I ate Burrito Loco yesterday. It made me think about all the fabulous restaurants in my hood that deliver hot food to my door and maybe your door too!

1. Burrito Loco - this local chain is sort of new to the uptown area. I think they started in Dinkytown and the one there is a bar too! They moved in behind Williams when the renovated the old used book store on the corner of Hennepin and Lagoon. Now there's a salon up top, Zeno on the corner, and Burrito Loco behind. You might not agree, but I find BL to be worlds ahead of Chipotle. Mostly because they offer multiple flavors of chicken (grilled, Buffalo, and my personal fav Southwest BBQ) and you can get burritos, tacos OR a quesadilla. Also, you get free chips and mild salsa with your order. Yeah! They deliver to most of Uptown and although they are super slow, it's worth the wait. It takes less time for me to walk there and bring it back than it does for them to drive it to me. My laziness and the weather are usually the determining factors. I have the number memorized, though, which makes ordering on my way home from where ever all too convenient. 612-455-LOCO!

My order: BBQ chicken quesadilla with black and pinto beans. Extra BBQ sauce. Mild salsa, sour cream (they offer seasoned, but I prefer regular), and corn salsa on the side. Mmm... my mouth is watering. They have a $7 minimum for delivery orders which kind of sucks because most of their meals are under $7 so be prepared to order extra salsa or a bevie.

2. Caffrey's Deli - another relatively new place in the Lyndale-Lake street neighborhood. Next to the Country Bar. They have cold subs, hot subs, grilled sandwiches, and made to order deli sandwiches. Along with some deserts like NY Style Cheesecake and brownies. Caffrey's instantly won my heart 2 years ago. I got hooked on the Three Pepper Chicken thanks to a friend suggesting it to me. It's a warm sandwich with grilled chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, mayo, and a pepper relish that wasn't super hot the first few times I had it. It's too hot for me now. Must have changed vendors or something. I was beside myself with joy when I found out Caffrey's delivers until... 2am! And they don't have a minimum order amount! Well, one sub/sandwich minimum but that's kind of the point. I go back and forth between the Grilled Cheese Please (it has tomatoes on it too) and the Hot Ham 'N' Cheese. Go here for the entire menu - some fan scanned it in!

3. Old China Buffet - 1015 West Lake St, Mpls, MN 55408 612-824-7909
I might be alone here, but this is the only place I order Chinese food from. It's the OCB, baby! A few years ago a tradition started when CL and I went to eat here on New Year's Day for dinner. I think because nothing else was open. It's your typical buffet style asian restaurant. I think when you dine in it's $7.95 for all you can eat. Same old food you get anywhere. They have a soft serve machine, though! Wow! I was also delighted to find out they deliver. $15 minimum to order. You might eat with a friend... or two. $15 goes a long way here. The nice lady who answers the phone doesn't speak English very well so get ready to repeat yourself. They deliver super fast! The first time I ordered it she told me 10-15 minutes and I thought, yeah right. They were there 10 minutes later ringing the buzzer! Amazing! Ok, I tried to search for a website or a review and the first one I found was a "below average" rating. So it's a crappy chinese food place. I still like it.

4. Jimmy John's - 612-332-2323 - I always have and always will love Jimmy John's. I didn't really start eating here until I graduated college. At the U they have Erbert and Gerbert's which is basically the same thing. (Except they have PB&J - JJ's doesn’t!) The sandwiches are mostly on french bread, fresh ingredients, and simple combinations. Actually, I don't think I've ever had anything but the #1 - Pepe. It's ham, provolone, lettuce, tomato, and mayo. Simple. Delicious. I maybe tried the BLT once, but their bacon was kind of nast. Their club sandwiches always look good, but I really like the french bread and have a hard time straying from my 'usual'. Also, their sandwiches start at $2.50. Oooww! The Jimmy John's in Uptown is in Calhoun Square. They're delivery is usually pretty quick since they don't have to cook anything really. Their menu says there's a $0.75 per item delivery cost, but I've never noticed being charged for it. OR maybe they do charge me, but the sandwiches are so cheap to begin with you don't notice. I used to order JJ's at work from their downtown location in Block E. I was only a few blocks away, but when we were busy or I was lazy it's way faster to have someone bring lunch to my door. Yes!

5. Galactic Pizza - Two words: Super Heroes. Two more words: Delivering Pizzas.



I can't believe I waited more than a year to try this place. They're on Lyndale across from the VFW and their claim to fame: The drivers dress up in costumes and drive tiny electric cars. My delivery guy was kind of disappointing. He just had shorts over his red sweats. No cape. No mask. No flare. But that's ok because the pizza was awesome. I think they're competitively priced - $16 or so for a large? Or did I order a medium? I can't remember. It seemed reasonable, though.

There you have it. Five awesome places you can eat at without leaving your house! Now I need to find a great place that delivers breakfast and I'd be set! Any suggestions?