Restaurants feeling impacts of online ordering during COVID-19 pandemic

LOS ANGELES - Some restaurants and delivery drivers are seeing an increase in orders following the 'Stay At Home' Order. 

"A lot of people are overwhelmed with the pandemic so everyone's kind of freaking out, but we try our best to keep giving out great food, great quality, and keep everything clean," said Calvin Skarlat, one of the partners for Main Chick and Oi. 

Main Chick and Oi are part of Colony on Santa Monica Boulevard in West L.A. Dozens of restaurants operate under one roof in Colony.

"A lot of drivers are in here. A lot of people are ordering. This lobby gets packed. It's definitely tough, but we are happy we are getting business," said Skarlat. 

On various food delivery apps, restaurants are offering discounted deliveries or free deliveries amid coronavirus. Wait times vary depending on when people order and where they're ordering from. 

"Usually wait times are 10 minutes to 15 minutes on a regular basis, but now we're just getting more orders so it turns to 20 to 25-minute waits," said Kevin Popok, a partner for Main Chick and Oi. 

RELATED: CoronavirusNOW.com, FOX launches national hub for COVID-19 news and updates.

When people were flocking to grocery stores to buy food, some drivers said business slowed down. 

"It's a little bit slower then it normally is. I normally get ride after ride after ride," said Diane Williams, a Postmates driver. 

However, with the new coronavirus restrictions across the state, business appears to more steady, according to drivers. 

"It seems like its picking up more and I think it's picking up more and more with the lockdown," said Eric Futrell, a Postmates driver. 

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Futrell is busy fulfilling delivery orders and said because restaurants aren't able to offer dine-in seating, they're able to complete delivery orders quickly.

"We're getting the food from the restaurants really fast and everything, and there's no traffic to deal with out here," said Futrell. 

Some customers are ordering delivery more often now to support businesses, and owners and drivers are asking people to be patient as they work to keep up with the demand following the coronavirus pandemic.

"Helping small businesses by ordering take-out definitely helps us stay alive," said Skarlat.