By Heather Flett
Between my regular life as a parent of three busy children and my temporary situation as a part-time home renovator, I have tested local food delivery services to the limit over the past few months.
My favorite for fresh restaurant-quality food:
San Francisco’s Munchery wins hands-down as long as I remember to order before the 2pm cut-off. My children LOVE the salted chocolate chip cookie and have come to expect it when they see the telltale Munchery bag around. One of my children declared it, “Always delicious” and I tend to agree. Since meals are prepared by restaurant chefs, many of the food choices are creative. Always fresh because I finish the cooking at my house right before serving.
My favorite for the fastest food in town:
I am lucky to live on a busy corridor in town and the SpoonRocket vehicles are nearly always within a ten-minute delivery window. The food is hot and ready to go when I grab it from the driver curbside. Our reactions have been mixed on the taste; I find the portions large enough to share with a child or plan for leftovers. I love their smoothies and efforts toward healthier, organic, and paleo fare.
I’m sorry to report that service to the Berkeley Hills varies from what I experience, but my creative friend once ordered her SpoonRocket to a Walgreens parking lot and it worked just fine.
My favorites for variety:
Several services now will order from an area restaurant and bring it to your door. I admit, I check for coupons before deciding between DoorDash, Caviar, PostMates, and Eat24. Their offerings are so similar, I often do not remember from whom I last ordered Toss (noodle bar), Phil’s Sliders (burgers), Rangoon Superstar (Burmese), Anchalee (Thai), or Perdition (BBQ).
My biggest lesson learned is that you should NOT try to customize a standard menu item when ordering food this way. I have discovered that there are too many opportunities for human error and if there is a way to accidentally add cilantro to my dish, it will happen with driver, service, and restaurant all shrugging that it wasn’t their fault. Pick places you like with menu items you like, and wait about an hour for it to show up at your house.
Heather Flett is the founder of 510families.com, a website to help parents have hecka fun with their kids. Find more great services that make it easier for Berkeley families on our East Bay Home Delivery Guide.
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