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Comment by MuffinFlavored | Hacker News Reader

I've ordered food from Chipotle online, taken 30-40 minutes to get to the store, and very often it would have been more convenient (I would have gotten my food more quickly) if I had skipped the online order and waited in the in-person line instead.

This doesn't always happen and it depends on a ton of things (store, time/shift, crew working at the time) but it got to the point where I couldn't reliably get the food on time so I just stopped going. That and an extra steak bowl with guac is $18 without chips or a drink. Kind of tough to justify eating that 7 days a week. It's just not super efficient.

Then I realized the $47b market cap company doesn't care if they lose my business because my nitpick problems most likely aren't happening at a large enough scale to affect them (otherwise they'd do something about it, right?)

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If a restaurant is deliveries only (or primarily) like Dominos then I will order for delivery. I'll never order delivery from a place with a dining room. It just doesn't work. It will take the best part of an hour at minimum, the food will be cold/soggy/crushed when you get it, and you'll have to pay delivery fees.

I learned this lesson way back in the 1980s when a McDonald's here tried to partner with a delivery startup to deliver food. They went all in, renovating the store with a call center and a half-dozen phones and order taking stations. It was a novelty for a few months but everyone quickly figured out that burgers and fries don't travel well.

Learn to cook some simple meals at home. Or go out to eat. Delivery is the worst way to get your food.

> I'll never order delivery from a place with a dining room

This was "pickup" ordering in case it wasn't clear. Not that your point doesn't still stand.

IMO pickup works fine. You can show up a little early for your food so you can pick it up as soon as it's cooked and you know how to get home quicker than a random delivery driver.

FWIW I’ve had the opposite happen with several Chinese food places, receiving significantly more food than when dining inside.

Agree that delivery is not ideal and many times food is cold, more expensive, and items were forgotten.

> extra steak bowl with guac is $18 without chips or a drink

$20 lunch is now a thing, even at food stands/trucks, sandwich shops, or counter restaurants like Chipotle. :(

Best Chipotle deal is probably a single taco, which usually gets more than a single taco's worth of fillings and toppings.

> I've ordered food from Chipotle online, taken 30-40 minutes to get to the store, and very often it would have been more convenient (I would have gotten my food more quickly) if I had skipped the online order and waited in the in-person line instead.

Chipotle is so terrible I've stopped ordering from them. If I tried that, there'd be a decent chance that when I'd get to the store, I'd fine it would be "online orders only." I've also put in online orders (which were accepted) only discover the store was actually closed.

I've heard anecdotally that Chipotle also gives you less food in online orders, although I haven't measured it. Maybe that will be next :)

Definitely not the case - I do both and while it does vary, it's not consistent across online/in-person

Depends on when you go. If you show up during lunch/hour when the line is getting long they absolutely will over scoop. It isn’t worth it for them to slow down the line when every customer asks them “can you scoop more” at every single step. They just over scoop to keep people quiet and keep the line moving. The difference is about 2x an online or off-peak order, and about 3x a late night order (hour before closing). Just my experience though.

Fine so long as they don’t overscoop the bean juice into my bowl … freakin’ hate that.

I feel they are less likely to skimp you if they are face to face with you/you signal you are willing to pay extra for extra (whereas on the ticket as an online order they build, they might miss it)

I see this every time I go to Chick-fil-a.

There are always people waiting in line for their pick-up orders. By the time I arrive, wait in line, place my order, pay, get my food and go, many of the same people are still standing in the pick-up line waiting for their food.

My experience has been the same. Take out is either cold or a long wait. The estimated time the app gives is WAY off and there are no notifications unlike other apps letting you know how it's progressing.

We've tried delivery three times. Every time resulted in a refund because they sent the wrong order.

It's highly dependent on location. I can't get to the one closest to my house fast enough, because my food's always on the rack already (which is good). But I always have to wait for it at the one by my job. My point is, maybe try the second farthest location for better service.

They should care in aggregate. It seems unlikely that you have a completely isolated problem, but maybe online orders don't make up much of the business and they don't even care in aggregate.

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