5 ms·

If there's a silver lining, it's that takeout is higher margin for restaurants and I'm sure takeout revenue is spiking during city shutdowns.

selectodude 7y ago
No it’s not. The margin on one beer is more than two entrees put together.
- whatshisface 7y ago
  But a takeout beer would be higher margin than a sit-in beer.
  - zackbloom 7y ago
    How many people order takeout beer at restaurants? Depending on the city it's often not even legal.
  - wincy 7y ago
    Who would order a takeout beer? If I was going to get takeout and wanted a beer I’d stop at a liquor store or gas station on my way home.
    - pc86 7y ago
      In Pennsylvania at least liquor stores are state run and closed at the moment. You can get beer or wine at some gas stations but that's about it. Anything less popular than huge international brands or very, very popular micro-brews you typically have to go to a beer distributor for and most of those are closed, too (the only ones open are those defying the Governor's strong recommendation to close). Basically if you want anything less popular than Sam Adams-level of popularity, you have to get it from a restaurant.
      - LgWoodenBadger 7y ago
        You can get to-go beer (6-packs, growlers, etc.) at any restaurant with a liquor license (provided they sell it that way). You can also get beer AND wine from a large number of grocery stores (Giant, Wegmans, etc.). Only liquor is sold by the state-run stores. There are also all the local micro-breweries...
      - quickthrowman 7y ago
        It’s crazy that PA shut down the liquor stores, hopefully there’s enough beer and wine left for the truly bad alcoholics that will seize and die without it, seems like a very foolish decision to me, to add the potential strain of alcoholics in withdrawal to the medical system.
  - dsfyu404ed 7y ago
    A lot of people are just gonna hit the liquor store on their way.
  - hodgesrm 7y ago
    That's probably only possible in places like New Orleans. I was surprised to learn about the notion of the "to-go cup" a few years back. It has significant explanatory power in some parts of the city.
    - _delirium 7y ago
      It's not legal in most places, but being temporarily legalized in some. Washington, DC is passing a bill this afternoon [1] allowing takeout places to deliver beer/wine if ordered with at least one food item. I'm guessing other cities will pass something similar. [1] edit: See section 203 photographed here: https://twitter.com/mitchryals/status/1239938801839099905 https://twitter.com/mitchryals/status/1239938801839099905
      - sambroner 7y ago
        I couldn't find this by googling. Can you post a link?
        v64 7y ago
        It's part of the COVID-19 Emergency Amendment Act of 2020 [1] that was passed today. [1] http://www.icontact-archive.com/archive?c=653228&f=109&s=27705&m=907416&t=e9e88f3478ef96a84e6da9a6a941197473e9c0f17a04da6fc6e40bf22670a9a5 http://www.icontact-archive.com/archive?c=653228&f=109&s=277...
    - akavi 7y ago
      To-go cups are legal in NYC as of Tuesday, so long as they're sold with food[0]. [0] https://ny.eater.com/2020/3/17/21182052/new-york-state-liquor-authority-restaurant-laws-coronavirus https://ny.eater.com/2020/3/17/21182052/new-york-state-liquo...
enjo 7y ago
In today’s world Uber eats, Grubhub, etc take 30% of the gross on an order. No way it’s more profitable than having people in house buying alcohol.
- karatestomp 7y ago
  The one time I bought on Grubhub I had trouble getting the price to something reasonable even with the coupon I had (only reason I was trying it) because all the menu prices were way higher than at the actual restaurants. Even with (IIRC) the delivery fee waived and a significant % off (I wanna say 20 or 30?) it was about the same as going in. Does Grubhub do the menu-price adjusting part, or do the restaurants? Unlike your average delivery joint the numbers kept getting worse the more you added, too—no "two large two-topping pizzas and breadsticks at 70% menu price" deals or anything like that.
  - manigandham 7y ago
    All of the delivery apps have much higher prices than what you can get at the place yourself. I suggest take-out or drive-thru if you're able.
    - karatestomp 7y ago
      The pricing was a big turn-off for me. The way it added more to the delivery cost per-item rather than being some kind of flat delivery fee, which didn't make much sense, and how it seemed like they were trying to hide the cost of delivery.
  - frgotmylogin 7y ago
    I noticed the same thing a while back with DoorDash when trying to order some Cracker Barrel breakfast. It was something like a 30-40% hike across the board. I emailed DoorDash to ask what was going on with the prices and got a super misleading response along the lines of "our partner restaurants set their own prices" [1]- basically deflecting the blame back at the restaurant. So I emailed Cracker Barrel, and they are not (or were not at the time) partnered with any delivery service. [1] actual text from email: "As stated in our Terms and Conditions, the prices for menu items on DoorDash may differ from the prices on the restaurant's own menu. For example, our restaurant partners are responsible for setting the price of their menu items on DoorDash, and some restaurant partners choose to set different prices than they offer for in-store diners."

