Cover Story : Everything--to Go : Delivery services speed Chinese and Mexican--and all cuisines in between--from the restaurant to your door. And business is hopping.

It was nearing 6 p.m., so Jim Netterville closed up the office in his home at Nellie Gail Ranch in Laguna Hills and, like a good husband, started to prepare dinner.

He went to that most useful of kitchen appliances--the telephone. It used to summon only pizza and chicken, but look what it does now.

In less than than 10 seconds, Netterville was talking to Stacy Novikoff, one of six operators that evening at Restaurants on the Run in Lake Forest.

Her computer screen instantly told her that Netterville was a regular--in fact, a VIP. He’d ordered 225 times before--about four times a week for about a year.

Novikoff spoke to him as any waitress does. But unlike the usual waitress, Novikoff can take orders for 31 restaurants near Netterville’s home.

Chili’s? Claim Jumper? Elephant Bar? No, Netterville felt like Chinese, so he ordered from Stix in Laguna Niguel: pot stickers, large hot-and-sour soup, house special chicken, house special beef, beef fried rice and a six-pack of soda. With the $3.99 delivery charge figured in, the bill was $56.38 plus tip.

The order would be there within an hour, Novikoff said, and set the computer to doing its job.

Down the hall, Netterville’s order flashed on dispatcher Jeff Smith’s computer screen. He radioed to Joe Bleimeyer, one of his 22 delivery drivers circulating in the Saddleback Valley, and told him to pick up order No. 41 at Stix in about 15 minutes.

At the same time in Laguna Niguel, a fax specifying Netterville’s order was sliding from the machine beside Stix’s cash register. By the time the food arrived at the takeout counter, Bleimeyer was there.

Like the typical takeout customer, he checked the order to make sure it was complete. Unlike the typical takeout customer, he placed the food into a large insulated bag and left without paying. Stix would get its check at the end of the month.

Forty-five minutes after Netterville’s call, his doorbell rang. His three dogs, familiar with the routine, began to wriggle in anticipation of some leftover rice.

Bleimeyer, your friendly “mobile waiter,” was neatly dressed in official Restaurants on the Run shirt and tie. He stepped to the kitchen counter and arranged the takeout containers. He had labeled each one with a felt pen. He “presented” each container, as he set it out, along with some friendly patter.

Netterville signed the check, which included a healthy tip, and dinner was served.

“I’m probably their dream customer,” said Netterville, who is director of home video sales for Paramount Pictures. “We were just made for this.”

His wife, Catherine Monson, is CEO of PIP Printing. Her drive between home and the office in Agoura Hills is 83 miles one way. “I personally don’t apply heat to food, and I’m not a pizza person,” she said. “This is a great way to get a great meal.”

Netterville said he is willing to spend all this money--about $600 a month--to maximize what little leisure time he has.

“People work a lot more hours in the ‘90s,” he said. “I think when you work all day--both people--the time is so important to spend with the kids and the dogs and the house and the wife. That’s what you’re buying. If it’s a one-income family, you couldn’t afford it.”

Enough can, however, to keep at least seven restaurant delivery services, large and small, going in Orange County.

“Probably our best customer is a dual-income family with one or two children,” said Dennis Labriola, a partner in Takeout Taxi. His firm, headquartered in Marina del Rey, has been delivering in Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley for four years.

“These people don’t want to cook, and going out with kids is a hassle,” he said. “And they are tired of pizza.”

Better Dinners Through Technology

According to Randall Hiatt, president of Fessel International restaurant consultants in Irvine, carry-out food is the fastest growing part of the restaurant business.

“Younger Americans have lost the gene for cooking,” Hiatt said. “They’re not interested in it. There are too many alternatives--quick things at grocery stores or delivery or takeout. People are looking for more convenience.”

Restaurant delivery services appeared in Orange County in the early 1980s but failed, Hiatt said. “Maybe they were a little ahead of their time. With dual-income families and time pressure, consumers are more interested now.”

Elly Alpan, president of Gourmet Shuttle in Huntington Beach, said the tools for running delivery services were not as good during the last decade. “There are better marketing tools and better financing. Also, computer programs were not as good as now. We have our own custom computer system.” They have made the business much more profitable, she said.

“This is a business I wish I had thought of,” Aaron Hageman said. “Let’s just say the owners are doing very, very well.”

Hageman started as a driver for Restaurants on the Run. Now at age 21 he is field operations manager and supervises the firm’s drivers.

He still drives, but mostly during the day delivering large orders to corporations for their breakfast and lunch meetings, or to feed employees working overtime. “I’ve done $3,000 orders,” Hageman said.

