Some Foods Don't Travel Well
Delivery should mean getting restaurant-quality food right to your couch, but unfortunately, not every dish survives the trip to your door. Steam, melting ice, and even an extra 15 minutes in someone’s backseat can completely change the texture of a meal you would've otherwise eaten fresh. Before you whip out your phone, it’s worth thinking about how these 20 foods are best enjoyed on-site instead.
1. French Fries
Hot fries are great right out of the fryer, but delivery ruins what we love most about them. In reality, they have plenty of time to lose everything you ordered them for. Trapped steam softens the crisp exterior, and cooling oil can leave fries limp and noticeably greasier than they were at the restaurant.
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2. Nachos
There's a reason restaurants package the chips and toppings separately when you order nachos to go. Once you add all the wet ingredients on top, like salsa, queso, sour cream, or beans, those chips absorb moisture and quickly lose their crunch. A loaded plate of nachos from your favorite spot may look impressive on the menu, but opening a container of damp chips isn't the same.
3. Ice Cream Sundaes
You don't need us to tell you the problem with having an ice cream sundae driven across town. Hot fudge, whipped cream, and scoops of vanilla ice cream? Those all turn into one sweet puddle, and you’ll only get a bigger mess in the summertime. Even if the restaurant is next door, you’re better off just going there yourself.
4. Fried Calamari
Calamari has a fairly narrow window between being crisp and rubbery—even in the restaurant. During delivery, however, its coating softens while the squid just keeps on cooling, so you're often left with a texture that doesn't resemble what you wanted. Reheating doesn't solve the issue either, which makes this an expensive appetizer to gamble on.
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5. Eggs Benedict
Poached eggs, English muffins, Canadian bacon, and hollandaise all act differently when they're sitting in a takeout box. The muffin can soak up sauce, the hollandaise usually separates, and those carefully cooked eggs don't stay at their ideal temperature. Brunch delivery sounds good on a lazy Sunday, but Eggs Benedict is one order that's usually worth putting on actual pants for.
6. Mozzarella Sticks
The appeal of a mozza stick depends on that first hot cheese pull. Guess what you won’t get during delivery! Give it enough time in a bag and the breading softens while the mozzarella firms back up, leaving you with something dense and unsatisfying. You can microwave them, sure, but then you're just trying to save an app that would've been perfect at the restaurant.
7. Steak
A ribeye doesn't stay medium-rare while it's sealed inside a warm container. The reality is that residual heat continues affecting the meat after it leaves the kitchen, and by the time dinner arrives, that expensive steak will likely be cooler and more cooked than you wanted. When you're paying steakhouse prices for a filet mignon, you might as well just go to the steakhouse.
8. Waffles
We won’t lie—restaurants are more than capable of plating waffles with crisp edges and fluffy centers. But that’s only because they go from the iron to your plate almost immediately. Delivery forces those same waffles to sit in their own steam, and adding syrup before transport only speeds up the softening process.
9. Tempura
Great tempura is exceptionally light. The whole appeal is the delicate coating, and said coating doesn't handle enclosed containers well. Shrimp, sweet potato, and vegetable options begin steaming as soon as they're boxed, gradually replacing that crisp finish with a much softer one.
10. Milkshakes
A thick chocolate milkshake is amazing when you can barely pull it through the straw, not when it arrives with the consistency of flavored milk. Delivery time allows the frozen base to melt and any whipped cream on top to collapse, and it’s only worse if your driver has several stops to make.
11. Grilled Cheese
Few dishes depend so heavily on two contrasting textures as a grilled cheese sandwich. You want crisp, buttery bread surrounding soft melted cheese, but trapping the two in a box only allows moisture to soften the exterior while the filling cools and stiffens. Talk about a waste of money.
12. Onion Rings
Onion rings experience many of the same issues as fries, except their heavier breading actually makes the decline even worse. Instead of that sharp crunch you'd expect from freshly fried rings, you’re just stuck with a soft coating that separates from the onion when you take a bite.
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13. Rare Burgers
Forget about McDonald’s for a second—ordering a proper burger becomes more complicated when it needs to spend additional time in a warm package. A medium-rare restaurant patty can keep cooking slightly after leaving the grill, and the juices now have extra time to soak into the bottom bun. If you're particular about how your burger’s cooked, eating it straight from the kitchen is the only way to go.
14. Churros
Fresh churros should arrive hot enough that their cinnamon sugar still feels like part of the experience. After sitting in a container, however, the fried dough loses its crispness, and worse still, the coating gets damp. For such a simple dessert, freshness makes an enormous difference.
15. Caesar Salad With Dressing
Remember what we said about wet ingredients? Well, Caesar dressing tossed with romaine is one of the worst examples of it. Before the order even leaves, the leaves are too soft to enjoy, and the croutons aren't safe from the moisture either. Ask for everything separately to avoid turning a crisp Caesar into a disappointing lunch.
16. Cheese Fries
If regular fries already face an uphill battle, covering them with melted cheese doesn't improve their chances. Cheese sauce settles into the fries as they travel, creating a dense combination that leaves you with a soggy mess long before you've opened the bag. Add chili, bacon, or gravy, and you're asking for even more problems.
17. Soufflé
You don't see soufflé on many delivery menus, and there's a reason for that. This famously delicate dish loses its height after it leaves the oven, so a long journey in the car works against the presentation and texture. If a restaurant offers a chocolate or cheese soufflé, eat it there and enjoy it while it's still fresh.
18. Hash Browns
Thin, golden hash browns from a diner are at their best when the outside has plenty of crunch with a soft potato inside. Put them underneath eggs or beside steaming breakfast meats in a closed container, and you won’t have either of those traits.
19. Brownies With Ice Cream
That brownie won’t save your ice cream, trust us. If anything, combining the duo for delivery just means you've placed two ingredients that require opposite temperatures in the same order, and neither one will arrive as intended. Unless the restaurant packages everything separately, save that brownie à la mode for a night out.
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20. Crispy Tacos
A crunchy taco shell doesn't have much defense against juicy meat, salsa, tomatoes, sour cream, and a lengthy ride. Moisture works its way into the shell, leaving you with a taco that may crack unpredictably or simply bend when you pick it up. If Taco Tuesday is happening at home, soft tacos, burritos, or a build-your-own kit are much safer choices.
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