How often do you use restaurant ordering services? (DoorDash, UberEats, Grubhub, etc.)

We were given a gift card for DoorDash 18 months ago. It is still unused.

I have never done this and will never do it.

+1

+2. Never have, never will.

The only time I can specifically remember is like 10 years ago when I was drunk in a Milwaukee hotel room and wanted a Philly cheesesteak and it was easy to order one through Grubhub. Otherwise, I don't really do delivery (though I do order takeout food to pick up myself).

I would have said "a few times a year" for my family but looking at my record it seems to have actually been a year and a half since we last did?

Never. I own a car though. And we like to cook.

I used JustEat often before Covid and a lot more so during Covid but successfully quit it about a year ago after one botched/awol order too many - real enshittification all round. Now we only order from a local pizza place and an Indian place who both deliver directly.

I'm constantly appalled by hearing that my younger coworkers order, like, a basic-ass sandwich for lunch or Taco Bell for dinner (which apparently ends up being like 30 bucks, for Taco Bell).

never

most of the restaurants around here that advertise delivery through their own website are doing so in partnership with DoorDash, UberEats or GrubHub. There are very few restaurants here that have their own, in-house delivery drivers, other than Pizza Hut/Papa John's.

I tend to not do this often as it's massively expensive but if I'm leading training and only get a 30 minute lunch, sometimes I prefer to have something delivered that's ready to go rather than having to spend a third of my lunch assembling/cooking my food. or if mom wants something for dinner and we're too worn out to go out.

I don't even own a DoorDash

too fuckin much

i don't even own a t.v.!

okay, i do own a t.v. but i have never done this. my town is too small. i would feel way guilty having someone drive five minutes to my house to give me burrito.

am i the only ilXoR who has never owned a cell phone? feel like cell phone apps probably make it easier for people to order all sorts of stuff.

i like how i wrote that like i'm not certain if cell phone apps make it easier for people to order stuff. i mean, duh.

2-3 times a month I would guess. There are a couple places we like that are a bit far for us to pick up and it feels worth it. Busy two working parent family etc

2-3 times a month I would guess. There are a couple places we like that are a bit far for us to pick up and it feels worth it. Busy two working parent family etc

Individually almost never. It just doesn't make sense. One night I did it when I had to stay in the office late and I wound up paying $32 after tax fees and tip for a piddling little cup of chicken and a few donut-sized tortillas.

yeah the benefit goes up significantly when it's for 2 or more people.

ok, I feel like a big bad greedy slime lord but I doordash at least once a week. my car is nonexistent, but the car thing is supposed to be resolved next coming weeks. ever so shortly I will be back to acting skinny at the grocery store only to come home craving sweet treats

ok, I feel like a big bad greedy slime lord but I doordash at least once a week. my car is nonexistent, but the car thing is supposed to be resolved next coming weeks. ever so shortly I will be back to acting skinny at the grocery store only to come home craving sweet treats

^^ new poster?!

voted never

Several times a week. There are a lot of good restaurants in my neighborhood, so why wouldn't I. It may seem expensive, but I'm actually saving by having my drinks at home.

Have used these services sparingly in the past, but not for years, probably never will again.

It's always a good idea to check with the restaurant and see if they do better when you order direct from them though. One local place we discovered has its own online ordering platform and actually charges lower prices for its food than grubhub does, which was kind of shocking since grubhub is already tacking on other fees and costs. And best is to pick up, but there are a couple places where we can't do that and they don't have their own delivery or online ordering system. One of them the people who work there also just don't speak great english so phone ordering is difficult.

I have never done this and will never do it.

― Kim Kimberly, Wednesday, April 3, 2024 1:40 PM (nine hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Never done it myself and will never do it. I always order direct. Fees are completely out-of-line here in LA and a few restaurants have joined together to build their own apps and platforms

oh is it doordash in america
over here it's deliveroo or justeat

Last used about a year ago. I feel like alongside various subscription services they are a part of why people feel poorer but I'd be interested to see if this is born out by anything, like how much of peoples budget this stuff takes up

I get Jersey Mike's sandwiches delivered to work sometimes, I think their app is just a front end for DoorDash.

