Ottawa is one of Canada's most polite cities when ordering food: report

OTTAWA -

Ottawa is one of the most polite cities in Canada when it comes to ordering food and we love our extra pickles, according to a new report from Uber Eats.

The food delivery app released its third annual "Cravings Report" Wednesday, showing who tips the most, who says please and thank you most often, and which cities are the pickiest.

According to the report, Ottawa and Kingston, Ont. are the second- and third-most polite cities in Canada, behind Nanaimo, B.C., ranked by how often users say please and thank you in their ordering instructions.

Users in Gatineau, Que. are in sixth place for the biggest tippers in Canada (Nanaimo is again number one). Perhaps it could be because they make a lot of special requests, as Gatineau is the ninth pickiest city in Canada (Regina came in first).

Anique, an Uber Eats user, told CTV News Ottawa it's important to tip your driver.

"People are treated terribly in customer service," Anique said. "I think it’s important to make an effort to be as kind as possible to offset the people that are just cranky and awful."

Extra pickles was the most popular special request in Ottawa and in five other cities in Canada.

At Ottawa's World Burger restaurant, extra pickles are very popular.

"Probably about 35 per cent of my orders, they want extra pickles," said manager Brian Perry.

"You’ll see extra tomatoes, extra pickles, extra pickles, extra pickles, extra pickles, extra pickles, and we get the point. So we put a lot of pickles," added co-owner Lenny Andonakakis.

When those special requests come in, he adds that that's when Ottawa's politeness shines through.

"Typically, when we get requests for additions or deletions, there’s usually a please involved," he said.

And it's never a "dill" moment over at Cadmans Montreal Bagels.

"It’s like every second order has extra pickles in it," said employee Jasleen Kaur, who added that polite requests are always appreciated. 

Since the pandemic, many restaurants have had to pivot to takeout and delivery orders because their dining rooms were closed. Delivery apps have made a difference. 

"Pre-pandemic we were about maybe 20 per cent of sales with Uber Eats and other third-party delivery services. Now we’re closer to 80 per cent," Andonakakis said. 

Another finding of the report is that Kingston loves its health food. That city was second place in Canada for the most orders from restaurants labelled as "healthy" in the app. Gatineau came in seventh. Halifax had the most healthy orders.

Uber Eats says its most expensive order in 2021 was a $1,600 order in Vancouver—and it may have come without green onions, since that was the most requested special instruction in that city.

Canadian tastes are wordly, too. According to the report, here are the top 10 most popular styles of food:

1. Japanese
2. Asian
3. Indian
4. Mexican
5. Hamburger/sandwiches
6. Salads
7. Korean
8. Italian
9. Vietnamese
10. Thai

Chicken nuggets, fries, and poutine were the top three most popular side orders. Ice cream is the number one dessert but pearl milk tea came ahead of cake to round out the top three.