Fastest Delivery in NYC?

[mikeycook]

I live approx. 11 blocks (N/S) from Republic in Union Square and I am continually amazed at the speed at which they deliver food. I will not claim them as a top choice based on their food, but based on delivery speed, they are unsurpassed in my estimation.

Over the past 2 weeks, I have ordered from them twice. The first delivery, last week, arrived exactly 10 minutes from the time I hung up the phone. Last night we ordered again and this time they were slower, a whopping 12 minutes. Since they presumably need to communicate the order to the kitchen, cook the food, package it, get it to a delivery person and send them 1/2 mile to my apartment, I am incredulous that they can do all of that in 10-12 minutes. We order frequently from Cozy Soup & Burger, which is within our building, and it is very rare they deliver anything in 12 minutes (although they are fast).

A couple of questions:

1. Who has the fastest delivery in your neighborhood? I would restrict this to places that prepare hot food for comparison.

2. How can a place like this prepare and deliver food so quickly?

[weinoo]

1. Who has the fastest delivery in your neighborhood?  I would restrict this to places that prepare hot food for comparison.

2. How can a place like this prepare and deliver food so quickly?

←

We order from Congee Village on Allen St. and Pho Grand on Grand St. We're probably 1/2 mile away from both. They are incredibly fast, but I think your 10 minutes from Republic may well be a record!

[MBShapiro]

I'm not sure if this is the answer, but one way they could get the food out so fast is bringing you food that was destined for another table. This could easily happen if:

a) the restaurant does a lot of volume, which republic certainly does at certain times

b) you order items that get ordered a lot and get made a lot

let's say you put in an order for gyoza and spring rolls. they are really busy and putting out a lot of orders of both of these things. therefore, it would be really easy to just bump up the ticket for your food and take the next order of each of those things and send them on a bike out to you. maybe they value their delivery business a lot and prioritize it like that...

another possibility is that you're ordering things that don't take very long to make. IIRC, waiters at republic have wireless order taking devices that send right to the kitchen from the table. thus, your order would already be in the kitchen as soon as you hang up. if it gets made right away, it wouldn't take more than 7-8 minutes, depending on what you order, and a bike from there to where you live (i think i live in that building too, btw, with cozy downstairs) would only take 3 or so minutes...

those are just a few thoughts, but it certainly is mind blowing

[Sethro]

Lenny's (84th st location). Sometimes my order will arrive in under 5 minutes, no exageration. I live only a few blocks away, granted, but still.

[Dryden]

We've found that with Republic over the years as well. They are faster than anyone, on everything - no idea how they do it.

[Fat Guy]

When I was in law school, my friend Jon and I used to study late into the night, and we’d often order delivery from Dumpling King (on First Avenue between 82nd and 83rd). In addition to having very good (one would hope) dumplings, Dumpling King had the fastest delivery of any restaurant I’d ever experienced. Compared to Dumpling King, Domino’s Pizza is the slow boat to China, a zeppelin to Dumpling King’s stealth fighter.

Since we had never been to the restaurant in person, we imagined that Dumpling King was actually a mobile restaurant kitchen in a van. We theorized that, as soon as the kitchen’s supercomputer detected our call, its artificial-intelligence algorithms plotted our location on a map and started driving towards us at high speeds, a team of cooks yelling and clanking on their woks while trying to maintain balance through the sharp turns, the computer all the while asserting control over traffic signals and monitoring the police band.

By the time we spoke the order to the woman on the phone, and she tabulated the price and reported it back to us, they were ringing the buzzer to come up to the apartment with steaming hot food. Or, at least, it felt that way.

[raji]

We've found that with Republic over the years as well.  They are faster than anyone, on everything - no idea how they do it.

←

Spice is pretty quick too...

I think the nature of most chinese food (not referring to spice), everything prepped, cooked at high heat in a wok... allows super-quick delivery - and they're certainly known for their efficiency... and I think for Lunch specials I imagine all the popular items have been cooked ahead of time -

The exception was also Grand Sichuan Int'l, chelsea or midtown, but everything seems to be cooked to order there and they are not your typical Chinese delivery -

Probably Empire szechuan in their heyday was the fastest...

I recall getting large pizzas delivered pretty damn quickly.. and by nature they have to be at your door PDQ, even with the advent of those super-insulated bags....

the local delis have always been quick, again cuz those sandwiches can be turned around in like 3 minutes