Restaurant delivery services

[CaptDave]

I admit, I had to Google "ghost kitchen"...

Are these long term tenants or temporary until a long term tenant comes along (or it's sold)?

Has anyone tried (or even heard) of these places? Might make a good lunch.

The ones I am familiar with can be found on Uber Eats and similar apps. In Norman, Lickity Chicken operates out of Saltgrass Steak House.

[Pete]

A few years ago, a building permit was filed for a big ghost kitchen facility near I-44 and Western -- in an existing building on the SW corner.

It didn't end up happening but there were about 2 dozen small kitchens that were to have no external storefronts.

Other cities have a bunch of these facilities, where they set up shop and do delivery only. A limited number have drive-thrus but those are probably mostly used by delivery drivers. I'm sure OKC will eventually get something similar although I don't get the impression we have a mature food delivery culture as of yet.

[Plutonic Panda]

Other cities have a bunch of these facilities, where they set up shop and do delivery only. I'm sure OKC will eventually get something similar although I don't get the impression we have mature food delivery culture as of yet.

There are several of them in LA. Whenever I do, Uber eats or DoorDash, I hate going to these things. But if you hang around them, you usually do get orders pretty quick.

[Pete]

Yeah, most of those big facilities are kind of awful; just big warehouses and a bunch of somewhat cramped, hot, smelly, windowless, small kitchens.

Would not be fun to work in one.

[CaptDave]

Oh - that is very different from what I thought they were. I only noticed this one in Norman when I was going to order and saw the delivery restaurant was located in a "brick & mortar" place.

[Plutonic Panda]

Yeah, most those big facilities are kind of awful; just big warehouses and a bunch of somewhat cramped, hot, smelly small kitchens.

Would not be fun to work in one.

Oh yeah I’ve talked to some people who work in them because often when I accept an order I have to wait awhile and I’ve asked and they said the same thing. Hot, cramped, chaotic, having to deal with rude and impatient drivers, and now they have these robots like Coco that deliver food to people nearby. Some of them are fully automated until they encounter a situation where a human needs to takeover remotely but they’re all over West LA.

https://www.cocodelivery.com/

[TheTravellers]

We must be in a very small minority - we never get delivery. Food quality is never as good delivered as when you eat it in the restaurant and we're not willing to sacrifice that (and yes, I know, sometimes there's no alternative, but we're lucky enough to be able to eat out wherever we want, whenever we want).

[Pete]

I think few people in OKC use food delivery services. I literally never have.

It's so easy to get around here that it's always easier just to go yourself.

Plus, eating out is a huge part of the OKC culture.

[ManAboutTown]

I think few people in OKC use food delivery services. I literally never have.

It's so easy to get around here that it's always easier just to go yourself.

Plus, eating out is a huge part of the OKC culture.

I have also never used a food delivery service, other than getting a pizza delivered a couple times a month.

I'm amazed at the number of people, including my kids, who DO use food delivery services. I'm definitely old school, but I can whip up a decent meal in my kitchen in less than 30 minutes that's less than half the price and probably tastes better. I truly believe that Americans have gotten lazy when it comes to eating.

[Pete]

I know there was a big pivot back to cooking at home due to the pandemic and inflation.

I eat out far less than I once did.

[gjl]

Seems like everywhere we go eat we see door dash type delivery people picking up food. You can tell because they are always doing something with their phone when they pick up the food.

[sooner88]

I think few people in OKC use food delivery services. I literally never have.

It's so easy to get around here that it's always easier just to go yourself.

Plus, eating out is a huge part of the OKC culture.

You'd be surprised how frequently it's used.

[Plutonic Panda]

I think few people in OKC use food delivery services. I literally never have.

It's so easy to get around here that it's always easier just to go yourself.

Plus, eating out is a huge part of the OKC culture.

When I was in Oklahoma City doing DoorDash and Uber eats, I was pretty busy. But that was closer during the pandemic. I know, especially out in Los Angeles. It has slowed down a little bit.

[CCOKC]

My two neighbors on either side of me use food delivery services for most every meal of every day. They are both men in their late 30s.

[Pete]

My two neighbors on either side of me use food delivery services for most every meal of every day. They are both men in their late 30s.

Food delivery is probably way more popular with people younger than me.

I never had it, apart from Orin's when I was at OU, mainly because they would take a check! Even now, for the occasional carry-out pizza I'll drive over to pick it up

[Libbymin]

You'd be surprised how frequently it's used.

This is very true. It's pretty surprising the amount of sales a lot of businesses in OKC get from these third party delivery companies. Even some breakfast places get a good volume from those delivery companies, which doesn't make a lot of sense to me since eggs and pancakes are not nearly as good lukewarm.

[Celebrator]

I have also never used a food delivery service, other than getting a pizza delivered a couple times a month.

I'm amazed at the number of people, including my kids, who DO use food delivery services. I'm definitely old school, but I can whip up a decent meal in my kitchen in less than 30 minutes that's less than half the price and probably tastes better. I truly believe that Americans have gotten lazy when it comes to eating.

All of this 100

[bamarsha]

Outside of the standard pizza delivery, I never get food delivered either. Who wants a soggy taco or whatever? However, I do see delivery drivers everywhere... fast food places seem to have more delivery drivers than dine in people these days.

