[kels]

I really want to like all of these services. I've used Grubhub, Uber Eats and DoorDash. My problem with them is that it costs way more than eating at the restaurant. It's usually 30% - 40% of the cost of the food for delivery, service fees and tip.

I've always wondered why it wasn't cheaper to do take out than eat at a restaurant. I'm not taking up a parking space, table, using facilities, or taking up as much of the employees time but I still incur that overhead.

[mmanfrin]

  I've always wondered why it wasn't cheaper to do take out
  than eat at a restaurant. I'm not taking up a parking 
  space, table, using facilities, or taking up as much of the 
  employees time but I still incur that overhead.

You're also not buying high-margin drinks or being swayed to buy the specials (which are often used to balance inventory).

[Falling3]

The impact of drinks really can't be overstated. As a booze-loving city, Portland restaurant's economy is especially interesting. At least half of the meals I eat out are at bars and you can get a quality meal for $8-12. But this all hinges on drinks subsidizing the rest of the meal.

[ezconnect]

Here in S.Korea you can order from a restaurant and they deliver it to your apt door. The food arrives on porcelain plates and bowls with utensils and trays just like you would get it from their restaurants. After an hour the delivery guy returns to your door to pickup the plates and utensils.

The price is the same as you would pay when you go inside their restaurants and you don't have to pay tip. They don't accept tips.

[arkades]

Food is priced to existing overhead; delivery is added to that. Whether or not you walk in the door doesn’t shift their fixed costs, and the marginal cost of the busboy cleaning one more table is trivial.

[Consultant32452]

In January I caught the flu and was down for 2 weeks. Amazon Prime Now and food delivery services like Uber Eats were a blessing.

The reason why takeout isn't cheaper is they want to encourage you to sit in the restaurant. You're more likely to order drinks, desserts, and have a more controlled/positive emotional response to the eating experience.

[Game_Ender]

Many of these services take a cut of the order price [0], so it's not surprising if restaurants chose to up their price to try and make up the difference.

[0] - https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-business-model-of-Uber-eat...

[enraged_camel]

Yeah, it's pretty insane. Makes me miss my hometown back in Turkey, where most restaurants deliver to the same neighborhood for free, and there is no mandatory tipping culture (although most people still tip if the delivery is quick).

[SilasX]

IIRC, it is common in the UK to charge different prices for dine-in vs take-out. Can anyone confirm?

[justincormack]

It does happen, but its not very common. (some exceptions for cold food, where the tax is different).

[_rpd]

How can DoorDash compete with Uber Eats?