Slashdot Mirror
Restaurants Shrink as Food Delivery Apps Get More Popular (bloomberg.com)
People are still eating restaurant food -- they're just not doing it at restaurants as much. From a report: Delivery apps from DoorDash, Postmates, GrubHub and UberEats have made ordering in easier, and have changed the way food chains think about their business. The number of food delivery app downloads is up 380 percent compared with three years ago, according to market-data firm App Annie, and research firm Cowen and Co. predicts that U.S. restaurant delivery sales will rise an average of 12 percent a year to $76 billion in the next four years. At Firehouse, revenue has increased 7 percent this year, mainly from orders placed online and through delivery apps, Fox said. More than half of his sales are for food eaten elsewhere.
[...] Some new restaurant owners are skipping tables and chairs altogether and just leasing kitchen space to prepare food for couriers. Those are called cloud kitchens or virtual restaurants because they have no dining rooms or wait staff and sell their meals through the internet and mobile apps like DoorDash or UberEats. Mark Chase, the founder of Restaurant Real Estate Advisors, a consulting group that helps restaurant entrepreneurs find space and negotiate leases, said that the majority of his clients are interested in the kitchen-only business model. "There is a general scaling down on seating space and scaling up on kitchen space, as people just want to eat at home, on the couch," Chase said.
[...] Some new restaurant owners are skipping tables and chairs altogether and just leasing kitchen space to prepare food for couriers. Those are called cloud kitchens or virtual restaurants because they have no dining rooms or wait staff and sell their meals through the internet and mobile apps like DoorDash or UberEats. Mark Chase, the founder of Restaurant Real Estate Advisors, a consulting group that helps restaurant entrepreneurs find space and negotiate leases, said that the majority of his clients are interested in the kitchen-only business model. "There is a general scaling down on seating space and scaling up on kitchen space, as people just want to eat at home, on the couch," Chase said.
Fast food? Yeah I'll have that to go.
Mediocre chain establishment? I'll have that to go.
Trendy fashionista place that serves kale and rabbitfood with a side of pretentious? I won't even spend a dime there, but if I had to, it'd be to go.
Family-owned restaurant one has been visiting for the past 10 years? Nope, I'll make time to go there, have that glorious just-brewed tea, nod to the chef and without a word, food magically appears, to my taste, and eat while watching the kitchen do their thing.
Not every restaurant deserves going to. Those that do... treasure them and treat them well.
The "Civilized World" jumped the shark ca. 1973.
It's a common theme: the middlemen usually do provide a valuable add-on service, but once they are more or less indispensable, they jack up the rates. A popular restaurant reservation and rating service around here did just that... and at some point the restaurant owners (or rather, the hotel, bar and restaurant association) said "sod it, we'll make our own" (No not with blackjack and hookers). The service seems to be doing well and restaurants get it at cost. And people increasingly become appreciative of this issue, and actually make an effort to find out if they can order take-out from the restaurant directly, before hitting the usual food delivery sites.
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
What else would you call it? Its a place who's primary purpose is to serve food. Its not fine dining, or a particularly good restaurant, but its a restaurant.
No, its a lot of people of all ages. I can get out of work at around 7, find a restaurant, hope they have a seat, wait for 30 minutes until they do, then get seated and go through an hour long process to eat. Or I can go home, hop on an app on the subway and order dinner delivered, have it arrive 20 minutes after I get home, and eat in a quick 15 minutes and get on with my evening. And I don't need to deal with waiters, crowds, noise, and I can do whatever I want while waiting and eating- shower, watch tv, play games, etc. Almost none of that is possible in a restaurant. Its the same reason why movie theaters are losing to home movie watching.
They're not going to totally replace restaurants of course. Restaurants also serve the purpose of a place outside the house to meet, and many meals taste better hot out of the kitchen. But they'll definitely reduce the amount of dining in.
If there's any demographic divide, it will be urban/rural. The apps make more sense in urban/suburban areas with high restaurant density (especially in old east coast cities where apartment kitchens leave much to be desired).
I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
I go to restaurants because I like the experience. Some I go to because they're small shops where the owner is the guy in the kitchen cooking my food and waves to me.
My favourite restaurant is one my wife and I will only go to 2-3 times a year, because we're going to sit and have several courses, drinks, and desserts and then walk home. But the head waitress knows us by name, and the chef/owner is 10 feet away making my food and occasionally chatting with me, and will happily tweak dishes within reason for our tastes.
I have no intention of letting these tech companies be the ones getting the money, and I've even heard in a few cases restaurants have stopped supporting Uber Eats because Uber didn't pay them, or that the Uber driver is stealing the food.
No thanks, I'll support local business, and not some douchy tech company in California. Bummer for the Uber drivers who are essentially making nothing, but that was never viable economically and not my problem.
My hard working waitress who brings me fresh beer, smiles, and checks in on me ... I'm far more interested in making sure she gets a nice tip, because she's probably been friendly to me and recognised me and made sure I had a good meal -- and I'm old enough to place value on that.
I have an affinity for the service industry, because unless you're an asshole, there's lots of nice, hard-working people who do their best to give you a good experience. They deserve the tips and everything else, not Uber.
I just hope this idiotic 'everything is an app' culture doesn't keep wrecking the good bits of our actual culture.