What We Are (And Aren't) Ordering For Thanksgiving Delivery

So you're home alone on Thanksgiving. It's OK, it happens to the best of us. When dinnertime rolls around, you know that you'll be ordering up a feast for a king, because you deserve it. Whether it's to feed a family of four or a party of one, there's no shame in ordering in on Turkey Day. But what exactly are people ordering for delivery on and around Thanksgiving? And what aren't they ordering? In order to determine this, we reached out to GrubHub.com and Delivery.com, two of the nation's largest food delivery services, and asked then to share their data.

Delivery.com found that on Thanksgiving, understandably, it's all about turkey. Carved turkey, turkey sandwiches, turkey wraps, and turkey burgers were the top sellers last year, with pizza, burgers, and salads next in line. And when it came to ordering wine and spirits during the week leading up to Thanksgiving, red wine led the charge (namely cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir), along with white wine (pinot grigio, chardonnay, and sauvignon blanc), vodka, champagne and sparkling wine, and whiskey, in that order.

Grubhub.com learned that pumpkin pie's sales increased the most on Thanksgiving Day, up a whopping 25 times higher than normal, followed by stuffing (14 times) and gravy (two times). Interestingly enough, sales of tiramisu, naan, and chicken tikka masala also greatly increased on Thanksgiving (turkey only got a 49 percent boost, most likely because it's so commonly ordered anyway.

It's also interesting to note the foods that see the most significant drops in orders on Thanksgiving Day. Sushi takes the win, with 45 percent fewer orders than normal (nobody wants to eat sushi on Thanksgiving!), as well as salad (40 percent less), pad thai (37 percent less), and cookies (36 percent less). Other items that see declines in delivery include macaroni and potato salad, Chinese food, fries, and soup. None of these exactly scream Thanksgiving!

Delivery.com also found that folks tend to be a little more generous with their tipping on Thanksgiving. Nationwide, Americans add an extra 11 percent to their tip on that day, bringing up the average tip to (a still rather measly) 15 percent. Interestingly enough, Bostonians are the most generous tippers on Thanksgiving (up 40 percent), with Stamford, Conn., coming in second place, up 35 percent.

So the moral of the story is, when you order in this Thanksgiving, think of the poor lonely sushi delivery guys!