Explain the take out appeal

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is food that I don't have to cook, and that tastes different than what I cook at home. In a pandemic, that's all I need.

+1

And, I am TIRED of cooking.

[Anonymous]

Why do I need to “explain” that the restaurants in my area do take-out well, and that we like to support local businesses? Don’t you get that just because your local places don’t do take-out well, doesn’t mean that’s how it is everywhere? Ours is always hot, fresh, and good.

We get take-out once a week from local places. And we tip very well.

[Anonymous]

I agree with all said above.
But OP has a point, some food is not so great when you get it take out. We’ve had a few disappointments over the past year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree with all said above.
But OP has a point, some food is not so great when you get it take out. We’ve had a few disappointments over the past year.

I’ll take a few disappointments over our local places shutting down any day. Ooooh, one sub-par dinner? Tomorrow is another day. I will see food again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do I need to “explain” that the restaurants in my area do take-out well, and that we like to support local businesses? Don’t you get that just because your local places don’t do take-out well, doesn’t mean that’s how it is everywhere? Ours is always hot, fresh, and good.

We get take-out once a week from local places. And we tip very well.

Right? We've had great experiences. OP is one of those "my experience is all there is" posters.

[Anonymous]

I am completely with you OP. I am almost always disappointed with takeout, and shocked at the price. Would so much prefer going out to eat OR cooking myself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is everyone getting so much take out? What is the appeal?

I get that people are sick of cooking. But still. My takeout experiences, except for pizza and Chinese, have been disappointing at best.

By the time I call, wait on hold, drive, wait for pickup turn, get home- more than enough has elapsed to cook something myself. And by the time I go to eat the takeout, it is lukewarm and soggy. Is anyone really loving their takeout experience? Share what you do and where you like to order

Then you should cook. Some of don't like or don't have time to spend too much time cooking and cleaning. If you do, more power to you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because I am so sick of cooking dinner and sometimes it's nice to not have to do it.

Also, because I value the local restaurants in our neighborhood and want to keep supporting them now so they are still there when we can all jam into a room and be close to each other again.

+1. I also tend to get takeout from places that I just don't feel like cooking due to complexity or obscure ingredients (remembering that time I bought a bottle of fish sauce- and they of course only had like 60 oz size and I used it one time!). I tend to get a lot of indian, bbq, korean, vietnamese etc takeout.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I don’t understand why you’d ever be eating lukewarm, soggy food. It sounds like it takes you longer than average to get your food home, but why can’t you reheat it? Do you have an oven, toaster oven, or microwave? One or the other of these gadgets can make your food nice and warm, and a pan on the stovetop will suffice as well.

This. When we get pizza for takeout, we have an oven preheated and ready to crisp it up. Certain restaurants we order from package their food really well. For example, our favorite Filipino fast casual place, Kuya Ja’s uses domed containers made of sugarcane that absorb the moisture of the food,keeping our favorite shrimp and pork lumpia (Filipino egg rolls) crisp even after a 15 minute car ride home. Here’s an article that mentions it: https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-magazine/january-february-2021/takeout-takeaways/

Also our favorite Thai takeout place, Ruan Thai, has vents in certain containers,so our favorite Yum Watercress order is always crispy.

And finally, certain foods like Indian food and Chinese travel pretty well and taste even better the next day.

We want to keep supporting our favorite restaurants, so we’ve actually been trying to get more takeout than before, maybe 2 times a week. And like other PPs, we are just tired of cooking!

[Anonymous]

OP, I can't lie to you, you're right. It's not worth it, the food is honestly mediocre once you get home.

The *only* thing that's worth it are the frozen to-go chicken enchiladas from our favorite Mexican restaurant. They are so cheap and so freaking tasty after we bake them! I don't know how they do it, but they are divine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because I am so sick of cooking dinner and sometimes it's nice to not have to do it.

Also, because I value the local restaurants in our neighborhood and want to keep supporting them now so they are still there when we can all jam into a room and be close to each other again.

+1. OP if you haven’t been supporting restaurants during the pandemic, don’t expect them to be there once you’re ready to go back out to eat.

[Anonymous]

I really love my pjs.

[Anonymous]

Who calls to order nowadays?! Only via an app.
The appeal is that I can get something for myself and kid and it can be different things and we can take a walk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who calls to order nowadays?! Only via an app.
The appeal is that I can get something for myself and kid and it can be different things and we can take a walk.

If you are ordering takeout with the thought of helping the restaurant owners survive the pandemic, never use an app unless it’s the restaurants own app or something like ChowNow, that doesn’t charge restaurants commission. Apps like Ubereats, Grubhub and Doordash charge outrageous commissions that can eat up the entire profit of an order for the restaurant. It’s better to call, even if it’s more inconvenient for you.

[Anonymous]

Yes, we love takeout! Ethopian takeout (anything with a sauce), Indian takeout (curries and samosas). Restaurants are a great way to try out a new cuisine or dishes we don’t have the skill or experience to cook. Plus we have small kids so it was such a hassle to go out dining anyway (precovid) and have them sit quietly and wait for the food to be cooked after placing our order. Perhaps look at yelp reviews before ordering your takeout, I always found those helpful.