Spoilt for choice

Maybe it's just me, but I eat a lot of takeout. Like, far more than I should. I blame it on the fact that cooking for one person means tons of leftovers and I have a one portion of leftover maximum threshold. Now, if I'm already out and about I will often pick up my eats, but pickings are pretty slim here in the North End (in terms of variety at least) so I have been known to order in, especially if I've already changed into my pj's or my "let's get some crap around the house done" clothes - What Not to Wear imprinted in my mind that I'm not supposed to go out of the house in these sorts of things...

So although no bribery was really necessary as I have ordered from Skip the Dishes before, the good folk over there are trying to get the word out about their great service and may have enticed me to sit my butt down, stop procrastinating, and write a blog post. I may or may not have been stuffing my face as I wrote this post.

If you haven't used them before, the premise is this, go online, enter your postal code and what time you would like your food (either picked up or delivery) and up pops the options - and we're not just talking your standard pizza and Chinese food delivery options, although of course those are in the mix as well. The food of the world is at your fingertips - Canadian, Japanese, Ethiopian, Chinese, Middle-Eastern, Thai, Vietnamese, Korean, Indian and more; you can even get your sweet tooth on from places like Cake-ology, Goodie's and, drool, Johnnie's Sticky Buns. I opted for Chaise Cafe, which I hadn't yet had a chance to try in person - it was good value and delicious, two of my favourite things! And I'm not just saying that because I'm writing this post :)

A few little details that I like about Skip the Dishes? Well, the delivery fee, which varies from restaurant to restaurant, all goes to the "Food Courier" (aka Delivery Driver) as does any tip you may leave. I like that they're up front about that. They offer local chat help on the website, which goes a long way in my books - I've become quite frustrated with websites offering "help" that is really just a call (typing?) centre that will have the business in question give you a phone call later (all car dealerships please take note of this - this is not useful, if I wanted to talk to someone, I would have called in the first place).

Things I find a little quirky about the site are things like 99 Cent Pizza is a restaurant option, and they have a $5 minimum order and free delivery; this would be great except that the cheapest thing on their available menu is $14.99?? In general I find that the "minimum order" amount is a little strange - I mean, if you're willing to pay the delivery fee, what difference does it make what you order? Most don't seem to have a minimum order though and there are even a few that waive the delivery fee with a fairly small order ($10-$15) - I checked and they (Skip the Dishes) pay the food courier what the delivery fee would have been in those cases, so no need to worry that your desire to be frugal is costing someone else their income :)

Finally, if work or pleasure happens to bring you to Calgary, Saskatoon, Regina or Red Deer, fear not you don't need to blindly navigate your way around those cities trying to find something good to eat as Skip the Dishes will bring some of the best of those cities straight to your hotel room.

*Fear not readers, I'm not going to turn into one of those insincere blogs that is constantly pitching things yada yada yada. It just so happens I love eating and I love Winnipeg so occasionally if some PR person sends something my way and I think that there is a way I can be genuine about telling people about it or if I think people will want to know about it (hello IKEA opening!) then heck ya, this poor two-job working blogger may jump on the bandwagon! That said, I won't hold back my real feelings so if something sucks I will let you know (probably best that PR people realize that before sending me ridiculous things/ideas, I have at least a few morals left!)