As a NYC resident, I don’t order delivery as a rule. If you live in New York City and are an active, healthy adult, there’s really no excuse. You should feel a deep shame when a poorly paid deliveryman knocks on your door, having traveled .3 miles in the rain while your ass was on the couch. If you rely on unprotected contingent labor for something as easily obtainable as food from a nearby restaurant, you‘re going to be on the wrong end of the pitchforks. (You still can change that, though!)

Ester’s point about menus is the trickier one, in my opinion. Although my local restaurants have improved over the last couple of years, I am often baffled at their inability to keep updated menus on their websites, and to pick up their phones! And how about some basic marketing: If a restaurant is paying a 15% commission for Seamless orders, they should offer direct customers a 5% discount. Restaurants definitely need to up their game here.

That said, if you are like me, your stable of takeout places isn’t huge. If you want your favorite local restaurants to thrive, why not make the effort to collect paper menus from the places you frequent, and actually call in your order? And there’s no harm in telling the proprietor that she needs to update her online presence and obtain an extra phone line. She’ll appreciate that you were trying to save them the commission.