Donut (or similar) delivery in Northeast Philly?
October 28, 2015 5:10 PM Subscribe
I would like to send some donuts/danishes/or etc to an office in NE Philly (Lawncrest specifically), ideally with a thank you note. I'm having a surprisingly hard time figuring out a good way to do this.
I'd deliver myself, but getting from my starting point to excellent donuts to the far reaches of NE Philly would be a traffic nightmare in the morning, and this should arrive before most of the office goes out into the field.
I thought my problems were solved when I discovered that InstaCart delivers from Reading Terminal, which would allow me to send Beiler's donuts. But they don't deliver that far. GrubHub doesn't seem to have any bakeries. I did find one local bakery that has donuts and delivers, but at a $50-$75 charge. Can you pay a courier company directly if you don't have an account?
It doesn't have to be donuts, but since most of the office staff are only there in the morning lunch wouldn't work. The "thank you" is directed primarily to the staff that stays during the day but the gift needs to be for the office as a whole. I'm open to non-donut ideas as well.
I'd deliver myself, but getting from my starting point to excellent donuts to the far reaches of NE Philly would be a traffic nightmare in the morning, and this should arrive before most of the office goes out into the field.
I thought my problems were solved when I discovered that InstaCart delivers from Reading Terminal, which would allow me to send Beiler's donuts. But they don't deliver that far. GrubHub doesn't seem to have any bakeries. I did find one local bakery that has donuts and delivers, but at a $50-$75 charge. Can you pay a courier company directly if you don't have an account?
It doesn't have to be donuts, but since most of the office staff are only there in the morning lunch wouldn't work. The "thank you" is directed primarily to the staff that stays during the day but the gift needs to be for the office as a whole. I'm open to non-donut ideas as well.
I've ordered breakfasts like this a lot.
Search for any kind of breakfast places (or cafes that are also open for breakfast) in the area and call them. Ask for "an assortment of breakfast pastries, enough for ## people" and a box or two of coffee. Usually these places will have some kind of fruit salad that they sell portioned out in little to-go cups, I like to ask them to put a few of those into a larger bowl, just so there's also a fruit option--it adds variety and color, which is nice presentation-wise. (I say this because for some reason no place ever has a group serving size of fruit salad but they always have the to-go cups.) A delivery fee is pretty much a given but $50-$75 is ridiculous. Expect something in the $20-35 range.
Fancy donut places are nice and all, but they do tend to gouge you on the delivery side. Places like Corner Bakery Cafe and Panera, while not particularly special, are going to be able to put together a decent spread and deliver it for a reasonable cost.
The thank you note part is gonna be tough for you and will depend entirely on who happens to answer the phone when you call. Your better bet is to shoot an email to the office manager the day before saying your thanks and giving them a heads up about the breakfast delivery the next day.
p.s. Add a delivery tip to your credit card order ahead of time so no one has to worry about it when it arrives.
posted by phunniemee at 6:50 PM on October 28, 2015
Search for any kind of breakfast places (or cafes that are also open for breakfast) in the area and call them. Ask for "an assortment of breakfast pastries, enough for ## people" and a box or two of coffee. Usually these places will have some kind of fruit salad that they sell portioned out in little to-go cups, I like to ask them to put a few of those into a larger bowl, just so there's also a fruit option--it adds variety and color, which is nice presentation-wise. (I say this because for some reason no place ever has a group serving size of fruit salad but they always have the to-go cups.) A delivery fee is pretty much a given but $50-$75 is ridiculous. Expect something in the $20-35 range.
Fancy donut places are nice and all, but they do tend to gouge you on the delivery side. Places like Corner Bakery Cafe and Panera, while not particularly special, are going to be able to put together a decent spread and deliver it for a reasonable cost.
The thank you note part is gonna be tough for you and will depend entirely on who happens to answer the phone when you call. Your better bet is to shoot an email to the office manager the day before saying your thanks and giving them a heads up about the breakfast delivery the next day.
p.s. Add a delivery tip to your credit card order ahead of time so no one has to worry about it when it arrives.
posted by phunniemee at 6:50 PM on October 28, 2015
I am not sure of the delivery cost/range but I'm pretty sure Federal Donuts delivers through Caviar.
posted by trixie119 at 7:00 PM on October 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by trixie119 at 7:00 PM on October 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
We always went to Lipkin's for pastries when we visited my grandmother in the Northeast. There's also Oteri's for Italian pastries, and Schenk's. None of them have donuts, as far as I know, but you could order a nice box of pastries instead.
posted by judith at 7:21 PM on October 28, 2015
posted by judith at 7:21 PM on October 28, 2015
I came here to also suggest Caviar. I don't think the note is possible, but it seems they list three locations of Federal Donuts.
If you really want a note, Task Rabbit is what I'd do. Have them pick up your note, and then have them pick up a donut order you called ahead for, and then have them deliver it. I just did Task Rabbit for a delivery task. The guy's fee was $19 per hour, but I got a first-time discount of $15 off my first task. They seem to have discounts if you sign up.
posted by AppleTurnover at 7:23 PM on October 28, 2015
If you really want a note, Task Rabbit is what I'd do. Have them pick up your note, and then have them pick up a donut order you called ahead for, and then have them deliver it. I just did Task Rabbit for a delivery task. The guy's fee was $19 per hour, but I got a first-time discount of $15 off my first task. They seem to have discounts if you sign up.
posted by AppleTurnover at 7:23 PM on October 28, 2015
Response by poster: In case anyone ever searches this and is curious - Lipkin's only delivers to synagogues. I am now really interested in stopping there if I'm ever in the area, though. Caviar looks amazing and tempting, but doesn't go up to the distant reaches of the northeast. Task Rabbit seems like it would solve the problem, but feels kind of weird to me. Trying to keep this in the range of token gifts acceptable to give to bureaucrats. A coworker suggested asking their boss to take it to them, but uh that also seems strange (I am going to send him a note about how great they were, though). So I think I may instead send some nice local coffee and cookies in the mail this week. (Basically all answers were best, so thanks!).
posted by sepviva at 1:36 PM on November 28, 2015
posted by sepviva at 1:36 PM on November 28, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by three_red_balloons at 6:39 PM on October 28, 2015 [2 favorites]