So I was sitting on my couch Sunday evening, basking in the glow of the Dallas Mavericks' sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers. I cranked up a movie on Netflix and settled in when I decided I would like to have a sandwich.
As luck would have it, Jimmy John's, which opened at 4th Street and Franklin Avenue, touted the fact that it delivered. What's more, I heard that Jimmy John's could deliver sandwiches remarkably quickly. I decided to test that out. In fact, I wanted to order the sandwich online and see how quickly I could actually have a sandwich in my hands.
But the online delivery balked when I entered my address, which I've always thought was pretty accessible to downtown Waco. I figured the online system still had some bugs in it, so I persevered and dialed the phone number off of a menu I picked up earlier in the week.
Much to my surprise, the gentleman who answered the phone at Jimmy John's informed me that I lived outside of Jimmy John's delivery range. Without giving away my exact location, let me just say that I live less than 3.5 miles away from the new Jimmy John's location. But apparently I'm still more than a dozen blocks outside of the delivery area.
This bothered me, especially since friends had been to Jimmy John's over the weekend and found the seating to be limited (as with any new place around here, it was crowded during its first week). I suggested that they should probably have it delivered. Though these particular friends will be out of luck as they live much farther from downtown than me.
Still, having eaten a Jimmy John's sandwich and found it to be pretty tasty, and since it's sort of my job to suss these things out, I made a trip to Jimmy John's on Monday.
I learned two things.
First, Jimmy John's keeps its delivery area small so that it can be quick on the draw when it's time to deliver a sandwich. This is not that impressive. Anybody can be quick at delivering food if they only have to go next door.
But the nice person behind the counter at the sandwich shop filled me in that Jimmy John's is planning to open three more stores within the next four years. Which means many Waco residents can look forward to having a location in their area in the relatively near future.
That is a pretty sound business strategy. I have a feeling Jimmy John's will eventually carve out a pretty good share of the local sandwich market.
For now, Baylor students can call and have a sandwich quickly delivered to their doors.
This all begs one more question. We can all order pizza for delivery and some of us take advantage of that on a regular basis. However, what other types of food would you like to have delivered?
Personally, I would like it if more of the Asian food restaurants in town offered delivery. As it is, I'm not sure any of the local Asian food establishments deliver. But darned if I wouldn't like to have sushi, or maybe fried rice brought to my door every once in a while.
What about you? Would you like a taco truck to pull up in front of your house every now and then? How about a burger buggy? What food delivery option would you be most likely to utilize if it were available in Waco?
