The big issue to me with to-go is the food quality. We’re about a 10-15 minute drive from any restaurant that isn’t a pizza place or sandwich shop. By the time the food gets home, it’s always cold. I’ve tried reheating in the microwave or oven, but it still just isn’t the same as getting a fresh dish. Delivery is orders of magnitude worse than pick up in terms of delays and food quality. Cooking at home is better in that respect.
That said, the one thing I really do like about restaurant food at home is the ability to open our own wine. Most of our bottles are around the $30-$40 price point at retail - at a restaurant that same wine would be going for $90-$120. No thanks! So we always end up with cheap wine when eating out, or we will sometimes pay corkage at the places around here that encourage it. It’s nice to have our better wine with a meal we haven’t had to prepare ourselves.
For the most part, restaurants that can do drive-thru/delivery already do offer drive-thru/delivery. It’s an entirely different cooking theory with it’s own requirements and limitations. I used to do take out and there were items I refused to let people order “to go”, because the food sucked after sitting in styrofoam for 15 minutes and I didnt want to deal with the inevitable complaints.
I do suspect consumers will be rather forgiving after this, and there is a degree of desperation in play, but a lot of these places that are winging it with “curbside pickup” are doing their reputation far more harm than the order volume is helping - there’s a reason they pay for large dining spaces and waitresses, and normally have a very low percentage of to go orders.
McDonalds (ie, typical fast food places), pizza, and chinese. That’s mostly what people who arent cooking at home should be living off of right now. And BBQ, bbq generally travels/reheats well.
The degree of desperation for profit is interesting. There’s a really nice restaurant that we like that’s about a 40 minute drive away that I’ll use as an example.
The reasons we like the restaurant have been totally obliterated by their take-out setup, which seems geared towards profit rather than customer satisfaction. Their big selling point is that they are a steakhouse that doesn’t nickel and dime you - they include a salad, choice of side, veggie, and bread with all of their entrees for a reasonable price.
But with takeout, they eliminated their most popular sides (potato pancakes that are to die for and reheat well, and even mashed potatoes) and subbed in french fries (or onion rings at an upcharge) which degrade very quickly. They eliminated bread. Their salads are a cheaper mix of arugula rather than the mix of greens and veggies they served in the restaurant. They also increased their prices.
While I totally understand that these places need to turn a profit, particularly given that alcohol is now off the table, I’d rather have a menu focused on their very best reheatable items. Many of these restaurants are selling wine “at cost” a la carte. But they cannot compete with the selection and pricing at grocery and liquor stores on this.
The one place I’ve seen so far that does it right – they are newly offering a “Dinner for 2” which includes two appetizers, 2 proteins, 2 choices of side, and a choice of a local bottle of Washington wine from a list for $99. The items are all easily reheatable or things that get better with resting (like steaks, thick-cut pork, half chickens, etc). The wine is also some of the better local stuff, not $8 malbec from Argentina or bottom-of-the-barrel stuff from California.
I’ve been enjoying the forced cooking at home. Saving a fortune on food and beverage out, while learning some new skills. Bread, pizzas, homemade corned beef and pastrami…
Still, enough of our beloved neighborhood stuff is open for takeout that we’re not going crazy. Not because we don’t want to cook, but just to have a little moment of normalcy to have secret alley tacos or a shrimp poboy from Fradys.
It’s a little pricey for us, but Commanders Palace has been doing wine and cheese tastings to go. Order ahead, they deliver, then everyone joins on Zoom while their sommelier and cheese guy give you the play by play on it. A pretty innovative way to bring in a few bucks for a beloved fine dining institution.
Of course I now find out that there isnt a single Chinese place (out of a dozen-ish) open in my county. You can get curbside food service from Chuck-e-Cheese, but you cant get one of the few foods that can sit warming for hours without much degradation in quality.
Have you tried Panda Express? They are new to my town.
They sent out an online special. Offer of 4 bowls of main orders over side dishes for $20. I ordered, paid online, & picked up at door. It was delicious. I may have to make another run soon.
Having spent my whole life living on the West coast this statement that theres only a dozen’ish Chinese places in your entire county really boggles my mind.
I’ve not lived anywhere that didn’t have 100 Chinese places. Theres 500+ in Portland metro
Course these are not small cities and part of it is the higher % of Asian people in the Northwest vs other parts. And I suppose someone from other parts might be shocked and appalled at our lack of BBQ places or Waffle houses.
I was sad to find out when I moved to New Orleans that the nearest Cracker Barrel was 30 miles away. Of course, with good creole food on every corner, it’s a pretty good trade.
I have yet to be able to locate a satisfactory online source. Reason is that I prefer to buy my prescriptions by NDC number. This allows me to control manufacturer thereby ensuring an added measure of consistency.
I’ve yet to locate an online pharmacy willing to sell to me that way. Instead, they want to provide service based solely on the name of the drug, dose size, and strength if applicable.
My regular, local, pharmacist works with me where NDC number fills are requested. So I buy “local”, which for me is twenty miles away.
