DoorDash order surge signals San Francisco’s downtown post-pandemic recovery

By Carlos E. Castañeda

A spike in DoorDash orders in downtown San Francisco over the past year supports the notion of the city overcoming the “doom loop” narrative, with return-to-office initiatives fueling a post-pandemic recovery.

The San Francisco-based company last month released its first State of Local Commerce report, showing lunchtime orders at downtown San Francisco commercial addresses surged 15.7 % year-over-year, compared to the national average of just 2.5%. The increase suggests downtown office workers are returning in greater numbers with a corresponding demand for nearby food choices.

Business isn’t just picking up inside The Grove, a breakfast, lunch, and dinner spot on the corner of 3rd and Mission streets; its delivery window doesn’t seem to slow down.     

“It is back. It’s not just talk. It’s real,” said The Grove chef and CEO David Cohen. “We see it, we feel it.”  

Cohen says sales are up about 20% across the board year over year. That includes third-party deliveries to downtown offices.  

“DoorDash has always been strong for us,” Cohen said. “We are up significantly year over year.” 

Just down the street on Mission and 1st, Chalos Express is serving freshly-made Argentinian empanadas, with 15 different choices.

“We have beef, chicken, mushroom, spinach, and real vegetables,” said owner Annie Leong. She and her husband started Chalos as a cafe in the Sunset District pre-pandemic. They have now expanded, opening this downtown San Francisco location in March. 

Chalos Express relies more on office foot traffic rather than deliveries for now, but is also seeing an uptick in sales.   

“We’re seeing a slight increase, little by little, but it definitely does help expand our footprint a little bit,” said Leong. 

She says the improving numbers give them hope to ramp up their office catering side of the business in the near future. 

“It’s been really nice to see the uptake in traffic and people coming back downtown,” said Leong. 

The latest office delivery numbers are also reinforcing what Cohen is seeing at other times throughout the workday.   

“Lunch has always been strong, but when we see that change in the happy hour, and we see that change in the evening business, we really know that there’s activity all day now,” Cohen said. “That’s really a strong indicator for us.” 

Along with the artificial intelligence boom and increase in leased office space in the city, the DoorDash data is another sign of a busier downtown, as small business owners hope that trend continues to move in the right direction. 

According to the report, San Francisco’s surge in lunchtime orders at downtown San Francisco commercial addresses represents the second largest year-to-year climb among the nation’s 100 largest cities.  

Chandler, Arizona, was the only city with a higher uptick at 17.5%.