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

[tvguy]

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.

 

[frog3101]

I have ZERO, ZIP, NADA restaurant delivery options...please send them my way.
To answer your question, i have no idea, but it’s an interesting theory.

 

[low-key]

yep, everything is changing

 

[bcla]

I've seen a place that maintained its original space, but went to catering only. It's kind of sad because it's in an area with limited storefront areas, and this place is taking a fairly large space that's no longer available for people to dine in, other than making an arrangement to host private functions. But I suppose the costs of paying a couple of employees to work when there might not have been that much walk-in business meant they were making more money even though they were using a commercial space designed for a dine-in restaurant.

But yes I've heard of a few places that only work via Uber Eats, Doordash, etc.

 

[ajk912]

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.

 

[kdonnel]

I have only ever had pizza via take out that I enjoyed. Otherwise the food is cold or just bad after the 20-30 mins it takes to make it home.

I will either eat it at the restaurant or just cook at home.

 

[Hikergirl]

6 PM on a Saturday seems early. Around here, after 7 is when places are full.
I mean, I'm never out before 7 so who knows, I just know I've never seen an empty restaurant or bar after 7.

 

[gwynne]

Around here, 4-6 tends to be seniors and folks enjoying "early dining" special offers.

 

[willowsnn3]

I hope not. I like to go out to eat, lol. But truthfully, Saturdays from lunch on & ALL DAY on Sunday the restaurants around here are packed & most have a line of people waiting. And there are lots of different restaurants to choose from.

 

[tvguy]

6 PM on a Saturday seems early. Around here, after 7 is when places are full.
I mean, I'm never out before 7 so who knows, I just know I've never seen an empty restaurant or bar after 7.

LOL. Happy hour is 3 pm to 6 pm, and we have been there many times at 5 and there is wait. Not anymore.
This is in a center that has 7 restaurants. Three close at 10 pm. Three close at 9 pm. One closes at 830 pm. Guess there isn't much night life here!
But this is a suburban location. Although downtown the city is cracking down on some of the weekend hot spots that used to be open until 2 am. Some are being required to close by 10 pm

 

[Hikergirl]

LOL. Happy hour is 3 pm to 6 pm, and we have been there many times at 5 and there is wait. Not anymore.
This is in a center that has 7 restaurants. Three close at 10 pm. Three close at 9 pm. One closes at 830 pm. Guess there isn't much night life here!
But this is a suburban location. Although downtown the city is cracking down on some of the weekend hot spots that used to be open until 2 am. Some are being required to close by 10 pm

Didn't think about happy hour I haven't been to happy hour in years, and they were usually on weeknights to get people in to the restaurants/bars when they would normally be empty.
Most of the restaurants here have either take out or delivery and I haven't noticed a decrease in patrons at the times I usually go out.
I've used take-out for convenience during the week, but for me, if I'm braving weekend traffic I'm going to sit and enjoy my meal out instead of turning around to go home and eat it. I also find take-out food just isn't as good as having it served to you hot when it comes out of the kitchen.
Maybe in time it will have an effect, but for here, at least on the weekends it doesn't seem like it has. We have quite a few restaurants in our area and there is always a wait time for tables on Fri, Sat and Sun. For those of us who want to be out it would be nice to see that crowd die down.

 

[superme80]

Thankfully it won't happen where I live. We have limited options, and one person in town who will make deliveries for you. If I drive into town, then I can see it happening. I just got back from vacation and had pizza delivered. It came in less time and was still very warm.

 

[shh]

Maybe you hit them on a night of a big game or other sporting event when there were many gettogethers at home? Unless I was having people over, I could never imagine paying marked up restaurant prices to sit in my living room and eat....heck, I'd rather just microwave something in the fridge and save the money for when I'm going to go out next. The pleasure for me is getting out of the house, meeting someone for a social meal, sitting somewhere scenic with cocktails and tasting yummy stuff I wouldn't cook myself at home. But then again, I don't have kids, so I could see it being convenient for families to skip the cooking, but not have to go out.

Around here, the restaurants are usually very busy, except for maybe mon/tues nights.

 

[ronandannette]

I have only ever had pizza via take out that I enjoyed. Otherwise the food is cold or just bad after the 20-30 mins it takes to make it home.

I will either eat it at the restaurant or just cook at home.

Totally agree that lots and lots of cuisine types are not meant to travel.

LOL. Happy hour is 3 pm to 6 pm, and we have been there many times at 5 and there is wait. Not anymore.
This is in a center that has 7 restaurants. Three close at 10 pm. Three close at 9 pm. One closes at 830 pm. Guess there isn't much night life here!
But this is a suburban location. Although downtown the city is cracking down on some of the weekend hot spots that used to be open until 2 am. Some are being required to close by 10 pm

How bizarre; why on earth would your town do this? Most municipalities have Chambers of Commerce that go to great lengths to stimulate business, especially in downtown-type zones that typically "go dark" outside office hours.

 

[tvguy]

Totally agree that lots and lots of cuisine types are not meant to travel.

How bizarre; why on earth would your town do this? Most municipalities have Chambers of Commerce that go to great lengths to stimulate business, especially in downtown-type zones that typically "go dark" outside office hours.

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.

 

[ronandannette]

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.

Unless of course you moved there for the downtown vibe, which should be the only reason for doing so. Pretty unrealistic to expect a peaceful, suburban environment when you chose to live directly on top of retail, dining and nightlife. If I were those business owners I'd be righteously ticked and your municipal government sounds loony.

I'm sure there are other multi-family housing projects that aren't downtown; that would be your play. That's the type of home we live in and we didn't even consider a downtown highrise.

 

[tvguy]

Unless of course you moved there for the downtown vibe, which should be the only reason for doing so. Pretty unrealistic to expect a peaceful, suburban environment when you chose to live directly on top of retail, dining and nightlife. If I were those business owners I'd be righteously ticked and your municipal government sounds loony.

I'm sure there are other multi-family housing projects that aren't downtown; that would be your play. That's the type of home we live in and we didn't even consider a downtown highrise.

Business owner has had no issue with it. He wants more people living downtown.

 

[mjkacmom]

There is a big uber eats/DoorDash/grubhub/slice presence here, dozens of restaurants. I still think people will eat out, it just gives more options for delivery.

Bars are open here until 2.

 

[DeniseJH]

I certainly hope not. My husband and I really enjoy going out for a nice meal. Probably wouldn't affect the more upscale places, I wouldn't think.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I don't know for sure, but I don't think it will replace dining in completely. I can definitely see delivery expanding/increasing business for a lot of restaurants.