By Robert Kang, Growth Analyst
At DoorDash, we like data. Every day our algorithms take everything from traffic, to vehicle types, to food prep times into consideration to shave valuable seconds off your delivery. The new year is fast upon us — and with it, we’ve taken some time to look back at 2015 through the lens of DoorDash deliveries. So this week we counted the coffees, tabulated the tacos, and crunched the numbers to see what people like to order and eat around the country.
This year American food was the most ordered category across the country. Whether it was classic burgers and fries or bistro salads and sandwiches, American staples were nearly three times more popular via DoorDash than runner-up cuisines Mexican food and Italian (pizza). This trend persisted in almost all of our markets except a notable few, like Mediterranean food in Houston or Thai food in Minneapolis. (Clearly, Minnesotans know their way around a Pad Thai). And while The Big Apple is known as the reigning capital of pizza consumption, that dish sits low in its DoorDash popularity, with New Yorkers opting instead for perhaps less ubiquitous treats like Ice Cream.
Nationally, fries were the number one most popular item, followed by burgers, burritos, pad thai, and tikka masala. While Americans clearly love their burgers and fries, with Mexican, Thai, and Indian foods rounding out the top five most ordered items, we can see how our food interests also reflect the diversity of our country. That local flavor is even more pronounced when you dig into certain regions. For example, the most ordered item in the S.F. Bay Area was the burrito, while Chicagoans had hot dogs in their top five. Similarly, naan and wings show up much higher in Minneapolis while quesadillas were more popular in Orange County and San Diego. Shoutout to the Tex-Mex in Houston!
We also dug deeper into specific items. The data shows that we love cheese on our burgers, with cheeseburgers (and particularly bacon cheeseburgers) as the top types of burgers ordered, followed by hamburger, double patty and turkey burger. While the Margherita pizza was the most popular nationally, the next four all have meat topping: pepperoni, BBQ chicken, salsiccia (sausage) and Hawaiian.
This has also been a busy year at DoorDash HQ. We started off 2015 with just four markets and over the past 12 months, we’ve added another 18 markets — including two in Canada — for a total of 22 markets covering more than 250 cities. We’re now working with tens of thousands of restaurants, including top global brands like Dunkin’ Donuts and KFC. We also have tens of thousands of dashers delivering fresh, delicious meals directly to your door, rain or shine, 365 days a year.
As we welcome 2016, we couldn’t be more excited to continue fulfilling our mission of empowering local economies through last mile delivery. Keep an eye out for new cities, new restaurants, and even better DoorDash technology to bring you the best of your city. Happy Holidays!
