What each score means

Travel score, 1 to 10

10

Arrives restaurant-fresh. Hot, crisp, intact, like the kitchen handed it to you at the table.

9

Nearly perfect. One small concession to the road: slightly softened crust, or a lid that fogged.

8

Traveled great. Clearly cooked to eat in, but everything held: warm, textured, no sogginess.

7

Good travel. A minor trade-off, like a bun steaming a little, but the dish is still genuinely enjoyable.

6

Mixed. Part of the dish held up, part did not. You would order it again, knowing the trade.

5

The road cost it something real. Edible and decent, but noticeably below the restaurant version.

4

Rough trip. Soggy, lukewarm, or structurally broken. The restaurant should change its packaging.

3

Bad travel. Most of what makes this dish good is gone by the time you open the bag.

2

Barely recognizable. You would only order this again if you lived next door.

1

Do not order this to go. The trip destroys it completely.

Packaging score, 1 to 10

9 to 10

Thoughtful engineering: vented hot items, sealed sauces, separate crispy components, nothing shifted.

7 to 8

Solid containers, tight lids, sensible separation. Small quibbles only.

5 to 6

Did its job, nothing more. One weak point: a loose lid, a soaked wrapper, a cramped box.

3 to 4

Worked against the food. Leaks, trapped steam, or items packed together that should never touch.

1 to 2

The packaging is the reason the score is low. Thin bags, open cups, sauce everywhere.

The other numbers

• Trip time: stopwatch minutes from handoff to opening.
• Arrived: Hot, Warm, Lukewarm, Cold, or Meant to be cold (for things like milkshakes and cold noodles).
• Price per bite: dish price divided by our approximate bite count, so you can judge value, not just price.
• Would reorder: the honest yes or no, knowing how it travels.

See all scores in the rankings