Students find deliverance in ordering out
By Daily Bruin Staff
July 7, 1996 9:00 p.m.
Sunday, July 7, 1996
Local delivery businesses address lack of transport, sloth,
midnight munchiesBy Karen Duryea
Summer Bruin Senior Staff
When the dining halls are closed and the vending machines are
looking sparse, there’s only one thing to do: grab the phone book
and order out.
That’s what Noelle Swan, a Summer Session student living in
Hedrick Hall did on Independence Day.
"(Westwood) is kind of far to walk, and if you have something to
do, like studying, it just takes too long," Swan said.
"Delivery" seems to be the buzz word for many hungry UCLA
students who are without transportation. Since Ramin Messian, owner
of the Westwood Village Shakey’s Pizza, opened his restaurant, he
has received an enormous response from the UCLA community.
With approximately 250 deliveries per night, 80 percent of which
are from the dorms and nearby apartments, Messian laughed when
asked if students, who are generally low on cash, tip well.
"They do and they don’t  it always evens out," Messian
said.
Other delivery merchants agreed that students often stiff the
driver.
"Students don’t tip well because it’s usually their mom and
dad’s credit card," said Terry Hunt, communications manager for
Hollywood’s Pink Dot franchise. "Some of them do, but most of them
don’t."
But Messian wanted to be close to the UCLA community anyway,
which is why he chose the Westwood location.
"I knew the business would be great, and I chose Shakey’s
because it is not only pizza but other things," Messian said of the
wide variety and low prices of items on the Shakey’s menu.
And the Westwood Shakey’s has integrated itself into the UCLA
community by providing donations, sponsorships and banquet
facilities to many of UCLA’s organizations, including sororities,
fraternities and UCLA athletics. Messian says they appreciate the
quick delivery in emergencies, as shown by the plethora of
thank-you letters.
"A lot of my employees have been here for five years," Messian
said. "They all know the area very well, so our deliveries take
less than a half hour."
Although Messian says his busiest delivery time occurs between
the hours of 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., he says that
during finals, they’re busy all day long.
"Our busiest time is definitely around noontime and the
evenings," Hunt said of the West Los Angeles Pink Dot, which serves
the UCLA community.
Of the almost 200 orders per day that the West Los Angeles Pink
Dot receives, 75 percent are from the UCLA area, Hunt said.
Pink Dot, which delivers thousands of items ranging from canned
foods to hygiene needs to magazines and videos, has been in
Southern California for almost 10 years. Hunt claims their most
popular items are cigarettes and sandwiches.
"Pink Dot delivers cigarettes?" Swan asked, relieved as she
clutched her pack of Marlboro’s. "You usually have to walk all the
way into Westwood for cigarettes."
ASUCLA banned on-campus tobacco sales in the 1980s, fueling the
popularity of cigarettes in delivery orders.
PATRICK LAM/Daily Bruin
Domingo Contreras has delivered Shakey’s pizzas to the dorms for
over five years.
