Delivery costs $$$. Remember the first dot com boom and WebVan grocery delivery? Well that didn’t last long. They thought they could cover the costs of all those new delivery vans and employees…but they did not. I remember reading the follow up and a couple of local, old school mom and pop markets said they deliver….but for $10, with a min purchase, and that was breaking even. Today Safeway and Instacart charges $4 to $12, less for flexibility or spending a certain amount.
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I delivered office supplies one summer in HS. I used the Thomas guide grid book. I did it or a week and got another job, which you could do back then. Driving around SoCal during the summer, not so much fun for work.
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Yup. Big map in the pizza place, too. The best tippers were, without exception, “common folk” — like they tipped $4 on a 416 order, and the people in more affluent nabes the stingiest.
I remember one particular jag-off who tipped 25 cents on a $69.75 order. I assured him I would most certainly be able to fit that generous amount in my trunk 
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Absolutely. As does any service or convenience. Paying an extra $10-12 on a large grocery order is quite reasonable IMO. Paying an extra $3-5 for a cup of coffee is not. But from what I read in the article, the market is willing to bear it.
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One of the best perks of working in a restaurant.
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It really was. And it was decent pizza. Nothing like coming back from a cold drive around town & being presented with a hot crispy cheesy treat before clocking out 
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Hmmm. I guess not a not of native readers of the New York Times here. Delivery has been part of city life long before the internet. We used to keep a stack of menus in a kitchen drawer. Must have been a hundred at least. When Seamless first started it was a revelation. It was great when you had multiple delivery services competing and giving me credits all the time. Now it’s fees and charges. But if you tie a service to something you’re already paying for the service fees often disappear. Both Grubhub and DoorDash have partnerships with several other services. The thing that has surprised me is now post the pandemic after all this inflation how much it costs for a basic meal. My delivery orders for the family often break a hundred and sometimes crack 200. And for those demonizing the delivery apps, no one is forced to use them. Not the restaurants and not the delivery people. Try to call a place on the phone and ask them to deliver and see what happens. I’ve done this. There’s many discussions on Reddit about this. They will tell you to order on an app.
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It was when I lived in Midtown Manhattan 30 years ago that I decided I would walk to get any take-out, so I would stay more active and so I wouldn’t gain weight.
I know everything could be delivered.
I only had dinner delivered twice- sushi once and Chinese once, before switching to picking up my own take-out. I often built my walks around places I planned to get my take-out. I still do that in Toronto.
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First, I would call the restaurant directly to place an order for pickup. I’m lucky that several restaurants I like allow this option. I would rather give my money directly to the restaurant. I also leave a 20% tip, even though I am picking up the food myself. The back of the house that actually prepares your meal deserves a little love and appreciation (and not just the person walking into the kitchen and handing you your food when dining in)
There are other restaurants that have direct links to order online from their web site (using services like Make it Butter, or Toast).
I always prefer to pickup the order myself, since there is a better chance of the food still being hot, as opposed to waiting for the restaurant to find a delivery person, which can take some time. Also, most of the online orders I place through the restaurant’s website allow you to select the time for pickup, so I can place my order early on in the day, and pick it up when it is convenient for me.
I try to avoid delivery services because of all of the outrageous fees and menu markup prices (none of which go to the delivery person). I only have food delivered in extreme circumstances like illness or brutally bad weather.
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We ordered delivery from a hugely popular hand-pulled noodles place in Berlin a couple of times, bc we didn’t want to wait on line for 20+ minutes, then be rushed out the door to make room for the next guests. Our apartment at the time was less than a 10 min walk to the place, but we’d just returned from a family visit — exhausted and hungry.
Food was on our table hot and delish within 20 minutes, and we could take our sweet time enjoying our meal. Totes worth the delivery fee & tip.
Circumstance n 'at.
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And yet the U.S. is very, very large, and not everyone lives in a city with easy walking or driving access to countless restaurants. Suburbs and/or the countryside, whether it be the mountains of Maine or the flat farmlands of Iowa or Kansas, is not always conducive to food delivery.
