Local restaurants offering “no contact” food delivery

Ever since the coronavirus outbreak blew up into a full blown pandemic, restaurants in Loudoun County have been scrambling to keep up with the crisis. One of the key methods that nearly every restaurant has turned to is carry-out and delivery. Some use their own delivery people. Others use services such as DoorDash and Grubhub.

And just this week, more and more of them are offering what they call a “no contact” or “contact-free” delivery option.

Marco’s Pizza, with locations in Ashburn/Broadlands and in South Riding/Chantilly, is one. Customers placing online orders can add a comment in the “Notes” section asking for “contact-free delivery.” The driver will bring your pizzas, salads and cheezybread to your front door. If there is a bench or some other place to set the food, they will put everything down, ring the doorbell and step back a safe distance. If there is no bench or table, they will bring their own box with them, set your food on that, and step back.

Manhattan Pizza is another popular local brand doing the same thing. When you land on the Manhattan website, there’s a button that says “No-Contact Options” which takes you to this graphic.

Avoiding direct contact is the latest in an ever-evolving series of steps restaurants are taking to stay viable, including closing dining rooms but bringing food out to your car, focusing on delivery and carry-out and pushing gift cards.