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Top 10 foods you should never order for delivery

Top10.com Staff
never order for delivery
Food deliveries are a fantastic way to curb your midday cravings or take care of dinner when you just don’t have the energy to cook yourself. There are thousands of delicious food items and meal options to choose from, and they’ll all come directly to your doorstep. But there are some foods that should never be packed into a takeaway container.

10 Foods You Should NEVER Order For Food Delivery

Here are 10 meals that you should avoid on your next food delivery order. They just might make your stomach turn.

  1. Fried foods

    Fried foods are a staple of American cuisine, most likely because they’re mouth-wateringly delicious. Think sizzling mozzarella sticks, crunchy french fries, onion rings, or deep-fried fish sticks. The smell of deep-fried food is enough to make anyone lose all sense of control. There’s a catch, though. Fried foods don’t survive being packed up and delivered well. Your crispy, crunchy, tasty bites will arrive cold, soggy, and turn into an unappealing mess. The solution here is to plan out your meal properly. Unless you live right above the restaurant of your choice, avoid ordering anything fried in oil.
  2. Nachos 

    Picturing a heaping plate of crispy nachos smothered in creamy cheese sauce, topped with Tex Mex ground beef, and sprinkled with some saucy hot pepper dip. Sounds great, right? But not so fast. If you’re considering having this hefty dose of heart attack in a basket for your post-workday snack at the office, think again. Those crunchy nachos will quickly become soggy under all that moisture, the creamy sauce will congeal into a plastic-like goo, and the entire plate will quickly lose any vestige of allure. You’re better off heading to the vending machine, grabbing a bag of Doritos, and letting your imagination fill in the blanks.
  3. Eggs

    This one is an interesting insider secret that not a lot of diners would know about. Most restaurants pour their eggs out of a carton in liquidized form. That’s right, your sunny side-up eggs aren’t nearly as smiley when you realize there are additives and other junk tossed into the mix. In addition to this unappealing cocktail revelation, eggs also go bad very quickly when not maintained at the proper temperatures. And besides, whether they’re scrambled, sunny side up, poached, or hard-boiled, eggs really only have a few minutes of plate life before they become thoroughly unappetizing.
  4. Avocado dishes

    If you’re on a keto diet, avocado is one of your best friends. It’s packed with vitamins and nutrients your body needs to thrive, along with the healthy fats that keep your fat-burning machine running strong. But one thing avocado doesn’t have is long shelf life. In fact, anyone who’s ever tried it knows that avocados turn brown not long after they’ve been cut. So if you order an avocado salad, sandwich, or other dish featuring this veggie, you’re likely to receive a browning, dull meal instead.
  5. Tuna sandwiches

    Tuna is an excellent source of protein, containing essential amino acids and omega-3 fatty acids. But the tuna salads from restaurants are usually loaded up with mayonnaise, significantly reducing their nutritional value. Even if you don’t care about the health aspect, that mayo-filled tuna sandwich is going to quickly sink into your bread, leaving it soggier than a pup playing in a pond. Worst of all, leaving tuna out of the fridge for long periods of time can quickly create major health problems because of the accelerated rate of spoilage. It all amounts to a massive pile of unappetizing lunch options. Just skip the tuna, please.
  6. Steak

    A properly grilled steak with a heaping scoop of piping hot mashed potatoes, crispy french fries, or, better yet, another side of meat is a meal fit for a king. But that’s not what you’re getting when you order this slab of meat to be delivered to your door. Steak needs to be eaten fresh off the grill because this cow will quickly cool. And room temperature steak is a crying shame. What’s worse, if you try to reheat the meat after it’s cooled down, you risk messing with the doneness of the steak, making it tough, dried out, and a bland shadow of the grandeur it once knew. For the love of steaks everywhere, skip this takeaway meal altogether.
  7. Bacon dishes

    Once again, take your imagination on a ride and let it rest on a sizzling piece of freshly-fried bacon. The oil beading on its crackling surface, the satisfying crunch as you bite into the just-right texture, and, of course, the explosion of flavor as it all melts onto your tongue. Well, you can forget all of those illusions of culinary delight if you’re ordering this dish for delivery. That’s because while bacon is the king of crispy, the stuff doesn’t stay that way long. Just a few minutes away from its heat source, and your crispy, crunchy bits of heaven are soggy, oily pieces of leather that only your dog would appreciate. No, bacon is not the takeaway dish you want to opt for.
  8. Sushi

    Here’s a thoroughly upsetting entry most people aren’t going to like. Because who doesn’t love a good roll of sushi for a light lunch, dinner replacement, or even mid-day snack? But sushi is a tricky switch because it contains fish. And as we already mentioned, keeping fish out of the fridge for too long runs the risk of salmonella and other health hazards you just don’t want to be taking. Plus, if you order a tempura roll, you return to the fried food fiasco we’ve already discussed. So, unless you’re getting yourself a California roll (snoooooore), sushi isn’t the greatest takeout food to have delivered.
  9. Meatball subs

    Now a meatball sub sounds like just the kind of meal you could sink your teeth into after a long day. That’s great if you’re ordering and eating it directly. But if you’re thinking of getting that sub delivered several blocks away, think again. That bright red sauce will quickly seep into the soft white baguette, creating a soggy mess. And the cheese and meatball combo that is supposed to be enjoyed piping hot will only barely satisfy your hunger while not even coming close to the palate pleasure you were expecting. Bottom line, skip the sub or order one that has deli meats and avoid a saucy situation.
  10. Anything frozen or slushy

    A fruit smoothie is a refreshing treat that packs a burst of energy into an otherwise dreary day. But just think how disappointing that muchly-awaited drink will be when it arrives half-melted? The flavors have begun to separate, the smooth, creamy consistency is reduced to watery dreck, and any resemblance to energetic infusion is but a distant memory. Obviously, the farther away you live or work, the more disappointment you stand to experience. In general, don’t bother ordering anything frozen or slushy in consistency. It can only end in disaster. This goes for smoothies, ice coffees, ice creams, gelatos, Slurpees, and other foods and drinks of this nature.

Food Delivery: Avoid the Disappointment & Tummy Pains

So what should you order? Hearty stews, soups, salads (dressing on the side, please), and many types of pasta dishes (though not all) make for great takeaway meals. Same goes for rice dishes, wraps, and pieces of chicken tenders. And if you’re trying to decide which food delivery service to use, check out these reviews to see which ones rate.

Top10.com Staff
Top10.com's editorial staff is a professional team of editors and writers with dozens of years of experience covering consumer, financial and business products and services.