Restaurants that prioritize pickup orders over dine in

[tinkerbellandpeterpan]

Nope. If I order at the counter in-person, they have to pack it up (I'm talking fast food here). I don't routinely tip on take-out orders where I am physically going in to pick up my food.

Sure, I agree...I'm not an idiot. Fast food is different. But if I order take out at a restaurant then I expect to kick a couple bucks in.

 

[sam_gordon]

Okay. That's your opinion. If I'm taking advantage of a service it REQUIRES a tip in my opinion. YMMV

No, not really. It's the definition of the word "required." You can walk out of a restaurant and not leave a tip, and nothing will happen to you. Walk out of a restaurant and not pay for the food/drink? Not so much.

BTW, you have no idea on whether I tip or not, much less how much.

 

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

Our local McDonalds does this. Not just the drive-thru, but also McDelivery.

 

[Genie+]

This is really no different than decades ago - stopping by a pizza place on Friday night to put in your order and the ovens are already filled with phoned in orders, the kitchen is backed up and your order needs to wait its turn.

It’s just the modern version of this. Same principle. After a few experiences of showing up in person to order, people are more likely to ‘phone in’ and mobile order ahead. Many places incentivize mobile order as well since generally it’s more efficient from management’s perspective.

 

[tinkerbellandpeterpan]

No, not really. It's the definition of the word "required." You can walk out of a restaurant and not leave a tip, and nothing will happen to you. Walk out of a restaurant and not pay for the food/drink? Not so much.

BTW, you have no idea on whether I tip or not, much less how much.

Okie dokie. You win. I don't really care what you do

Also, if you read my post it said "IN MY OPINION" it requires a tip.

 

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

Okay. That's your opinion. If I'm taking advantage of a service it REQUIRES a tip in my opinion. YMMV

I don't think it REQUIRES a tip per se, but it IS advised in our society.

PS: not to take a swipe at you or anything! Last thing I would want to do.

 

[luv2cheer92]

Sure, I agree...I'm not an idiot. Fast food is different. But if I order take out at a restaurant then I expect to kick a couple bucks in.

What is the difference between a fast food restaurant cooking and bagging up your order vs a non fast food restaurant doing literally the exact same thing?

 

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

To be fair, we don't tip at McDonalds. Maybe we should? We tip for everything else, haircuts, taxis... however, never at supermarkets. It's a rich tapestry.

 

[tinkerbellandpeterpan]

What is the difference between a fast food restaurant cooking and bagging up your order vs a non fast food restaurant doing literally the exact same thing?

If I need to explain it....the fast food place is what it is set up for....the table service place pulls a server off the floor to put your food together to give it to you.

If you can't afford to tip or don't want to then don't order out. Make your own darn food. Geez louise.

 

[Genie+]

I can only speak to take out orders in New Jersey. Food server minimum wage is… $2.13


Some chain restaurants pay a different wage for servers taking a shift for take out. For local restaurants and diners, many have staff take turns on to go orders. It’s a big grey area. If a server seems less than kind handing over your big weekly to-go order and you’re not tipping anything? It could be the reason.

 

[SteveH]

I've never used a food delivery service beyond having pizza delivered and doubt I ever will. I see to much food sitting around waiting to be picked up, I'd rather just get it myself. A couple places we go to prioritize in-person, then self pick-up followed by the delivery services. They make more money from in-person due to drinks and appetizers.

As far as tipping for pick up food, I generally don't. With minimum wages around here at $18 plus for all employees, no sub-restaurant wage, means I don't tip for packaging up food, I save tipping for true service when I sit down.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

I only tip take out if they throw in a can of creamed corn.

 

[RangerPooh]

This is really no different than decades ago - stopping by a pizza place on Friday night to put in your order and the ovens are already filled with phoned in orders, the kitchen is backed up and your order needs to wait its turn.

It’s just the modern version of this. Same principle. After a few experiences of showing up in person to order, people are more likely to ‘phone in’ and mobile order ahead. Many places incentivize mobile order as well since generally it’s more efficient from management’s perspective.

I think this is a good description of what we see today. We tolerated it then as expected for Fri/Sat nights. Straw Hat and Roundtable were always busy at dinner time.

 

[ramee]

It was always expected that you tip on take-out. You just didn't. Someone has to take time and pack it up. It may be closer to 10% than 20% but still required a tip.

Pretty sure it’s a fairly recent thing to have the credit card screens prompt for tips for almost everything. Before that, I might have written in a couple dollars on the slip. But no, I don’t regularly tip for take out.

 

[ramee]

This is really no different than decades ago - stopping by a pizza place on Friday night to put in your order and the ovens are already filled with phoned in orders, the kitchen is backed up and your order needs to wait its turn.

It’s just the modern version of this. Same principle. After a few experiences of showing up in person to order, people are more likely to ‘phone in’ and mobile order ahead. Many places incentivize mobile order as well since generally it’s more efficient from management’s perspective.

I was thinking about pizza delivery orders after this topic earlier. I use to work at a pizza place and we would make the pizzas in the order they were placed. I feel like some of the new systems do prioritize online orders over customers waiting in the store; like they’ve got fast passes. 5 carry out orders made to 1 dine in

 

[Babs Johnson]

What is the difference between a fast food restaurant cooking and bagging up your order vs a non fast food restaurant doing literally the exact same thing?

In many or most cases, your take out order at a sit down restaurant is gathered and packed up by a sub-minimum wage employee, a tipped server.

 

[Diznygrl]

Funny this topic should come up, as I just got back from McDonald's a few hours ago and got irritated at having to wait 15 minutes for my dine-in order as DoorDash after DoorDash kept coming in and picking stuff up. They need to figure this out.

I don't do food delivery but if I did, I would only do it with stuff that can be reheated with no issue/doesn't turn to crap in 5 minutes, so the thought of having stuff like McD's or Taco Bell DoorDashed baffles me. Have you ever had a crunchy taco or McD's fries after they've been sitting around for 10+ minutes? I guess if you're the type to just order a cheeseburger or a burrito or something, I dunno...

Also, I've said this before about fast food trying to eliminate dining rooms...not all of us are in the position of wanting to grab food and take it home immediately. Some of us are out and and about in the middle of running errands and appreciate sitting at a table to eat. I hated having to eat everything in the car during the pandemic and I DO NOT WANT TO MAKE THAT PERMANENT.

 

[disney4us2002]

My dh and I went to a local pizza joint to dine in one Friday evening and we ordered and sat waiting for a looooong time. We flagged down our waitress to ask about the wait times for pizza and she told us that large pepperoni was very common and that our pizza had been given to carryout orders, not once but twice!! After that we always ordered an unusual pizza, like half mushroom/onion, half pepperoni & bacon with extra cheese only on half as well, lol.

 

[luv2cheer92]

In many or most cases, your take out order at a sit down restaurant is gathered and packed up by a sub-minimum wage employee, a tipped server.

Everywhere I've ever picked up food for take out, they have people who's only job is take out, and they aren't a tipped server position (I've asked).

 

[tasha99]

We'll occasionally get McDonalds. The way the ones around us are set up, you can place the order via the app, but it doesn't start getting made until you get on site. To me, that defeats the purpose of ordering ahead of time.

That's why I like ordering on the app at McDonalds--it'll still be hot and fresh, but it makes placing a large order simple. I did a takeout order on the app for Arby's a couple months ago and was surprised when I got there that my food was ready. The shake had started to melt and my food was cold because I live 15 minutes away. Unfortunately, lots of fast food places require the app for discounts, so at least with McDonalds' approach, the food doesn't suffer.