Day Eight: Delivery to Your Door? Not Just for Pizza

You wouldn't expect Mexico to be so big in the home "delivery" business.  After all, Mexicans are an incredibly industrious, gregarious people, rarely content to sit back and let life come to them.  But when it comes to fast food, perhaps they are.  Home-delivered food is huge here.

Of course, you would expect that American chains that operate in Guadalajara such as Domino's and Pizza Hut would have delivery service well-established.  And they do, along with other big pizza chains here and even small mom and pop pizza shops.  In fact, the typical guaranteed "30 minute or less" delivery time was the basis for an underrated 2004 comedy film from Mexico called Duck Season (Temporada de Patos).  Across culture, pizza delivered to your home is basic.

The smaller chains have motorcycle delivery to compete with the big boys. 

But in Mexico, you can get a lot more than just pizza delivered to your door.  Virtually every restaurant has a "servicio a domicilio" option, including those serving Mexican food, Chinese food, steak, even sushi.  Surprisngly, American chains who have never ventured into home-delivery in their homelands, have "domicilio" service here as well.  You can order a Subway 12-incher, KFC Popcorn Chicken or even a Flame-Broiled Whopper and be eating in front of your TV in a matter of minutes.  You can even order pharmacy prescriptions and have those delivered too.

Domino's has a strong presence in Guadalajara.

The bearers of these home-delivered meals are helmeted (and often uniformed) motorcycle drivers who zip about the city with small cubes attached to the rear ends of their bikes.  The food is kept hot in these boxes that are no more than the size of a footrest and usually hold the orders of just a customer or two.  The motorcycles move at a fantastic speed, often running red lights, cutting through lanes of traffic and weaving through stopped cars to get to their destinations within a half hour from the time the order was placed.

Indeed, while these motorcycles may make driving in Guadalajara a bit more precarious, at least you know that your pizza, or anything else that you care to eat, is going to arrive piping-hot.

Medicity allows you to order medications delivered to your door.