The Times today covers the worthwhile topic of restaurant food delivery. Your favorite dish in your favorite restaurant may taste great there, but when you add packaging, transportation and the time delay, the outcome can be significantly different.

However, Marian Burros is wrong to conclude that French fries are always bad to order in. It depends on the restaurant. Good packaging will protect good French fries; bad packaging will make them miserable. You can order the burger deluxe from Pizza Joint on 71st Street and Columbus and know that your French fries will arrive with their original consistency intact. This is because Pizza Joint uses smart packaging and has an extremely efficient delivery operation. On the other hand, the fries at Cafe Ronda, on Columbus Avenue between 71st and 72nd Streets, are probably better, but they travel dismally. It's not worth eating Cafe Ronda unless you can eat at Cafe Ronda.

As for burgers--yes, the bun always goes on the side.