In a DoorDash economy, “the food” matters more

IN MY marketing career, I worked with restaurant clients. When I would ask what set apart their restaurant, the answer was always the same: “Our food!”

Nope. 

For one thing, “our food tastes good” is hardly a unique much less a compelling claim.

For another, in general in the restaurant biz--exceptions acknowledged—the first marketing peg is location. The second is the experience you create for diners, e.g., setting, look, service, lighting, furnishings, acoustics, and so forth. Food comes in third. A great location paired with a good experience can do well with average fare. Think Old Spaghetti Factory, Applebee’s, or Chili’s. But when location and the diner experience fall short, great food will be hard–pressed to make up the difference.

But today there’s a caveat. The above priorities apply only for dining in.

Delivery services like DoorDash and GrubHub render location irrelevant. Attractive packaging, if a restaurant is smart enough to use it, can somewhat enhance the diner experience, but only to a point. For the most part, when food is but mediocre, a delivery service lays bare the mediocrity.

I personally have been surprised when GrubHub brings food from a favorite place and, with one bite, I realize it’s not as good as I’d thought. Now, some of that is due to 30 to 40 minutes of sitting on the passenger seat of a Prius. But much of it also has to do with the fact that I’m not seated in a place with great interior design, attentive waiters, swirling aromas, and, perhaps, a date I’m hoping to impress.

I learned the hard way that some plates lose their luster long before reaching my door. Steak? Don’t even try. But some types of fare make the journey quite well. Asian cuisine, for instance. Din Tai Fung manages to arrive fully equipped to make my taste buds stand up and sing hymns.

Which brings us back to the problem stated above: “our food tastes good” is hardly a unique much less a compelling claim.

Good luck to restaurateurs in a DoorDash economy.

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