Hot food like burgers isn't worth it to me, the food's never been very good by the time it arrives.

a few times a week, but I live in Bangkok where nobody cooks and restaurant food is so cheap and delicious

could not imagine doing this

I did this for a little while in between jobs. You’d occasionally have some nice interactions with restaurant staff or customers (shout out to the stoner crew at KFC), but it was a pretty dismal experience overall and I’ve used these services very sparingly since, being sure to leave a decent tip. The last time I ordered something from one of these services, I had Covid and was starving for beef pho, which seems like a fair use.

In Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, I used these kinds of services multiple times a week. Drivers are delivering via motorbike instead of car, many restaurants have pre-cooked their foods. Resulted in faster delivery times and lower fees as a percentage of the total. Lots of discounts too, due to several competing services trying to get market share. Though I don't know how much of those discounts came out of what the drivers were getting vs. the app

Back in the US now and haven't used those services once

Several times a week. There are a lot of good restaurants in my neighborhood, so why wouldn't I

Because it’s faster to walk there and back, and then the restaurant gets all of your money instead of a predatory tech company taking a haircut from them, and an additional tithe from you

Ah there's the sanctimony that was sorely missing from the thread

The noise and emissions from the delivery mopeds is the scourge of inner cities. Inescapable. Because fuxors can’t walk a couple blocks…

Restaurants by me don't deliver; you can only get delivery through outside services. One of them is so fancy they don't even work with delivery apps, so there *IS* no delivery, only pick up. Which is pretty rich for a pizza place imo but they are a fancy pizza place, I guess.

That said I've probably only gotten delivery 4x in the last year or so. I'm just more likely to skip dinner or eat tuna out of the can.

Ah there's the sanctimony that was sorely missing from the thread

?? if the question wasn't asked in good faith, that's not on me.

Never done this, but I did get a coupon code for a year of free grubhub, and considered taking it, making a list of all the restaurants I might be interested in using, checking to see if they have their own delivery option, and only using ones that don't. Tab might still be open somewhere.

Is it sanctimonious to be creeped out by the number of ghost kitchens that operate actual storefronts in neighborhoods I walk through, where the storefront only contains a rank of app-operated lockers for drivers to pick up from?

Well, some of the restaurants I order from are 20 minutes' walk away, so it's not faster to walk there and back. The delivery people have motorized bikes that can get the food to me in five minutes. And I could actually be doing something at home while waiting for the food.

A lot of people don’t have one restaurant within two blocks of their home, let alone multiple options.

“Is it sanctimonious to be creeped out by the number of ghost kitchens that operate actual storefronts in neighborhoods I walk through, where the storefront only contains a rank of app-operated lockers for drivers to pick up from?”

lol I found myself driving to one of these in some desolate industrial zone a few months ago, it was the weirdest vibe, the sandwich sucked too

Question for those who get delivery, do you reheat the food?

Def prefer to eat it as soon as it comes Usually hot enough

I seldom need to reheat. It might be necessary when there's some kind of mix-up in the delivery process and the food arrives way late.

When ordering for a family of four it’s also kind of insignificant to tack on that extra $2 for “priority order” or whatever, although it’s possible it doesn’t actually make a difference.

Huh I've never had delivery food that wasn't too lukewarm or soggy, but I like hot & crispy food, I'm weird like that.

Btw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFsfJYWpqII

xp sorta

can't afford this

Used to be plenty of places around did their own delivery, back in the 90s/early 2ks (well, pre Menulog et al). We'd often get pizza/pasta/chinese. From local places, not chains. But, I do live in a big foodie city too.

But no, I no longer use Menulog and wont use Uber/grubhub/wtf ever. Even when I did use menulog I'd only use it for the ease of ordering and speciifcally pick restaurants that said they had their OWN drivers. Why? Because to be blunt I dont trust gig economy drivers/delivery ppl not to get lost/be late/eat my food.

Anyway its all moot now, given one evening of medium pizzas and a box of chips between me, my bf and the kids can end up costing us $70.

