I don’t want to name names, but…
more and more well known restaurants keep disappearing from delivery services’ websites.
Any idea why?
the independent contractor model for delivery is broken and leaves nobody accountable. the end result is bad press or food loss for the restaurant, and usually both.
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Postmates and Doordash charge the restaurants 20% fees, but don’t let the owners adjust the delivery menu price to reflect the fee (note the delivery services also charge consumers a hefty fee). Not all restaurants want to pay that.
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I live in a neighborhood that is outside of all those services except for the Yelp/Eat24 service, which I only started using recently when I was hit with the flu. The orders were correct and actually delivered before the window provided…to my pleasant surprise. Too bad the restaurants on the service are super limited.
i run a 501(c)3 that feeds the homeless and i can not get donations from restaurants unless donated food is repackaged because while the food may be fine when it leaves the restaurant, anything that may happen to the food creating any sort of food poisoning, what have you, leaves the restaurant open to legal exposure should some homeless person elect to sue. i would expect that restaurants have the same kind of legal exposure when a 3rd party delivers their product. that would be enough for me to be concerned if i ran a place with a reputation worth protecting.
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No, there is a shield rule in place protecting restaurants from being sued for donated food.
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that hasn’t stopped restaurants from donating because they’re still afraid that they’ll be sued.
i suspect that the risk of bad publicity is part of the equation - even if they can’t be sued successfully.
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Delivery services are booming in San Francisco. Maybe the economics are harder in LA because things are so spread out.
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Just wait until the VC money runs out…
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Delivery has been going strong in SF for a long time. Same for NYC. I think it’s just a better business model when the distances are short.
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No surprise then that they are pretty popular in DTLA, though many restaurants will send their own employees and permit direct orders. DTLA is also seeing a rise in “neighborhood” quick eateries to serve the growing number of residents.
Because most Los Angelenos live in large enough abodes (even rentals) where there is (1) a well-equipped kitchen setup and (2) enough space to stock supplies (or a pantry) to cook.
Unlike places like Manhattan or SF, where most people live in apartments (even houses) that have limited square footage, making cooking a much more cumbersome task.
Even for those that cannot, or do not like, to cook, the living space(s) in LA are not an impediment to home cooking. Same cannot be said for SF, NYC
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Furthermore, more and more San Francisco newcomers are sharing living quarters with total strangers.
A quick glance on Craigslist for single room rentals (in a 2 to 3 bdrm appt) range from $1200 to $1700 per room, with shared bath and kitchen facilities. Not very conducive for creating luscious home cooked meals every night.
Nothing new about roommates in San Francisco. Never stopped me from cooking when I wanted to.
Yes, but you’re not like most people. Or probably most everyone.
Heck, you run a freaking discussion forum on food.
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Most of my roommates weren’t foodies and they cooked. Most shared flats in SF were built for families and have decent kitchens. If kids today are getting more takeout I think it’s because they spend so much more time working.
ftfy
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These kids today don’t know the meaning of lazy. During the Ford administration my share of the rent on a shared flat went up from $35 to $39 and I was like, damn, now I’m going to have to work three days a month.
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Not necessarily. I think the abolishment of home economics classes in school curricula has a lot to do with it. “Home Ec” is where (ancient) kids like me learned that it’s possible to mend a lost button without taking it to the tailor, and how to make basic pancakes from scratch without begging mom or dad.
Sure, today’s kids have hit all the “Core Measures” in reading and math (and even that is debatable), but how many can boil water without the microwave or sew up a small tear in a piece of fabric?
… and THAT’s why I think delivery services (and dining out in general) has proliferated. The kids aren’t lazy - Many just weren’t equipped/instructed on how to make the food on their own.
OK, back to my rocking chair… Bueller?
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Home Ec started to disappear from grade school / high school back in the 1980s. That’s some 30-40 years ago.
It would be shocking if it took nearly 3 decades for some entrepreneuring Gen X’er, while sucking on an e-pipe, to say, “Hey, how about delivery services for food!”