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The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants

bfi.uchicago.edu

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Re: The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants

#131

Post by EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK »

colonial wrote: post #65
alwa wrote: post #36

How much of this is the COVID-correlated normalization of delivery apps [0]? Anecdotally I do sometimes notice people eating quickly or taking out, but what I really notice is the nonstop flurry of app delivery folks darting in and out of the pickup area... Seems consistent with the study's observations, too: > As a result, we think the growth in take-out or delivery is the primary driver of the jump in short visits.…

What I'd like to know are the demographics of the people using the delivery apps. Everyone I know refuses to touch them due to the massive extra costs piled on top, but whenever I swing by somewhere in-person to get takeout, I have the same experience as you - there's always at least a few bags on the "Doordash shelf" or equivalent. Who's burning all this money?!

I'm a retiree. I don't have much time left to spend it on cooking. Going to a restaurant takes even more time than cooking. Ordering and opening the door is much faster. Anyway, my assistant does that. I do cook meals that take no more than 5 minutes of my time, like boiled eggs, rice, grilled meat or quick salad.

Re: The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants

#132

Post by recursivecaveat »

Scoundreller wrote: post #117
randerson wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And they can't press buttons in the elevator. I don't think any delivery service will take off in a city if people have to leave their apartments.

Uhhhh, balconies? Reach out of an open window like a reverse drive-through?

I think you'd have to have nerves of steel as a company to try either of those maneuvers. The wind can be unpredictable so close to a structure, it is a cramped environment filled with objects and materials you can't predict, even a meal for 2 can be kindof bulky (doubly so bc it has to be packed well enough to be airworthy), the load might shift internally, and if you screw up there's a good chance a drone goes plummeting 20 stories down onto a crowded sidewalk.

Re: The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants

#134

Post by t-3 »

Scoundreller wrote: post #117
randerson wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And they can't press buttons in the elevator. I don't think any delivery service will take off in a city if people have to leave their apartments.

Uhhhh, balconies? Reach out of an open window like a reverse drive-through?

How are they going to get the right apartment, and even if they do, what if the food gets fumbled in the handover and someone is injured by falling meals?

Re: The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants

#135

Post by baxtr »

msravi wrote: post #130
deathanatos wrote: post #19

> The restaurants’ productivity growth rates are strongly correlated, however, with reductions in the amount of time their customers spend in the establishments, particularly with a rising share of customers spending 10 minutes or less. The frequency of such ‘take-out’ customers rose considerably during COVID, even at fast food restaurants, and never went back down. The magnitude of the restaurant-level relationship…

In India, these are called "cloud kitchens." A single cloud kitchen could be listed on a food delivery app under multiple brands - one brand for chinese cuisine, one for italian, etc.

Interesting.

In many industries there are contract manufacturers that produce products for many different brands.

Re: The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants

#136

Post by solatic »

colonial wrote: post #65
alwa wrote: post #36

How much of this is the COVID-correlated normalization of delivery apps [0]? Anecdotally I do sometimes notice people eating quickly or taking out, but what I really notice is the nonstop flurry of app delivery folks darting in and out of the pickup area... Seems consistent with the study's observations, too: > As a result, we think the growth in take-out or delivery is the primary driver of the jump in short visits.…

What I'd like to know are the demographics of the people using the delivery apps. Everyone I know refuses to touch them due to the massive extra costs piled on top, but whenever I swing by somewhere in-person to get takeout, I have the same experience as you - there's always at least a few bags on the "Doordash shelf" or equivalent. Who's burning all this money?!

When you never step foot inside a grocery store, it's easy to think that the price of takeout is just the normal price of food; that the "luxury" kind of food you don't eat all the time are the Michelin-star type places; that takeout is cheaper than cooking yourself because the restaurants do everything in bulk and pay low wages.

Re: The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants

#137

Post by ggzzzzzz55 »

msravi wrote: post #130
deathanatos wrote: post #19

> The restaurants’ productivity growth rates are strongly correlated, however, with reductions in the amount of time their customers spend in the establishments, particularly with a rising share of customers spending 10 minutes or less. The frequency of such ‘take-out’ customers rose considerably during COVID, even at fast food restaurants, and never went back down. The magnitude of the restaurant-level relationship…

In India, these are called "cloud kitchens." A single cloud kitchen could be listed on a food delivery app under multiple brands - one brand for chinese cuisine, one for italian, etc.

It's 'ghost kitchen' in the US, but that's not what gp is describing.

Re: The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants

#138

Post by safety1st »

colonial wrote: post #65
alwa wrote: post #36

How much of this is the COVID-correlated normalization of delivery apps [0]? Anecdotally I do sometimes notice people eating quickly or taking out, but what I really notice is the nonstop flurry of app delivery folks darting in and out of the pickup area... Seems consistent with the study's observations, too: > As a result, we think the growth in take-out or delivery is the primary driver of the jump in short visits.…

What I'd like to know are the demographics of the people using the delivery apps. Everyone I know refuses to touch them due to the massive extra costs piled on top, but whenever I swing by somewhere in-person to get takeout, I have the same experience as you - there's always at least a few bags on the "Doordash shelf" or equivalent. Who's burning all this money?!

This seems to be the opposite of the trend but personally, due to some mixture of inflation, worsening service standards from the main delivery app where I live, and me just getting better at cooking, I've dialed back my food delivery app usage by like 80%.

Covid encouraged me to spend more time cooking and the result is that I now make better versions of most of my favorite dishes than any restaurant does (at least to my taste). I also worked out how to do their preparation in bulk so that they take a half hour or less to prepare.

This made me realize that meal delivery wasn't saving me as much time as I thought it was. Rather it was saving me from learning to cook, but you only have to do that once, and then you end up eating healthier, saving money, eating food that isn't cold because it wasn't sitting in a bag for an hour, and it takes less time than someone who can't cook probably thinks it does.

Grocery delivery on the other hand, now that service is worth its weight in gold. 2+ hours of work every week replaced with 10 minutes ordering online, which is mostly just going down the list of what I got last week and clicking add to cart.

Re: The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants

#139

Post by morsch »

chii wrote: post #110
andrepd wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well were their wrong? Car-centric development has been an absolute disaster in dozens of different ways.

those disasters were externalities, which i dont disagree is disheartening, but the personal freedoms and transportation capability given by the personal automobile is worth it. Public transport, even good ones, does not provide this level of comfort and freedom.

Oh god we're going to get a new hellscape of drone noise which we won't be able to get rid of on account of the personal freedom granted by having second rate food delivered five minutes faster.

Re: The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants

#140

Post by bigiain »

t-3 wrote: post #134
Scoundreller wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uhhhh, balconies? Reach out of an open window like a reverse drive-through?

How are they going to get the right apartment, and even if they do, what if the food gets fumbled in the handover and someone is injured by falling meals?

"We add a $70 surcharge to each delivery for the ballistic parachute system that protects people on the sidewalk from fumbled delivery handovers. This surcharge is refunded when the intact and unused parachute system is returned via the drone from your next delivery."
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