I don't. I actually don't pick up food at all - restaurants are expensive here, so either I cook, or I want a full restaurant experience where I am sitting. It's also out of principle against laziness / "convenience" and because those delivery jobs suck. Easier of course because I live super central in a small town.

And yeah, I get mad at excessive wrapping at the supermarket, so a kilo of plastic to eat one lunch or dinner is anathema.

i do this whenever i want whoch is rarely

i probably use Just Eat about once a week because i'm a terrible person

I remember thinking delivery sounded very decadent back in 2003: Where the hell my Chinese food at?🕸

easy knowing who comes from money

wow uncalled for! Not my fault you grew up in the middle of nowhere/hanging from the stern of a fishing boat

fond memories of my dad thinking that ordering a takeaway was the height of fall of the roman empire decadence

mind you he also thought kebabs were some kind of enemy within immorality so

was he wrong

jury out

^ responsible for croissants being straight now

no eu didnt

I've never done this. But then I've never had food delivered directly from a restaurant either.

I imagine this thread is showcasing contrasts in urban vs. exurban/suburban/rural disadvantages more than anything else.

― citation needed (Steve Shasta), Thursday, April 4, 2024 1:31 PM (yesterday)

eh i live in flushing and the number of fantuan/hungrypanda riders you see whizzing around... ed otm about the international chinese students.

i answered in my own personal capacity, which is never - i call it in and pick it up. but back when i was working in midtown my job would pay for seamless for working late hours and i'd get it almost every night - billing/reimbursement was all built into the seamless platform so it didn't make sense to call in orders. whatever happened to seamless, anyway?

there was this japanese bento box service in midtown serving japanese expats, mostly at the japanese banks - think they had a website or something, two choices a day. you'd make your selection the day before or in the morning or w/e and then pick it up at lunchtime. good stuff!

One thing that's interesting about this thread is that the decision to order delivery really comes in two distinct forms, which feel really different to me: "order from a restaurant via app vs. going to the restaurant and eating there" and "order from a restaurant via app vs. eating something I have at home"

some of the restaurants around here seem to be perpetually empty, nobody eating in, you wonder how they stay in business! then you see the steady stream of delivery guys walking in and out and it's like, oh that's how.

it’s a treasure trove of regional Chinese food, a lot of places don’t even have storefronts.

this is a good tip, i never thought about the ghost kitchens that must exist near me - time to get on the app!

Most restaurants everywhere look half empty ime.

xp idk, some of these ghost kitchens seem a little off

https://i.imgur.com/OnGEGW5.png

Holborn/the British Museum area has tons of regional Chinese places doing roaring Hungrypanda business. UCL, Soas, LSE, Kings and CSM/UAL all have tons of wealthy international students.

I suppose I would like ‘the apps’ better (and use them) if riders were not constantly telling people that their working conditions suck and amount to bogus self-employment.

If I had my way, street-facing retail space would be required to prioritize renting to businesses that actually have a reason for customers to come in and out. Not really sure if we have ghost kitchens near me though. I usually look places up separately before ordering from them.

eh i live in flushing and the number of fantuan/hungrypanda riders you see whizzing around...

― 龜, Friday, April 5, 2024 6:27 AM (one hour ago)

are these restaurants/services unsavvy enough to use Doordash/UberEats/GrubHub as a front/middle end (per OP)?

i went to a popeyes near me to eat there after going to a B&N and it was a little crazy how long it took us to get our food because everyone working was feverishly filling online orders. i mean it makes sense if you are driving and you just call them five minutes before you get there. but we didn't do that and we paid the modern day price for it. the local mcdonalds here is nuts like that between delivery services and the drive-thru. last time i was in there i heard the manager say she was going to go postal because of all the doordash orders and then she smacked her forehead on the food warmer because she was running so fast.

I'm amazed that "go postal" is still in use

she was pretty old. it was era-appropriate for her.

xp to steve i dunno! have never downloaded doordash to see what's available around me

one thing i hate are what i call skimmers - people who create a website based on a restaurant in the area and SEO it - it sits there routing orders from the web to the restaurant while taking a cut. the restaurant just sees online orders coming in i guess and doesn't know they're coming from a website that's impersonating their brand. often happens with immigrant owned places not savvy enough to have their own web presence. sometimes you'll google a place and it has 3 different websites that all purport to be the official one. just sucks. i think doordash was actually running this scam itself back in the day.