[OkieBerto]

The generation that made Fast Food so popular is amazed that food delivery has become so popular?

[CaptDave]

I'll use UberEats when I don't have time to leave the building for lunch or have to work late. It's pretty convenient.

[Pete]

The generation that made Fast Food so popular is amazed that food delivery has become so popular?

The drive-thru has ramped up about 10-fold in just the last couple of decades.

I can't remember my family even using one (other than drive-ins) when I was a kid in the 60s and even very few in the 70s and into the 80s, when I was in high school and college. Maybe McDonalds but even then that was a small part of their business. Remember the big Playzones and big birthday parties? Those were a thing well into the 90s.

When I worked in commercial real estate in the 80s, I remember the local Taco Bell real estate rep said something like, "We don't care about highway access; people aren't going to eat tacos in their car". Think about TB drive-thru now and the number and volume done in fast-food places, with little to no indoor seatings.

When did Braum's get a drive-thru? I don't think it was until after the 80s. Their stores were very small, which they ultimately abandoned for much bigger facilities. The Braum's down the street from my house had maybe 15 parking spaces and no drive-thru. It wasn't fast-food then but is now.


No way you can pin the fast food on Boomers (I'm at the tail and end mostly deplore my generation), especially because when I was growing up very, very few mothers worked outside of the home. I'm not exaggerating that deep into the 70s we'd get food from a restaurant less than ten times a year, and it was usually Pizza Planet or a bucket of chicken, and KFC absolutely didn't have a drive-thru back then and was essentially a food stand, as was Taco Bell.

[TheTravellers]

This is very true. It's pretty surprising the amount of sales a lot of businesses in OKC get from these third party delivery companies. Even some breakfast places get a good volume from those delivery companies, which doesn't make a lot of sense to me since eggs and pancakes are not nearly as good lukewarm.

I can't think of a much more disgusting meal than a 30-40 minute old breakfast that's been sitting in a container for all that time.

[Pete]

I can't think of a much more disgusting meal than a 30-40 minute old breakfast that's been sitting in a container for all that time.

Or any meal sitting out forever waiting for pickup.

[OkieBerto]

The drive-thru has ramped up about 10-fold in just the last couple of decades.

I can't remember my family even using one (other than drive-ins) when I was a kid in the 60s and even very few in the 70s and into the 80s, when I was in high school and college. Maybe McDonalds but even then that was a small part of their business. Remember the big Playzones and big birthday parties? Those were a thing well into the 90s.

When I worked in commercial real estate in the 80s, I remember the local Taco Bell real estate rep said something like, "We don't care about highway access; people aren't going to eat tacos in their car". Think about TB drive-thru now and the number and volume done in fast-food places, with little to no indoor seatings.

When did Braum's get a drive-thru? I don't think it was until after the 80s. Their stores were very small, which they ultimately abandoned for much bigger facilities. The Braum's down the street from my house had maybe 15 parking spaces and no drive-thru.


No way you can pin the fast food on Boomers (I'm at the tail and end mostly deplore my generation), especially because when I was growing up very, very few mothers worked out of the home. I'm not exaggerating that deep into the 70s we'd get food from a restaurant less than ten times a year, and it was usually Pizza Planet or a bucket of chicken, and KFC absolutely didn't have a drive-thru back then and was essentially a food stand, as was Taco Bell.

I am mainly talking about my own generation. I am Gen-X and my Boomer parents both cooked 90% of the food I ate. Until they got a little older and then going out became more of a convenience. In my 20's I went out all the time mainly fast food, but now the only fast food I consume is Jersey Mikes or Panda Express. I am not a parent, but I am sure my kids would use fast food and food delivery a lot, but not because they would be lazy. It is just a result of an ever changing food industry.

Like remote work, food delivery became popular during and after covid. It has nothing to do with being lazy. I was just reacting to the lazy idea that people are lazy!

[Pete]

Dining trends are really interesting, as they are intertwined with American culture in so many ways.

Here's something that seems completely unbelievable: I graduated HS with almost 1,000 kids in 1978 and I didn't know a single person who had divorced parents. I'm sure there were a few, but I didn't know them and didn't even understand the concept.

That started to change just as we graduated, but growing up, I didn't know a single kid without both parents under the same roof. And moms not working outside the home had a lot to do with that because there was no way they could afford to leave. That started to change at the end of the 70s; Kramer vs. Kramer was groundbreaking in 1979.

It was really the 80s when women started seeking work, the divorce laws relaxed, and almost everything in our culture took a big pivot. And by the way, I am not pining for the 'good ol' days' where women had no choice but to stay in abusive relationships or just suffer in total unhappiness. I grew up in an upper-middle-class neighborhood and there was darkness in many households, including my own.

And when wives no longer stayed at home all day, that's when they would do carry out, as before that had been largely seen as a failure of being a homemaker. As an example, a non-negotiable for my mom would be getting down on her hands and knees to scrub the floor; never owned a mop.


There is a really good episode of Mad Men (although from the late 60s) where they were trying to put together an ad campaign for Burger Chef to get more women to bring their families or do carry-out. It was just a massive challenge back then. I know the only time we ever got a pizza or went out, my dad decided. My mom never would have suggested it.