Carryout: At What Point Do You Fold?

[DonRocks]

1 hour ago, Bart said:

I know I'm screaming into the void here, but I wish they would go back to the ala carte menu, or at least have the option of tasting menu and ala carte menu. 

This is an industry(*)-wide issue - two nights ago, I refused to get carryout, from anywhere, given the current QPR.

(*) And it extends far beyond the industry from my perspective. It’s as if everyone is raising prices because everyone else is raising prices.

[Bart]

QPR?

[DonRocks]

4 minutes ago, Bart said:

QPR?

I’d normally answer “Quality-Price Ratio,” but with all the shrinkflation, I’ll say “Quantity-Price Ratio.”

I randomly noticed the other day that 28-ounce (28, not 32) containers of Gatorade are something like $3.39. Last time I had one, they were more like 32 ounces for $1.89.

[Keithstg]

19 hours ago, DonRocks said:

This is an industry(*)-wide issue - two nights ago, I refused to get carryout, from anywhere, given the current QPR.

(*) And it extends far beyond the industry from my perspective. It’s as if everyone is raising prices because everyone else is raising prices.

Carryout is generally horrendous QPR (Q as in quality, not quantity), IMO. Very few things stand up well to it.

[DonRocks]

6 hours ago, Keithstg said:

Carryout is generally horrendous QPR (Q as in quality, not quantity), IMO. Very few things stand up well to it.

Not to mention the environmental cost of having a few bites of food wrapped in polyethylene (tritely marketed as “plastic”) which will be around long after the bones, all the bones, have decomposed.

[Pat]

Pizza usually holds up. Most soups. Other things vary a lot. I'd rather do carryout than delivery in many cases because I at least know roughly how long the food will be in transit and can plan for that. And I have control over the actual food.

One pandemic era scene I will not forgot (and I don't think I've gotten delivery since, but I wasn't getting much anyway, except groceries) was a weekday afternoon at The Roost. I had stopped in the restroom and there were two women in there, one of whom was kind of babbling, like maybe she was high on something. She had an older woman with her. They were fussing around with something but I didn't see quite what. I ran into them again outside, as the younger woman was doing something with a food container she was carrying and had set down. The other woman was advising her on how to rearrange the food inside so no one would know what was missing. Yeah.

I'll edit this to make it sort of consistent with what Don asks in the subject. I live within reasonable walking distance of at least 4 places I can get pizza, which is my most frequent carryout. I'm talking within a mile-ish. Those 4 would be Slice Joint, Paccis, Della Barba, and Tunnicliffs. (There's also the pinsa place on 7th, which I have still not tried; not talking about chains, including Spike's WTP.)

My favorite by far is Slice Joint, but it is expensive. I tend to get the largest pizza, though. I often get just cheese or maybe one topping, and we're looking at $30 for a pizza. It's worth it, but it's the longest walk and I don't do it real often. Their service is spectacular. That's a damn lot of money for a pizza.

Della Barba's pizzas are much smaller. Service can be weird. Depending on the type of pizza and maybe an extra topping or two, we're looking mid-20s and up. It's convenient, if they're actually open.

I've only gotten one pizza at Pacci's. It's neopolitan style but was way too wet even for that. Service was, eh. I want to support them more than I am. I recall that being medium sized and low-20s.

Tunnicliffs pizza is good bar pizza. It's 4th of 4 here. I will get mushroom and pepperoni or just margherita. It comes in under $20. (Their breakfast pizza is quite good, but I don't order that to take out.)

What I realize writing this is that Paccis is the loser, not because of anything bad about them but because of the combination of factors that come into play. They're not the cheapest and not the best, and their direct competition (Della Barba) has multiple styles of pizza.

[DonRocks]

3 hours ago, Pat said:

I'll edit this to make it sort of consistent with what Don asks in the subject.

[Even our Ace has forgotten! People can write whatever they want to - I’ll change the title accordingly (or move the posts into a more topical thread, eg, if a thread is titled “Bread,” and someone posts about “Butter,” I’ll move that into the Butter thread, with a snapback link to the Bread thread.)]

3 hours ago, Pat said:

My favorite by far is Slice Joint, but it is expensive. I tend to get the largest pizza, though. I often get just cheese or maybe one topping, and we're looking at $30 for a pizza. It's worth it, but it's the longest walk and I don't do it real often. Their service is spectacular. That's a damn lot of money for a pizza.

And I was going to get carryout from Kismet (which is the best Indian restaurant in the area that I’m aware of), but one look at their menu made me cringe. I could swear, for example, that the Dal Makhani ($15) and Pindi Chickpeas ($15) were both $13 just a month ago, although I’m not certain. This restaurant was already cringey-expensive for carryout, but it’s so good that I close my eyes and order; not this time. (This is why I usually write prices down, and encourage others to do the same - sort of a historical record, so to speak).

[Bart]

On 1/10/2024 at 5:18 PM, Pat said:

I live within reasonable walking distance of at least 4 places.... [snip].....not talking about chains

How can you eliminate the pizza mecca that is Barracks Row?!?!   There's &Pizzia, and a couple doors down is Ledo Pizza, and RIGHT NEXT DOOR is Pizza Boli and on the next block in Xtreem Pizza.  Oy veh!  Four pizza joints within 100 yards and not one of them is worth a damn.

But you should try La Casina DC at Eastern Market.  Their pizzas are great, but pricey.  They run from $18 - $25 for what is essentially a pizza for one and they have some cool/weird options like a Carbonara pizza or a Cacio de Peppe Pizza.  https://lacasinadc.us/washington-capitol-hill-la-casina-food-menu