Something I haven't seen mentioned in the article or any of the comments so far: Estimates for when the food will be ready tend to be way more accurate over th

Something I haven't seen mentioned in the article or any of the comments so far: Estimates for when the food will be ready tend to be way more accurate over the phone (as the person taking the order actually knows how busy the restaurant is). In my experience, most online ordering estimates are padded by 20-30 minutes (so the website will say it'll be ready in 40 minutes, but it's actually ready in 10), presumably because the restaurant doesn't have the time/ability to be updating ETAs throughout the night, and it's better to overestimate than underestimate. You also have the option of easily cancelling your order if it's going to be too long - I've even had a restaurant warn me it was going to be a long time: > > Name of Restaurant, how may I help you? > I'd like to order for pickup. > > We're very busy right now, it would be at least an hour. > Oh, nevermind, thank you.