Indian restaurant with takeaway service

We eat out at lunch time. The restaurant is quiet, no take aways or deliveries and our meal has time to digest before we go to bed, so we do not wake up in the night with galloping indigestion.

My local pizza express has rejigged the entrance so the delivery drivers come through the 1st door, ring a bell and the food is passed through a serving hatch so they never open the 2nd/inner door

madeleine45

I have always been a trouble shooter, It was my job and I am an eldest too. So for things like this it is the way that you tell it!! We went to a chinese that is very good and the same thing kept happening about draughts etc. I know the manager so called him across and told him a) how cold we were finding it and that we would not stay for any sweet or coffee but go home earlier. That he must be losing custom from this situation as most people just dont go back or let him know why b) suggested a way he could make a change at the entrance so that with only the cost of another door he could make sure that the delivery people went through one towards the kitchen , which stopped heat being lost in the restaurant c) reminded him that whilst we may not come several times a week but we were regulars as were other friends of ours , and that if this continued he would lose up all together.
He listened, spoke to his delivery drivers and at first they went round to the kitchen door, which was a bit of a pain, but helped the people in the restaurant. Then he got the new door put in and did very well as it solved the problem, I was very pleased that he had taken notice of my ideas and therefore go back to them more than I used to and telling other people about what they did , other people came to join them too. So I think look at the problem, see if you can think of a way round it, speak to the owner or manager. Maybe there are not able to do anything but at least they can listen to your comments and be aware of the problem

👍🏻 madeleine45. So constructive!

This was a Thai restaurant but same applies - we were being ignored at our table in favour of the take away trade and actually had to ring in to them to get some attention .

Haven't experienced that in Indian or any restaurant that does takeaway or home delivery. They seem to have another access point for drivers. For collecting a takeaway the two I use most have little seating areas like an annex or corridor where the carrier bag is brought to you. Don't think I'd fancy drivers traipsing in and out the main restaurant. I too would be giving them a miss for dining in.

When I take DGS1 out, it’s a treat to go to McDonalds on the way home. However, last Friday he wanted to go to the ‘drive-thru’ because he said that last time he ate inside it took too long for his meal to arrive.
DD1 later told me she’d been at the ‘drive-thru’ a couple of times and been told to park elsewhere to await her order, as they were so busy with the Deliveroo orders and she (and others) had been ignored for almost an hour! The third time it happened, she refused to move from the window and her order was handed over in record time!

We don’t like Indian food and we don’t order to eat at home either. I don’t like the idea of all the fuel that’s used in delivering to individual houses, plus it’s unhealthy and expensive. We’ve tried takeaway pizzas in the past, but they’re no better than supermarket ones which take minutes to cook in the oven. The only takeaway we use is our chippy when we’re actually passing anyway. Their homemade cheese and onion pie is delicious! 😋 They do take telephone orders, but I don’t think they deliver.

Goldieoldie15

Have a take away, take it home. Clearly

We thought it would be special if we dined in, big mistake.

mabon1

Stop visiting.

We certainly won’t be going back for a long time.

We frequent a couple of Indian Restaurants near us and both are excellent BUT they both do a takeaway service and regularly have delivery drivers waiting on an order or members of public dropping in to cleat their orders.

I imagine it is the takeaway service that keeps these businesses afloat but it does tend to 'sour' a visit when random people hang around close to where the diners are sitting.

Our local Indian restaurant has a separate entrance for take away and home delivery. The restaurant is always very welcoming and the food is excellent. It’s not the cheapest one locally, but the food and the service is worth the extra few pounds.

It’s been my experience too and even noticed it when abroad on holiday. Companies should really have noticed and sorted it by now.

it is a similar issue with local shops that advertise deliveries of groceries within the hour. At the local Co-op the staff had to fill a couple of carrier bags with food which made the queues longer than they should be. not sure if it is Uber or Deliveroo but even the Tesco Express has staff occupied with filling bags rather than serving customers

Our fave greasy spoon, which also does Mediterranean, salads, pasta you name it, does a lot of takeaways. Also rushing stuff out to people in wrongly parked cars. We have people in helmets in and out lots of people eat in and the door is positioned to avoid icy blasts. Service very good, they remember what we usually have. So it can work.

Ideally delivery drivers would be able to collect from the back door. Would probably make it easier and safer to park their mopeds too.

I have some Indian friends who have had their own restaurant for years. Two years ago they realised there was a problem with couriers, their own delivery team and customers collecting takeaway, constantly coming through the door, so they made some alterations. They built a small lobby in the entrance area, with a door to the main restaurant and a separate door to a service counter serving the takeaway trade. Dining-in customers entered the restaurant and takeaway customers, delivery staff and couriers entered the service area door, problem solved! He did lose half his front bar area and one table for four, but he said sooner that than have many dissatisfied customers and lose trade! He is a very shrewd businessman and has an extremely successful, popular restaurant, in an area where many have closed, especially recently!

Our local fish and chip shop always has delivery people hovering around waiting for orders.
We quite often have to wait a long time for our own order.

Luckily it’s not a restaurant but a takeaway.

It’s a similar routine in Costa Coffee.
Delivery drivers being served before customers.

I got fed up once of waiting and left,

Our favourite High Street pizza restaurant has the same problem, but its glass frontage wouldn’t allow for the fitting of a second door, alas. Excellent idea, nonetheless.

I have always been a trouble shooter, It was my job and I am an eldest too. So for things like this it is the way that you tell it!! We went to a chinese that is very good and the same thing kept happening about draughts etc. I know the manager so called him across and told him a) how cold we were finding it and that we would not stay for any sweet or coffee but go home earlier. That he must be losing custom from this situation as most people just dont go back or let him know why b) suggested a way he could make a change at the entrance so that with only the cost of another door he could make sure that the delivery people went through one towards the kitchen , which stopped heat being lost in the restaurant c) reminded him that whilst we may not come several times a week but we were regulars as were other friends of ours , and that if this continued he would lose up all together.
He listened, spoke to his delivery drivers and at first they went round to the kitchen door, which was a bit of a pain, but helped the people in the restaurant. Then he got the new door put in and did very well as it solved the problem, I was very pleased that he had taken notice of my ideas and therefore go back to them more than I used to and telling other people about what they did , other people came to join them too. So I think look at the problem, see if you can think of a way round it, speak to the owner or manager. Maybe there are not able to do anything but at least they can listen to your comments and be aware of the problem

Aveline

Drafty!! Cote restaurants are otherwise excellent.

Agreed! Great for brunch, too - we once had a large extended family brunch at the Festival Hall Cote - an excellent selection of dishes, plus Mimosas (aka Bucks Fizz) and very reasonably priced.

Drafty!! Cote restaurants are otherwise excellent.

Witzend snap! There's a curtain round the door area but it's generally so crafty that we always ask for a table further in to the restaurant. Apart from that it's our favourite place for a meal out. I dislike Indian food and prefer to eat Chinese food in an actual restaurant.

Same ere I'm afraid and it gets very draughty. We don't go often= too lazy to go out on a Winter's night.

Lemongrass - takeaway deliveries are not cheap, but often the total cost is cheaper than eating in the restaurant if you provide your own drinks and wine etc at home. And you can better wor out the cost of a takeaway before you order. We’ve come to prefer them post-Covid, fewer germs around too!

Re the cold, because of the door constantly being opened, I’ve found the same in a Cote Brasserie (no takeaways) in central London. People who were arriving kept standing in the doorway - instead of coming in and shutting it. More than once I had to call, ‘Could you please shut the door? It’s very cold outside!’