Will food delivery prompt some dine-in restaurants to drop dine-in?

[RedAngie]

About two months ago employees of a Taco Bell in Philadelphia allegedly assaulted in-store customers who complained about the long wait for their orders. Apparently GrubHub orders have higher priority.

https://6abc.com/taco-bell-employees-fired-after-video-surfaces-of-fight-/5170432/

"Reese claims the employees didn't appear to be working hard and were telling customers they were inundated by GrubHub orders, which took precedence. Reese says suddenly employees seemed to snap over the complaints, and three of them jumped over the counter and followed him outside."

 

[DeniseJH]

About two months ago employees of a Taco Bell in Philadelphia allegedly assaulted in-store customers who complained about the long wait for their orders. Apparently GrubHub orders have higher priority.

https://6abc.com/taco-bell-employees-fired-after-video-surfaces-of-fight-/5170432/

"Reese claims the employees didn't appear to be working hard and were telling customers they were inundated by GrubHub orders, which took precedence. Reese says suddenly employees seemed to snap over the complaints, and three of them jumped over the counter and followed him outside."

Yikes!

 

[DenMig]

In my town the restaurants are full all week. Weekends you are typically waiting in line somewhere during prime hours. Alive and well.

 

[ronandannette]

About two months ago employees of a Taco Bell in Philadelphia allegedly assaulted in-store customers who complained about the long wait for their orders. Apparently GrubHub orders have higher priority.

https://6abc.com/taco-bell-employees-fired-after-video-surfaces-of-fight-/5170432/

"Reese claims the employees didn't appear to be working hard and were telling customers they were inundated by GrubHub orders, which took precedence. Reese says suddenly employees seemed to snap over the complaints, and three of them jumped over the counter and followed him outside."

I waited in the lobby of a McDonald’s last weekend for 25 minutes to be served a coffee and pre-made items from the bakery case. There must have been 20 other customers waiting with me. There was a steady flow of UberEats pick-ups and the drivers didn’t have to wait at all for them. McDonald’s has completely destroyed it's service model with the touch-screens and call-ahead ordering; delivery is just the final nail in the coffin.

 

[RedAngie]

I waited in the lobby of a McDonald’s last weekend for 25 minutes to be served a coffee and pre-made items from the bakery case. There must have been 20 other customers waiting with me. There was a steady flow of UberEats pick-ups and the drivers didn’t have to wait at all for them. McDonald’s has completely destroyed it's service model with the touch-screens and call-ahead ordering; delivery is just the final nail in the coffin.

Usually I can tell if service is going to be a problem, like seeing 20 customers waiting around, so I'd probably leave and go elsewhere. Walk-in service at McDonald's has always seemed to have to have lower priority than drive-thru, now I guess it's bumped back further by delivery orders.

As for the Taco Bell service above, well.......anyone who willingly goes there probably deserves what they get.

P.S. You went to McDonald's for coffee and bakery instead of Tim Horton's??!!!! For shame!!!

 

[Cindy's Mom]

Living in Chicago I can get just about anything delivered to my door, but certain foods don't "travel well'. I think that dining out is a social thing and not just to necessarily feed yourself and that I don't see going out of style.

 

[NotUrsula]

Not unless the restaurant's primary business is off-site catering anyway. I have a couple of friends who own local restaurants, and they tell me that signing up with the delivery services helps two areas that were already slow: sales on inclement-weather nights, and sales on must-watch TV nights (not sports events; primarily premium cable shows like GOT. Apparently while people are fine with watching sports in restaurant settings, it's not popular with those who want to watch dramas.) They tell me that their traditionally good nights remain good.

They also tell me that it cuts way down on disruptive children in the dining room, which I guess is a plus for just about all of us in the moment, but it doesn't bode well for having kids actually learn how to properly behave in public. Still, it makes a special dinner for two a lot easier for those who have babies in the house; just put the tykes to bed and light some candles in the dining room.

