Here's the thing. Most food doesn't deliver well. So what delivers well? Pizza, Wings, Subs. and some Chinese food. Who already has their own delivery drivers usually. And when they do they run 3 and 4 deliveries at a time. way more efficient.
Right now the dynamic has a lot of power towards the delivery services. So, restaurants will subsidize some of the delivery cost to sell the food. But in a few months a lot of the restaurants are going to be crowded as F. because there are less restaurants to compete with. So, most deliveries are going to cost $7 plus tip or more. and it won't be as good as right from the restaurant.
And I see some of the service really pushing their own shadow stores because they can make profit off that.
The most frustrating thing is that once upon a time, even local pizza places and Chinese restaurants had delivering food at max quality totally in hand. Heated bags, good delivery logistics, and well-planned menus meant that everything you could buy showed up on time, at the perfect temperature and correctly cooked. If there was an issue with delivery and you complained to the restaurant, they had a meaningful amount of control to provide that feedback to the deliverer.
In my area these days, most of them (other than perhaps the chains) have outsourced their delivery to one of the sites, using unaffiliated drivers with no interest in maintaining the reputation of the restaurant. What happens? Collapse in the quality of the delivery, along all axes.
I only do pickup as it’s cheaper and more under my control - but only Jimmy John’s and Dominos do well with delivery - JJs because the sandwich is already cold, and Dominos because that’s what they specialize in.
I also prefer pickup because if I’m going to pay I’d rather it go to the restaurant as much as possible. (And an added bonus - they start to recognize you!)
I think we've discovered in this pandemic that a whole lot of other food actually delivers just fine and restaurants could have been doing it all along!
At least where I am and at least on GrubHub it seems like the standard delivery type places you cite are using their own drivers. I have only done pickup with DoorDash, and have only used Caviar & UberEats a combined total of 1 time. But when that's the model the primary advantage is being able to do it all through a website and not the phone
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Here's the thing. Most food doesn't deliver well. So what delivers well? Pizza, Wings, Subs. and some Chinese food. Who already has their own delivery drivers usually. And when they do they run 3 and 4 deliveries at a time. way more efficient.
Right now the dynamic has a lot of power towards the delivery services. So, restaurants will subsidize some of the delivery cost to sell the food. But in a few months a lot of the restaurants are going to be crowded as F. because there are less restaurants to compete with. So, most deliveries are going to cost $7 plus tip or more. and it won't be as good as right from the restaurant.
And I see some of the service really pushing their own shadow stores because they can make profit off that.
The most frustrating thing is that once upon a time, even local pizza places and Chinese restaurants had delivering food at max quality totally in hand. Heated bags, good delivery logistics, and well-planned menus meant that everything you could buy showed up on time, at the perfect temperature and correctly cooked. If there was an issue with delivery and you complained to the restaurant, they had a meaningful amount of control to provide that feedback to the deliverer.
In my area these days, most of them (other than perhaps the chains) have outsourced their delivery to one of the sites, using unaffiliated drivers with no interest in maintaining the reputation of the restaurant. What happens? Collapse in the quality of the delivery, along all axes.
I only do pickup as it’s cheaper and more under my control - but only Jimmy John’s and Dominos do well with delivery - JJs because the sandwich is already cold, and Dominos because that’s what they specialize in.
I also prefer pickup because if I’m going to pay I’d rather it go to the restaurant as much as possible. (And an added bonus - they start to recognize you!)
I only do dine in. Even a 5 minute drive and getting it unpackaged and into my mouth, I basically feel I’m eating leftovers. Which I do not like.
Also I enjoy the atmosphere and change of scenery, it breaks up my day vs always home or at my desk.
During WFH, I even go to a gas station a couple times a day and buy a drink just as a way to force breaks, get fresh air, change of scenery.
I actually prefer leftover pizza. Guess it depends on where its from.
I think we've discovered in this pandemic that a whole lot of other food actually delivers just fine and restaurants could have been doing it all along!
At least where I am and at least on GrubHub it seems like the standard delivery type places you cite are using their own drivers. I have only done pickup with DoorDash, and have only used Caviar & UberEats a combined total of 1 time. But when that's the model the primary advantage is being able to do it all through a website and not the phone