Art by Nico Heins via Shutterstock.
When delivery soared during the pandemic, so did orders of comfort food favorites. Two-plus years later, they still top the list of Grubhub’s most-ordered dishes.
Drumroll, please: Coming in at No. 1 is the burrito, jumping from the No. 8 spot in last year’s ranking. “Diners stuck to the comfort that layered gooey goodness brought directly to hearts, bellies and doorsteps,” Grubhub exclaimed poetically in its 2022 Delivered Report.
The annual report is based on trends gathered from tens of millions of orders on the Grubhub platform placed by customers from January-November 2022, compared to the same timeframe in 2021.
Diners ordered burritos (both wraps and bowls) more than 4 million times in those 11 months, filling them with everything from sausage and eggs to guac and sour cream.
Nine more foods followed in the Top 10 ranking, many also reflecting comfort and others, popular global items:
2. Cheeseburgers
3. Cheese Pizza
4. Pad Thai
5. Chicken Quesadilla
6. California Roll
7. Fried Chicken Sandwich
8. Caesar Salad
9. Chicken Tikka Masala
10. Boneless Wings
What did consumers drink along with those meals? Last year, red wine topped the list—a cozy choice for diners who were still housebound. But in 2022, beer moved to the top, followed by margaritas. No doubt both go better with burritos.
Hot sake, pina coladas and white wine (mostly Sauvignon Blanc) rounded out the top five.
Coffee drinkers who prefer their brew delivered to the door opted for iced coffee over all other types, no matter what the temperature outside. Plain iced coffee rose to the No. 1 spot from No. 3 in 2021, with hot coffee in second place. But more cold options followed: Iced Caramel Coffee, Iced French Vanilla Coffee and Frozen Coffee in that order. And oat milk was the top choice for lightening the drinks, preferred 4:1 over almond milk.
Dessert was also an active category, with some familiar favorites in the Top 10, along with a few surprises. Tiramisu and Baklava, No. 1 and 2 respectively, might indicate that consumers prefer restaurant sweets they can’t easily make at home or buy at the grocery store.
The other spots on the dessert list included classics and a couple of outliers:
3. Cookies
4. Cheesecake
5. Brownies
6. Churros
7. Cannoli
8. Carrot Cake
9. Chocolate Cake
10. Flan
Perhaps more surprising were the Top Trending Cuisines. No Mexican, Japanese, Thai or Middle Eastern among the top three picks. Australian came in at No. 1, growing 531% year over year, followed by South African and Cambodian. Diners explored more local restaurants in 2022, and some of these global dishes may have come from smaller independents.
To celebrate the burrito’s win, Chipotle Mexican Grill is offering $5 off orders of $20 or more for Grubhub+ members during December. The offer will be automatically applied at checkout for orders in the Grubhub app.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.
