A cake for a birthday. A feast for a wedding, or a funeral. When it comes to celebrating our highs or comforting our lows, nothing is more powerful than enjoying a delicious meal with loved ones. As we celebrate our 5-year anniversary at DoorDash, we’re looking back at all the moments we shared with you — from never-ending polar vortexes and highly emotional elections, to record-breaking sports championships and everyone’s favorite meme, Pizza Rat. Here’s a look at five years of meal milestones, and all the trends we saw in between. This was the food that lifted your spirits right when you needed it most.
Around the World in 1,825 Days
The United States is one of the few places on the planet where you can experience a massively diverse range of international cuisine. So it’s no surprise that every city in the nation has its own global favorite. According to our data, here’s the cuisine that tops each city’s list.
New York — Chinese
Los Angeles — Japanese
San Francisco — Mexican
Chicago — American (Pizza)
Dallas — BBQ
Washington D.C. — Middle Eastern
Miami — Latin American
Atlanta — Southern (Fried Chicken)
Boston — Italian
Seattle — Thai
This is America
Hamburgers, fries and wings — these all-American comfort classics have seen more than their fair share of homes across the continent. Since 2013, you’ve eaten 8.5 million orders of french fries, 8 million hamburgers and 4 million orders of wings.
Poke, Pockets — Like, It’s Hot
The fresh, global-inspired poke trend shows no signs of slowing down. We saw poke orders increase 12X over the last 5 years — but some other unlikely international players have exploded, too. Take empanadas. Orders for the portable, Latin American pockets of deliciousness spiked 436X since 2013. And then there’s the unexpected rise of gooey fondue, orders of which increased by 60X. Turns out pizza and grilled cheese sandwiches have some stiff competition for the cheesy crown.
One Day You’re In…And The Next, You’re Out
Could ramen be on its way out? The rich broth ‘n noodle staple of college campuses everywhere has seen a 40% decrease, while liquid lunchers are showing signs of smoothie fatigue — orders for the blended beverages are down 6%.
97 Bubble Teas On The Wall
Take them down, group orders all around — and you’ve got 97 friends with bubble tea in their hands. That’s right, our largest group order ever consisted of 97 individual orders of bubble tea for the Bioengineering Center at Stanford University one evening — late-night finals fuel, anyone?
Eat Your Heart Out, Sports Fanatics
We might not be playing the game, but we sure can pretend we’re burning all those calories.
As the Philadelphia Eagles defeated defending champs New England Patriots during Super Bowl 2018, you ordered —
16,000 orders of wings
10,000 pizzas
3,000 orders of nachos
And about those Philly cheesesteaks…we saw orders for the iconic sandwich double during the Super Bowl nationwide on game day compared to the average.
When it comes to baseball, the competition is just as fierce among the fans…and boy did the Cubs’ fans bring their a-game. That’s right, Chicago Cubs fans — you ordered 12x more food than Cleveland Indians fans on the day your team clinched an epic World Series victory in 2016.
Holidays? How About Holi-dash
The real magic of the holidays — whether cultural, religious, or “just because” — is spending time with friends and family. At DoorDash, we know those gatherings always involve plenty of food.
Chinese Food On Christmas Will Always Be A Thing
In 2017, we saw orders for Chinese food triple (3X) on Christmas, with Manhattanites carrying the team by ordering 5X more Chinese food than their annual average.
From Galentine’s To Valentine’s
In 2018, we helped single ladies celebrate “Galentine’s Day” by stocking their parties with over 6,000 orders of booze — nearly 20% more alcohol than on Valentine’s Day. And those happily paired off? On Valentine’s Day this year, chocolate sales quadrupled.
Let’s Taco ‘Bout Cinco De Mayo
On everyone’s favorite Mexican food feast day this year, Dashers delivered a whopping 47,000 burritos, 38,000 tacos and 13,000 orders of chips and guacamole. Compare that to the quintessential American food fest, Memorial Day — 25,000 burgers, 1,500 hot dogs and 4,800 beers were ordered this year alone!
TV Dinners (And Brunches, Too)
Whether it’s a cultural event or a TV moment watching history in the making, we love any excuse to rally around food and libations.
During the royal wedding that captivated the world on May 19, 2018, Americans across the country woke up early that Saturday morning to watch the ceremony between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle unfold. We saw 50% more people order breakfast.
And speaking of English occasions, we saw orders for fish & chips quadruple during the impending Brexit vote in March 2017.
Did someone say elections? Let’s not forget our own, which turned into one of the biggest national drinking days of the year. On Election Day in 2016, 90 percent more people ordered liquor on DoorDash and 50 percent more ordered wine, compared to other Tuesdays in November and October.
And for the TV event we’ve all got our calendars marked for — Shark Week — who doesn’t crave the very thing you’re watching? Yep, turns out we eat what we see. You ordered 66,000 orders of fish last year during Shark Week. (Trust us, that number is not fishy at all).
Oh, The Places They’ll Go
Over the last 5 years, Dashers (aka delivery drivers) have traveled 340 million miles. You could circle the globe 13,600 times or take more than 700 round-trip flights to the moon and back.
Biggest Tip
The largest tip a Dasher has received for one single order was $900!
Fighting Food Waste
Since January 2018, 17,000 pounds of food from partner restaurants have been saved from landfills and redistributed to food pantries — that’s heavier than two adult elephants!
In celebration of our 5th anniversary, we’re donating 50,000 meals in partnership with Feeding America® to feed people in need across the country.¹ But that’s not all. By the end of 2018, we’ve also committed to increasing the volume of food we rescue each month by 5X!
Cheers to 5 years!
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About Feeding America: Feeding America® is the largest hunger-relief organization in the United States. Through a network of 200 food banks and 60,000 food pantries and meal programs, we provide meals to more than 46 million people each year. Feeding America also supports programs that prevent food waste and improve food security among the people we serve; educates the public about the problem of hunger; and advocates for legislation that protects people from going hungry. Individuals, charities, businesses and government all have a role in ending hunger. Donate. Volunteer. Advocate. Educate. Together we can solve hunger. Visit www.feedingamerica.org, find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter
¹$1 helps provide at least 10 meals secured by Feeding America® on behalf of local member food banks.
5 Years and 8 Million Hamburgers Later was originally published in DoorDash on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.