Reply to We need to redesign the food takeout/delivery system, this is stupid

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We need to separate the takeout/delivery industry from the restaurant/dining industry. It no longer makes sense to have them operating out of the same facilities.

If this many people are going to do food delivery via these services like Door Dash and Uber Eats, there is no point in running that through a restaurant that has invested time and attention in a physical location in a retail district, with decor and ambiance designed for people dining in, and a staffing system designed to welcome people and serve them in the restaurant.

What happens is that the demand for delivery is so high that those orders get prioritized in the kitchen. The hosting and service staff wind up taking time from people in the restaurant to help expedite orders to delivery drivers. The lobby/entrance of restaurants become crowded with delivery drivers and people picking up takeout, and people dining in have to fight through that crowd to get a table. It completely undermines the experience of dining out, which is why restaurants exist.

Delivery (and perhaps also takeout) should be shifted to commercial kitchens in warehouse districts designs specifically for that purpose. You could design a commercial kitchen that efficiently prepares and packages delivery orders without having to also prepare food for in-person customers. The facility doesn't need to be in a walkable area and the facility doesn't need a dining room or to invest money in creating an inviting, pleasant atmosphere. They don't need a host, they need an expedite director who is focused on getting the food to drivers quickly and efficiently. In a warehouse district, you could create parking exclusively for drivers right outside the kitchen, with a window to make it as easy as possible for drivers to get the bags of food. You could design an app that is focused on ensuring food is ready when drivers are there and gets to customers quickly.

And then the rest of us who actually want to dine out at restaurants could enjoy the dining out experience, and people who work in restaurants could actually do what they signed up for, which is serving in person customers. And we could get all the delivery drivers out of retail districts where they double park, ride motorbikes onto sidewalks, block entrances, and just generally make it a less pleasant experience for the rest of us.[/quote]

This is called a “ghost kitchen”

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/01/dining/ghost-kitchens-delivery-pandemic.html?unlocked_article_code=1.sE4.Cfvc.GUTI3J1CIy0t&smid=url-share

It seemed like it would be here to stay but they aren’t thriving anymore

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/12/business/ghost-kitchens-restaurants-pandemic.html?unlocked_article_code=1.sE4.FZZp.6K3l_qtVDiRD&smid=url-share

[/quote]

Like any outsourcing, the problem is accountability and oversight. [/quote]

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