it primarily identifies the worker's role rather than describing how they move. In conversation, a sentence such as "the carhop brought our burgers" identifies someone providing curbside service; in a historical account, "drive-in carhops hopped between cars" preserves the image behind the name. Carhop can refer to any gender and is often used as a job title, as in a hiring notice. It is more specific and informal than the neutral restaurant label "server," and outside the United States, "drive-in server" may be clearer. The term is useful when distinguishing curbside table service from ordinary indoor dining or from a drive-through where customers leave their vehicles to collect their orders.
nounA server, especially at a drive-in restaurant, who takes customers' orders and delivers food to them in their cars.
- A restaurant worker who takes orders and serves customers who remain in their cars, especially at a drive-in restaurant.
"The carhop brought our milkshake and hamburger straight to the car."
"We ordered onion rings and two sodas from the carhop without getting out of the car."
"Her summer job as a carhop involved taking orders through an open window and delivering meals on a tray."
The regular plural is used for multiple workers.
"The two carhops shared the evening shift at the drive-in."
The carhop turned an entire parking lot into a dining room: you ordered from your car, and lunch came right to your window.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does carhop come from?
Carhop is an early twentieth-century American compound of car and hop. Its name originally described a person who hopped from vehicle to vehicle to serve customers at a drive-in restaurant, after which the occupational sense became standard. The component car is an English shortening of carriage, while hop is an inherited Germanic word associated with moving in short steps or leaps.
Related word forms
How carhop is actually used
This is an informal occupational term most common in North American English. It is normally gender-neutral and may also be used figuratively for someone who performs a similar curbside service.
Easily confused with carhop
A carhop serves food to customers in parked vehicles, while a carpool is an arrangement for sharing rides or the vehicle in which people travel together.