Yelp as well, also google has done it in the past, not sure if they still do.

I do this 1-2x a week probably. mostly when I’m working that day and am too tired to cook. the politics are questionable on balance but it’s great for lazy people with disposable income. modern life!

Doordash fucked me again. 3rd time. I ordered a Falafel Non-Pareil with Aeolian Cheese Bernaise sauce, major side of tenderized Purple Potato Jardiniere in Cocotte, minor side of Garnish Gnocchi. $100 tip. Guy was 4 hrs late and he saltburned my Civil War vet Great Uncle's grave

— The Heart of 2024 (@tupacdurex) April 8, 2024

I used'em in 2020 four or five times, stopped whe I realized I could get it faster and without fees by driving.

These days if I want to eat a restaurant meal I just go to the restaurant (I live solo).

i mean it makes sense if you are driving and you just call them five minutes before you get there.

There’s a company out there called mavi.io that allows you to order through the dashboard and uses the car’s gps to time your order being ready with your arrival.

just sucks. i think doordash was actually running this scam itself back in the day.

This is how door dash bullied restaurants onto its platform. I do recall though one pizza place they were doing this to where door dash were offering a discount over what the pizza place was selling pies for. The restaurant started putting in orders and getting paid more than it was shelling out.

https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/18/21262316/doordash-pizza-profits-venture-capital-the-margins-ranjan-roy

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

I used to order for myself a cornucopia of items from a restaurant because I hated paying a $30 delivery charge/restaurant fee/tip for just nothing, and then would have to eat a mountain of food for a week which became very tiresome.

More recently I'm just ordering from delivery services when I have visitors and want to provide a dinner without cooking or having to go out at night. It's maybe a few times a year

Too often

how much are delivery fees in america? here it’s usually around 2$ with a 5$ minimum order.

https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/18/21262316/doordash-pizza-profits-venture-capital-the-margins-ranjan-roy

Ah there's the sanctimony that was sorely missing from the thread

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Lol only here would I have seen these results

I ordered a pizza using the Slice app last night. No delivery fees. Seems legit?

yeah Slice is legit, I've never used it but a few places I almost bought from use it

whoa these results, tracks with the discus I guess

https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/aug/24/i-wouldnt-wish-this-on-anyone-the-food-delivery-riders-living-in-caravan-shantytowns-in-bristol?

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Campos works long hours for both companies and in July says she worked 333 hours, earning the equivalent of £6.27 an hour. Her payment records show she was paid as little as £1.20 for some deliveries by Uber Eats. “We spend as much time on the streets as possible. I work from 8am until I get tired… usually midnight,” she says. “Delivery work is not good any more. You have to be a slave to earn enough.”

She cannot afford soaring rents in Bristol, which have been rising faster than anywhere else in the country and in turn have caused the number of vehicle dwellers to climb in the West Country city.

The harsh living conditions, long hours and low pay lead to mental health problems in the encampment. “I was depressed for a year. It was horrible,” says Campos. “I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. If you work, work, work and have no life… that’s where depression comes from.”

Not sure why this person uses them then lol. It surely is easy enough not to use if you are thinking about the repercussions.

I haven’t commented on it but the discourse around delivery apps is really pathetic. I use them. I shouldn’t use them! The evidence is overwhelming that riders are engaged in a form of indentured servitude with these companies, and that these apps have ultimately made us useless

— Jason Okundaye (@jaseokundaye) January 9, 2025

Granted I live in the centre of Central London so there are good choices in walking distance, but I have never used UberEats or anything of that ilk precisely because of the exploitation of the riders. The service is also mega-expensive considering how little of the added cost goes to the riders!

During pandemic measures, I had very little delivered by anyone (apart from huge bags of whippet food) because I detested the idea of transferring risk to a certain class of worker, or thought able-bodied me could do my own shopping etc, to save the slots for elderly or chronically ill people who needed to more thoroughly isolate.