 

[Moliphino]

I waited in the lobby of a McDonald’s last weekend for 25 minutes to be served a coffee and pre-made items from the bakery case. There must have been 20 other customers waiting with me. There was a steady flow of UberEats pick-ups and the drivers didn’t have to wait at all for them. McDonald’s has completely destroyed it's service model with the touch-screens and call-ahead ordering; delivery is just the final nail in the coffin.

I love the touch screens. I would feel like a pain in the butt asking for no onions/pickles/mustard at the counter, but it's so easy to do on the touchscreen. I don't think they prioritize touch screen orders over at counter orders.

I have had to wait a while at Moe's because they had a lot of mobile orders. It was annoying, but I've also been the one mobile ordering so I guess I can't really complain.

 

[RangerPooh]

Im not really interested in someone delivering food other than pizza. So I'd just go to pick it up myself or dine in. I get the appeal of having it delivered, but there's not much you can do if the order is incorrect.

 

[ronandannette]

Usually I can tell if service is going to be a problem, like seeing 20 customers waiting around, so I'd probably leave and go elsewhere. Walk-in service at McDonald's has always seemed to have to have lower priority than drive-thru, now I guess it's bumped back further by delivery orders.

As for the Taco Bell service above, well.......anyone who willingly goes there probably deserves what they get.

P.S. You went to McDonald's for coffee and bakery instead of Tim Horton's??!!!! For shame!!!

Hello - remember me? The only Canadian ever born that dislikes both hockey and Tim Horton's?

I love the touch screens. I would feel like a pain in the butt asking for no onions/pickles/mustard at the counter, but it's so easy to do on the touchscreen. I don't think they prioritize touch screen orders over at counter orders.

I have had to wait a while at Moe's because they had a lot of mobile orders. It was annoying, but I've also been the one mobile ordering so I guess I can't really complain.

It's not that they prioritize them - the problem is they now can take orders waaaay faster than they can fill them. Something has drastically changed at McDonald's since the advent of the touch-screens. Even the drive-thru now requires you to pull over and wait for your order about 50% of the time. Remember the days of walking up to the counter, ordering, paying and standing there until they handed you your food? Those transactions completed in 3 minutes or less because that was their service target. They don't seem to have one anymore.

 

[RedAngie]

Hello - remember me? The only Canadian ever born that dislikes both hockey and Tim Horton's?

I knew your views on hockey, but don't recall you ever saying you dislike Tim Horton's.

To me, it's an essential part of visiting Canada. To not go would be like skipping the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

The current business model is not sustainable for either restaurants that participate or the delivery services. Unless that changes, it will soon be gone.

 

[ronandannette]

I knew your views on hockey, but don't recall you ever saying you dislike Tim Horton's.

To me, it's an essential part of visiting Canada. To not go would be like skipping the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Ugh...it's dog food. Loves me some Dunkin' coffee when I'm down your way though and Randy's Donuts? Wow, just wow!

 

[tcufrog]

Dunkin Donuts has nothing on all the locally owned donut shops around where I live. I've seen multiple Dunkins close because people here prefer the locally owned shops. At Dunkin you can't get a jalapeno sausage roll, a jelly donut, and a giant freshly made eggroll like I could at one local donut shop I used to go to.

 

[bcla]

Hello - remember me? The only Canadian ever born that dislikes both hockey and Tim Horton's?


It's not that they prioritize them - the problem is they now can take orders waaaay faster than they can fill them. Something has drastically changed at McDonald's since the advent of the touch-screens. Even the drive-thru now requires you to pull over and wait for your order about 50% of the time. Remember the days of walking up to the counter, ordering, paying and standing there until they handed you your food? Those transactions completed in 3 minutes or less because that was their service target. They don't seem to have one anymore.

