Dallas Likes to Pre-Order Cobb Salad, and Other Insights from Grubhub

GrubHub, the nation’s leading online and mobile takeout and delivery service, can do a lot more than bring pad thai to your doorstep. A new study proves the company is just as driven by data as it is by dumplings.

They’ve culled specs from the last year of deliveries—from July 2016 to July 2017—to get a glimpse at what cities across the country are doing the most when it comes to takeout and what each of them are craving.

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The study itself is divided into three subheadings. The “Fastest Foodies” category ranks the cities in accordance with how frequently they used the express reorder function, the ability to quickly select something you’ve previously ordered. It should come as no surprise that New York ranked first here and by a pretty sizable margin—19 percent higher than Cambridge, MA, the first runner-up. They like what they like and they definitely want it fast. Turkey sandwiches and quinoa bowls clocked in as the most commonly reordered food items in the Big Apple.

The second category ranks “Food Forecaster” cities, places where Grubhub users were more likely to preorder a meals days ahead of time. Portland, Austin, Dallas, and San Diego topped this list. It seems Dallas residents were particularly keen on pre-ordering Cobb Salads days before they were set to eat it.

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The last category, “City Skippers,” orders cities based their residents’ penchant for picking up foods rather than have it delivered. In this round, Albany takes the top spot with buffalo fries as one of their go-to orders.

All throughout, the data divides itself amongst male and female consumers, comparing behavioral ratios across each category. In all top ten "Fastest Foodie" cities, male customers express reordered more often than women, while the opposite was the case for all ten "Food Forecaster" cities, where female customers consistently preordered more than their male counterparts.

The study is a useful one and tells us a lot about the way people across the country eat and order in. Because how else would I have ever know that 85 percent of New Yorkers are likely to express reorder a banana?

Do you see yourself reflected in the stats? Tell us where in the comments.