16th Street to the West
Upshur Street to the North
Georgia Avenue to New Hampshire Avenue to Sherman Avenue to the East
U Street to the South
Michael at Pete's says they could limit that delivery area depending on how service goes and he noted that it's a completely new venture for them with new drivers, etc. Once they get their delivery system sorted out, they plan to add Mt. Pleasant and then possibly Petworth.
There will be a delivery charge - $3 per address.
10 comments:
A delivery charge? Their pizza isn't cheap to begin with. The base price with no toppings is 19 bucks.
Add tax, a couple toppings, $3 for delivery + $3 for a tip, and it's well over 30 bucks for one damn pizza! Can you imagine ordering two pies and shelling out 60 bucks? I don't care how good it is... that's crazy.
I can't imagine I'll be that lazy... glad I live two blocks from Red Rocks. Not cheap either but not THAT expensive. And better (in my opinion). For lazy time, I'll still be calling Domino's where I can get three mediocre pizzas for 15 bucks.
Wow, their delivery area stops 3.5 blocks from their restaurant. What is the point of that?
I didn't even notice that before but a couple things come to mind.
1) With this small an area, why bother with "drivers?" Where on earth are they going to park near Pete's itself? Why not just use bicycle delivery?
2) The obvious reason for limiting it to 3 blocks east and west. We don't want to go to the shady areas east of Sherman Avenue, but if didn't restrict it equally to the west, we'd be called out as discriminating.
Not totally related, but not totally unrelated anecdote: I discovered Monday that Sala Thai on 13th and U will deliver to me in Columbia Heights, at 11th and Otis. A solid mile away. This is the only place I know of other than local pizza and chinese joints that will deliver to my address, and it's welcome news. Not the best Thai in DC but a far cry from the worst too.
Hey guys, the delivery zone shown on the map is for the first few weeks. We've never delivered before. We can't start out too big, or everyone will be mad.
As you can see from the map, the zone is more north-south oriented (that's Columbia Heights) than east-west oriented. And since we're a restaurant first and foremost, not a delivery business, we are adding a fee for the service. Delivery charges are the rule these days, not the exception, and that includes Dominos!
We'll keep you posted as we figure the system out, navigate traffic patterns, and re-examine the map.
Thanks for your support!
I'm all in favor of it and wish you success but the price point when you add a fee & tip is bordering on kind of crazy for a pizza. Just something to think about.
I have no idea how your numbers work but I am guessing the cost of materials for a pizza is less than 5 bucks. When I worked for Domino's years ago it was about a dollar per pie.
I'm not saying you are overcharging, I get that most of that money goes into rent and upkeep and utes and so on. So all that overhead is basically fixed. You have extra capacity to offer delivery. So why add a delivery charge? The drivers will earn what, ten bucks an hour? Probably less than the profit from a single pie.
I think that extra 3 bucks may put enough people over the edge to say "forget it" than it costs you more money than it earns you.
Anyway just my opinion. And I don't think delivery charges are the norm. I have never been charged one from a local restaurant before. Except, as you say, by Domino's. But they charge a dollar and their pizza is about 1/3 as expensive to begin with.
Just for comparison, a large pizza from Pizza Hut is $19, and they tack on a $2 delivery charge.
I can't WAIT for July 7th!!
Jeez, Jaime's got so many criticisms, I can't understand why he/she hasn't opened their own pizza parlor.
I think its great that Pete's is starting delivery, I think it is reasonable to add a fee--the cost has to come somewhere, if not through a fee then they'll just increase the price of the pizza, I think progressively expanding delivery makes sense, and anyone can tell just by looking at a map that organizing deliveries to utilize the north-south thoroughfares is the most efficient.
"think it is reasonable to add a fee--the cost has to come somewhere, if not through a fee then they'll just increase the price of the pizza"
I guess you didn't understand my last post. Most of their costs are fixed -- pizza ingredients are cheap, rent is not. Selling more pizza will make them more money, period. The fee will not change that equation very much, but might cause some people to do the math and be like, wtf? $3 on top of a $25 pizza?
For the record you can get 2 large 3 topping pizzas from Pizza Hut for $19.99 in Columbia Heights right now. I just went on their web site. This is a special (and there is always a special). Besides, a large pizza at the regular price is $12.99, not $19.99.
That would be $53 from Pete's.
The whole point of my criticism is because I WANT them to be successful. If I didn't give a crap, I wouldn't be here. There pizza is way better than Pizza Hut and I would rather patronize them. But ignoring the competition is stupid, and $30+ is a lot to pay for a single pizza delivered!
I am absolutely willing to pay more for quality, but a delivery fee on top of an already expensive product? It feels like adding insult to injury.
Pizza Hut is not the competition. Pete's is a restaurant, not a delivery business.
Pete's uses all organic ingredients, including Grande mozzarella from a dairy co-op in Wisconsin (http://www.grande.com/SocialResponsibility/Pages/SocialResponsibility.aspx) and we make many of our ingredients daily in-house, including all of the sausage varieties.
You may go there for "just a pizza," but you can genuinely taste the difference between Pete's and any of the national chains, which get all of their ingredients delivered in vacuum-packed plastic bags from the back of an 18-wheeler.
Good value, sure, but not the competition.
I love the organic ingredients, Pete's! Your lettuce is even more delicious. Really, I can taste the difference in the arugula.
Keep up the good work!
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