Apps that deliver

Every day, it seems, I’m learning about a new food delivery app or a new restaurant offering delivery in Chico. It’s almost enough to make me want to plop down on the couch, cuddle up with Oliver, my Boston terrier, and binge on another foreign Netflix show (have you seen Secret City yet?) and let someone bring me a smorgasbord.

Five years ago, aside from restaurants that delivered their own food, there was Entree Express, and that was it. Then there was Grubhub. These days, there’s also Door Dash, FoodJets and Uber Eats.

It’s kind of exciting, actually, to be able to get some of my favorite foods brought to me. Sometimes I don’t have time to take a full lunch break, and while I love my options downtown, being able to expand my sphere is pretty cool. Some of my faves I didn’t realize deliver: Inday’s Filipino Restaurant (FoodJets and Uber Eats), The Lab Bar & Grill (FoodJets), La Flor de Michoacan (Uber Eats), Lovely Layers Cakery (Uber Eats), OM Foods (Uber Eats) and Tacos Tonaya #2 (FoodJets).

The new kid on the block, for me at least, is JoyRun, which has some fun, different options including Burgers and Brew and Taj Fine Indian Cuisine. Beyond places listed, though, JoyRun lets any user “start a run” and take orders for others while they’re there. So, I tried it out. A young woman named Camila was running to Gordo Burrito around lunchtime and picked me up a shrimp taco and chicken quesadilla for an extra $3.70. Not bad!

Soup and cupcakes Speaking of Lovely Layers, I found myself in the Meyers Street area recently around lunchtime and was reminded that I had yet to try their soups. It was Friday, so naturally clam chowder was on the menu. The dining area is super cute, and the soup was delicious. (I may also have ordered a cupcake to go—Bailey’s and coffee—yum.)

New digs My boyfriend, Chuck, actually had a Friday night off last week, so we decided to make it a date night and check out the newly refurbished Sierra Nevada Taproom and Restaurant. Wow! It’s been quite a while since I’ve been there, but the change is drastic. Everything is brighter and the seating is communal, which reminds me of being at the Hofbrau Haus in Munich, but more modern. We opted to sit outside, because inside was packed, with a line wrapped along the wall, and the back patio is super nice, with heaters set up all over. We chatted with our tablemates, ordered some food and beers and had a nice time.

Fire and ice After dinner, we decided to check out the free demo at G-Town Hot Shop (see 15 Minutes, this page). What fun! Next door, the tasting room was open at Eckert Malting & Brewing. We ordered a few beers—did you know Eckert is one of only two breweries in the country brewing gluten-free Resilience IPA?—and returned to the show. What a great way to end the night.