In the early days of the pandemic, people got used to eating their restaurant food at home. Today, they’re back in restaurant dining rooms — but still prefer to get meals via the drive-thru, a pickup window or delivery more than they did before. Meanwhile, restaurants are adapting not only to changing consumer behaviors, but to new industry conditions, like a drop in available workers after many exited the sector in recent years. Here’s how things have changed.
Some restaurant operators ended up partnering with smaller providers that offered better rates or were more attentive. Ultimately, major players offered restaurants more options, including tiers of service at lower costs. Still, delivery isn’t a great deal for most restaurants, said Pawlak. “I think restauranteurs still will tell you that for them [third-party delivery] … still is a difficult proposition, from a profitability standpoint.