So while NYC might be the “center of the universe”, many of us grew up differently or live in an area where we either choose not to deal with delivery or are unable to take advantage of it, whether it be from lack of proximity or lack of funds to pay the extra fees for such delivery. 
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Are you saying there are people that do NOT live in NYC? 
j/k 
We used to have a lot of takeout / delivery menus in our kitchen drawer as well, but we live in a college town in the boonz. Now, most of that stuff is readily available online, of course.
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I grew up outside of NYC and left in Spring 1989, never to return. But even where I lived and when I lived there, delivery was either pizza or Chinese, unlike what I’m sure is available now…using delivery apps. 
But it would STILL be a drive to go pick up myself if I still lived there.
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For me, DoorDash, Uber Eats and GrubHub food delivery was a “Plan B” for Sunshine’s cancer.
If she had needed Chemo or Radiation, I would have to go back to work to pay the deductibles and co-pays. I’d also need a flexible schedule so I could take her back and forth for treatments (with “GIG-WORK” you can work when you want). Luckily it didn’t come to that.
In anticipation of the worst, I built a thermal box for my old motorcycle (using scrap lumber and an old windshield sun screen). We only have one dependable car and I didn’t want to kill it delivering food.
I used to commute back and forth to work on a motorcycle, as I could use the HOV lanes as a single. The traffic can be pretty rough around here and the HOV lanes actually move.
I don’t know why I didn’t sell the thing when I retired, but very glad I didn’t. I’m not quite at the point that I need to go back to work, but things could change and I like the idea of a flexible schedule (especially not knowing what is coming up with Sunshine’s hand surgery)
I wasn’t sure I could navigate my Yamaha with the extra weight, nor was I sure about the stability or center of gravity for something like this. So, I built this first iteration so it would hold a large 16" pizza or a larger McDonald’s delivery. After attaching it, I (cautiously) went for my first ride – all good, no stability problems. I may build a bigger box if need be. For now, I do have a “Plan B” ready to go.
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Just to be clear, I have no issue with gig workers. People got lives, mouths to feed, bills to pay. Ideals are lovely but they don’t pay the hospital. Folks will do what they need to do to get by.
But I can try, as much as is possible, to try and change to system so that such unscrupulous, rent-seeking business models are not only not allowed, but have no economic hole they need to fill. That means no one should have to take gig work to cover chemo.
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I agree with this statement, but I can’t change the system. If chemo had been required, I needed a very flexible schedule and this type of gig-work was pretty much my only option.
I’m 60 years old, I have no business flying up and down the road on a sportbike with a box on the back trying to deliver Chicken McNuggets, but if chemo had been required I’d pretty much do anything (legal) to get Sunshine the treatments she needed.
And again, I agree with you the system is far from perfect, but I fear things are going to get worse, before they get better.
For the record, yes – I am scared, but I keep telling myself just get from one day to the next.
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During a very long recovery from surgery when Instacart was relatively new, and then during pandemic incarceration (very high risk) and my recent recuperation, delivery — meals and groceries — was a lifeline. I actually cried with gratitude and relief early on. And I always tip generously because I remember. It’s always been worth it to me.
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I did Instacart for most of 2020. Out of the house by 8am, back home some time after 6pm. It was the most steady income I’d had in years. I was likely the best person for it, too, seeing what trashy produce my fellow ICers were throwing in their carts 
, not really GAF since Instacart also times you while you shop 
Once the pandemic fizzled out and they started bundling orders for separate stores I decided to do my own local thing.
I wish I lived closer to you — I’d be happy to shop for you any day!
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I had one Instacart shopper once during the pandemic who I swear I would have adopted. I’ve recently had a repeat shopper by luck. Produce is a fuugedaboutit always. Bundling orders means once or twice I’ve gotten strange stuff and/or not gotten what I ordered.
I’d absolutely be thrilled if there was someone like you to do food runs. Money be damned. The reassurance would be priceless.
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