‘Cravings Report’: Most generous tippers are in Olympia; Seattle loves garlic naan

As we head into the end of the year — and the holidays that come with a lot of eating in Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas — Uber Eats released its fifth annual Cravings Report last week.

The company brands the report as a “snapshot of the most popular, the most unusual, and some of the most surprising delivery requests.”

Looking at the most notable local headline, Uber Eats reported customers in Olympia — along with Asheville, North Carolina, and Bismarck, North Dakota — are the most generous tippers in the U.S.

However, no cities in Washington or Oregon made the list of the most polite as Uber Eats called out San Francisco; Richmond, Virginia; Detroit; Bakersfield, California; and Charleston, South Carolina as the cities that with the most customers that say “please” and “thank you” the most in their instructions.

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Uber Eats isolated their delivery data for the Seattle area and recently emailed a list to MyNorthwest. The company reported the most ordered item in Seattle was garlic naan, which is on the list of the five most ordered items nationwide with french fries, Pad Thai, Miso soup and a California roll.

Overall in Seattle, the most popular item ordered was the Chipotle Burrito Bowl and the most popular type of food ordered was Chinese.

The most popular dessert both in Seattle and nationwide was apple pie. The company said it delivered nearly two million apple pie orders across the nation.

Uber Eats also recorded the most expensive order in Seattle in its report and said that an order in the amount of $888.85 was placed at dim sum eatery Harbor City Restaurant in the last year.

The report also noted Seattle’s most popular ice cream flavor was Ben and Jerry’s Cookie Dough and the most popular alcoholic beverage was Tito’s Vodka.

‘Special instructions’

Uber Eats reported Seattle’s top special instruction is “No utensils.” Nationally, the most popular delivery requests included “no onions,” “dressing (or sauce) on the side,” “ranch,” extra soy sauce” and “spicy.”

The company calls out some of the most unique “special instructions” with orders. This one from the Seattle list stuck out: “Please add additional 3 thousand island and 3 blue cheese dressing in addition to the dressing included in the salad.” That is consistent with one of the unique instructions cited in the national report: “Sauce on everything. I mean it. Literally drown my food in that amazing nectar.”

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One picky set of instructions called out in the national report asked a restaurant to put the food in a certain type of container.

“Put it in a box instead of a circle container. I refuse to eat any food if presented in a circle container. Please don’t ruin my meal for me,” the instructions said, according to Uber Eats.

Then there are the people who want to do more than just place an order with specific requests. The company called out this “novelist”:

“Every so often, a meal not only tantalizes your taste buds but also transports you – and the offerings here managed to do just that. This wasn’t just a meal; it was a celebration of Caribbean culture and culinary artistry. Thank you for delivering a slice of the Caribbean right to my doorstep.”

For more delicious details, and some a little less delicious, check out the 2023 Uber Eats Cravings Report here.