I remember the days where much of what they had was placed under a heat lamp and could very well have been already made and then waiting for 15 minutes to be taken out. They'd make Big Macs, Quarter Pounders, and basic hamburgers/cheeseburgers well ahead of time in anticipation of them being the high volume products. These days the meat may be keptin a warming tray, but assembled after the specific order is made. I prefer that to a soggy mess that's gone limp under a heat lamp.

However, I do remember a few years ago a special event where one particular McDonald's closed the dining room and exclusively sold four different breakfast meals (sandwich, hash browns, large coffee) at the same price. Orders were exclusively taken outside and paid directly to the employee with a cash pouch (like at a drive-in). I'm sure they were just churning them out on an assembly line like they used to with their most popular items.

 

[North of Mouse]

My logic is, if I need to pay 20% gratuity I would prefer to get more for my $20+ or whatever than someone typing my order into a system and getting my order and drinks from the kitchen (etc). I still have to drive there, and unless I am on vacation the atmosphere isn’t really that important to me.

For that same $20+ gratuity I can have someone assemble my order and bring it to my house. Personally, that seems like a better use of my time and money.

I guess the “if you can’t afford to or don’t want to tip, don’t go” logic is finally costing these restaurants money.

What's the difference in tipping at restaurant and tipping for delivery? Or do you not tip the delivery person?
I have always hated take out - by the time we plate and eat - it's cold. The only take out we do is large orders of chicken.

 

[North of Mouse]

It's a double edged sword. They want to stimulate business after hours AND get people to live downtown at the same time.
Complaints from neighbors have sparked the early closures. One particular restaurant is in a brand new building with condos on the upper floors. I get it. If I had just spent $450,000 for a 850 square foot condo, I wouldn't want to have to put up with the noise after 10 pm.

Say what? You intentionally move on top of a restaurant/bar, then complain about the noise? Someone didn't do their homework - their problem!!

 

[Lilacs4Me]

In the Chicago area, we can get anything and everything including a hot dog delivered except, ironically, Jimmy Johns won't come to my house - all of the JJ locations near us have to cross railroad tracks to get to my end of the neighborhood so they won't deliver and risk not being Freaky Fast. I was like OK, I'm good with you being Super Slow if you can just get my Beach Club to my front door, but they didn't agree

All of the restaurants by us seem to be fairly busy in my semi-urban suburb, but I've worked in two areas further west that were mainly business parks that cleared out after 5pm, and I always wonder how the myriad of restaurants around there stay open. They ALL have happy hours to draw the after-work crowds, but there are rarely crowds from what I have seen. Lunch seems to be their forte, but even at that most of them don't seem to ever be very busy.

 

[scrapquitler]

Went out to dinner tonight at a Roadhouse style restaurant, menu is mostly $15ish burgers and personal pizzas. They have a large bar. Only about a quarter of the tables were occupied at 6 pm on a Saturday night, and there were only 2 people at the bar.
It has a kitchen that is open to the dining area, and they were slammed filling orders for Uber Eats/Door Dash etc customers. They had the bags lined up for pickup.

Just makes me wonder if some "restaurants" will cut their rent costs and just have a kitchen and rely strictly on delivery customers and go without a dine-in option. I know that the bar is usually a high profit center, but with only 2 customers, not sure they would lose any profit over there.

UGH. I hope not.

I'm not a fan of take out or delivery. I like my food to be served HOT. If I'm getting take out or delivery, the food is lukewarm and soggy by the time I get it home. The only foods that are okay to go in my opinion are Pizza, Chinese and sandwiches.

 

[dish rag]

Usually I can tell if service is going to be a problem, like seeing 20 customers waiting around, so I'd probably leave and go elsewhere. Walk-in service at McDonald's has always seemed to have to have lower priority than drive-thru, now I guess it's bumped back further by delivery orders.

As for the Taco Bell service above, well.......anyone who willingly goes there probably deserves what they get.

P.S. You went to McDonald's for coffee and bakery instead of Tim Horton's??!!!! For shame!!!

I think McDonalds uses the coffee brand the Tims used to use. Tim Horton switched brands.