Burger King Delivery

Up until now, the hardest thing about fast food was the long and dangerous journey to the burger joint, the wait on line behind low-wattage customers, and the calorie-laden trek home. But those days may soon be behind us! Behold, Burger King delivery!

From that writer's perspective, the service and product--what amounts to BK dropping by your house with your meal, for a slight delivery charge--was most excellent, in that the fries stayed fresh and the burger didn't soggy up the bun. (Granted, some nutritionist he quoted went all Debbie Downer with the whole "think of the calories!" hysteria, but I'm sure some clod complained when Edison invented the lightbulb that this would deprive future generations of the glories of candlewax pickings) Could this be the beginning of a new era for fast food? Service at home???

My initial reservations about the idea have always been based on two things--small dollar items not being cost effective to deliver, and the inability of the burger and fries to still taste good by the time they arrived at your door. As to the first concern, this can be solved with bulk order requirements (no different from Chinese places offering free delivery if you order above a certain dollar amount). Most often you'd order for burger/fry delivery when you're among others, or very very ravenous.

The second concern is trickier--fries notoriously have a very short tastiness window, and once cold they can never be reheated adequately (Lord knows I've tried). This is why at McDs they serve you the fries after everything else, and when they are hot out of the fryer. How can the fries survive a trip across town?

I have faith though--think of the innovations pizza delivery companies have come up with over the years to maintain freshness (I have to credit Dominos for this, as their pizza may not be very good they certainly have revolutionized the delivery system). Cardboard pizza boxes that retain heat and let moisture out; thermal sleeves that keep the temperature up; drivers who obey no traffic law devised by God or Man. I'm sure with the amount of money at stake that our burger/fry delivery folks will come up with ingenious solutions for their freshness problem in the coming years.

Just don't try adding deep fryers in the passenger seats. It creates more problems than it solves.