selectodude 7y ago

No it’s not. The margin on one beer is more than two entrees put together.

whatshisface 7y ago
But a takeout beer would be higher margin than a sit-in beer.
- zackbloom 7y ago
  How many people order takeout beer at restaurants? Depending on the city it's often not even legal.
- wincy 7y ago
  Who would order a takeout beer? If I was going to get takeout and wanted a beer I’d stop at a liquor store or gas station on my way home.
  - pc86 7y ago
    In Pennsylvania at least liquor stores are state run and closed at the moment. You can get beer or wine at some gas stations but that's about it. Anything less popular than huge international brands or very, very popular micro-brews you typically have to go to a beer distributor for and most of those are closed, too (the only ones open are those defying the Governor's strong recommendation to close). Basically if you want anything less popular than Sam Adams-level of popularity, you have to get it from a restaurant.
    - LgWoodenBadger 7y ago
      You can get to-go beer (6-packs, growlers, etc.) at any restaurant with a liquor license (provided they sell it that way). You can also get beer AND wine from a large number of grocery stores (Giant, Wegmans, etc.). Only liquor is sold by the state-run stores. There are also all the local micro-breweries...
    - quickthrowman 7y ago
      It’s crazy that PA shut down the liquor stores, hopefully there’s enough beer and wine left for the truly bad alcoholics that will seize and die without it, seems like a very foolish decision to me, to add the potential strain of alcoholics in withdrawal to the medical system.
- dsfyu404ed 7y ago
  A lot of people are just gonna hit the liquor store on their way.
- hodgesrm 7y ago
  That's probably only possible in places like New Orleans. I was surprised to learn about the notion of the "to-go cup" a few years back. It has significant explanatory power in some parts of the city.
  - _delirium 7y ago
    It's not legal in most places, but being temporarily legalized in some. Washington, DC is passing a bill this afternoon [1] allowing takeout places to deliver beer/wine if ordered with at least one food item. I'm guessing other cities will pass something similar. [1] edit: See section 203 photographed here: https://twitter.com/mitchryals/status/1239938801839099905 https://twitter.com/mitchryals/status/1239938801839099905
    - sambroner 7y ago
      I couldn't find this by googling. Can you post a link?
      - v64 7y ago
        It's part of the COVID-19 Emergency Amendment Act of 2020 [1] that was passed today. [1] http://www.icontact-archive.com/archive?c=653228&f=109&s=27705&m=907416&t=e9e88f3478ef96a84e6da9a6a941197473e9c0f17a04da6fc6e40bf22670a9a5 http://www.icontact-archive.com/archive?c=653228&f=109&s=277...
  - akavi 7y ago
    To-go cups are legal in NYC as of Tuesday, so long as they're sold with food[0]. [0] https://ny.eater.com/2020/3/17/21182052/new-york-state-liquor-authority-restaurant-laws-coronavirus https://ny.eater.com/2020/3/17/21182052/new-york-state-liquo...

enjo 7y ago

In today’s world Uber eats, Grubhub, etc take 30% of the gross on an order. No way it’s more profitable than having people in house buying alcohol.

karatestomp 7y ago
The one time I bought on Grubhub I had trouble getting the price to something reasonable even with the coupon I had (only reason I was trying it) because all the menu prices were way higher than at the actual restaurants. Even with (IIRC) the delivery fee waived and a significant % off (I wanna say 20 or 30?) it was about the same as going in. Does Grubhub do the menu-price adjusting part, or do the restaurants? Unlike your average delivery joint the numbers kept getting worse the more you added, too—no "two large two-topping pizzas and breadsticks at 70% menu price" deals or anything like that.
- manigandham 7y ago
  All of the delivery apps have much higher prices than what you can get at the place yourself. I suggest take-out or drive-thru if you're able.
  - karatestomp 7y ago
    The pricing was a big turn-off for me. The way it added more to the delivery cost per-item rather than being some kind of flat delivery fee, which didn't make much sense, and how it seemed like they were trying to hide the cost of delivery.
- frgotmylogin 7y ago
  I noticed the same thing a while back with DoorDash when trying to order some Cracker Barrel breakfast. It was something like a 30-40% hike across the board. I emailed DoorDash to ask what was going on with the prices and got a super misleading response along the lines of "our partner restaurants set their own prices" [1]- basically deflecting the blame back at the restaurant. So I emailed Cracker Barrel, and they are not (or were not at the time) partnered with any delivery service. [1] actual text from email: "As stated in our Terms and Conditions, the prices for menu items on DoorDash may differ from the prices on the restaurant's own menu. For example, our restaurant partners are responsible for setting the price of their menu items on DoorDash, and some restaurant partners choose to set different prices than they offer for in-store diners."