But he was back on the residential beat this particular Friday, the busiest evening of the week. He got his first order and turned his small pickup truck toward the California Pizza Kitchen in Mission Viejo.

“Valentine’s Day, that’s our biggest night by far. Also the Oscars, Emmys, any big TV night,” he said.

“Usually you can do two orders an hour. You can get anywhere around here [Saddleback Valley] in 15 minutes, so there’s no need to hurry, unless it’s really busy.

“Drivers make $8 to $15 an hour, and the tips are good. Credit card tips are the best. People seem to be a little more generous that way.”

The thought sent Hageman into a reverie about history’s greatest tips. The best come from corporate deliveries, he said. That morning he’d gotten $65 on his first stop, $45 on the next.

Dropping off an order at a huge house in Nellie Gail Ranch, Hageman got a $4.50 tip.

“Funny, the big houses are the small tippers. Well, actually, I had one come to the door with a credit card in one hand and a $20 bill in the other. Some guys tip more than the order’s worth. One guy gave me a $50 tip on a $20 order.

“Our women drivers’ tips are always higher.” The radio spouted another order to pick up, and Hageman headed to Laguna Hills.

“I’ve been working 1 1/2 years. When I started I did really good, maybe 25 or 30 grand just driving while I was going to school. There are drivers who do it for a living full-time and get maybe $100 a day. But it’s perfect for when you’re going to school. The shift is short and you can schedule it around your classes. Big turnover, though.” When he arrives at the Claim Jumper, parking is scarce. Inside there are so many people waiting that it’s hard to get through to the kitchen. Rather than fight the crowd, many customers have Claim Jumper meals delivered on Friday nights.

In the kitchen, Hageman is treated as a familiar employee, which in effect, he is. Through him, the restaurant is selling a meal to someone who would not come to the restaurant. For this, restaurants sell meals to delivery services at large discounts, typically 30%.

Delivering the meal to a home in Mission Viejo, Hageman is ushered in by a self-employed single mom who did not want to give her name. Delivery is a way to feed her teenage boy and girl decent food, she said. “They eat too much fast food.”

She said she feels a little guilty about so much delivered food. “If I was by myself, I don’t know if I would do this so much. I like going out to eat. But our lives are just pretty crazy, especially at dinner time.

“I’ve done my kids a disservice,” she said. “They don’t know how to cook. My daughter is going to college, and she knows how to make macaroni and cheese, that’s it. I try to get her into the kitchen, but she’s too busy.”

Hageman quit after two hours, a short shift. His totals: four orders costing $183.10 and yielding $30.81 in tips, about 17%. Not bad, he said.

They’ve Got It Down to a Science

Peter Winick, president of the Restaurant Delivery Service Assn. and owner of a delivery company in New York, said Southern California in general and Orange County in particular are hot spots for the industry.

“It’s not really a new idea in New York,” he said. “Individual restaurants here have dense neighborhoods around them, and they can afford to make deliveries because it’s close by. But Orange County is not conducive to individual restaurants delivering. Things are too spread out.”

He said the industry is growing even as smaller, less-efficient delivery services disappear.

“The ones who have survived have it down to a science,” said Hiatt, and he predicts more popularity for their services.

Netterville agrees. “I love it. The convenience is fabulous.”

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Where to Call

Restaurant delivery services and the areas they serve in Orange County:

Galloping Gourmet

(949) 443-4488

Aliso Viejo, Capistrano Beach, Dana Point, Irvine, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest, Newport Beach, San Juan Capistrano and parts of Coto de Caza, Mission Viejo and Rancho Santa Margarita.

Gourmet Shuttle

(714) 848-1002

(949) 548-7600

Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Newport Beach, Santa Ana, Sunset Beach, Tustin, Westminster and Saddleback Valley south to Laguna Niguel.

Restaurants Express

(714) 255-9300

(949) 465-5055

Anaheim, Brea, Fullerton, La Habra, Orange, Placentia and Yorba Linda.

Restaurants on the Run

(949) 951-2500

(714) 437-7777

Fountain Valley, Irvine, Newport Beach, Santa Ana, Orange, Tustin, Saddleback Valley south to San Juan Capistrano and parts of Huntington Beach and Dana Point.

Takeout Taxi

(714) 377-1200

Fountain Valley and Huntington Beach

We Deliver

(949) 588-6888

Aliso Viejo, Irvine Spectrum, Laguna Hills, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest, Mission Viejo and parts of Laguna Niguel.

Your Favorite Restaurants Delivery Co.

(714) 979-9777

(949) 474-5999

Costa Mesa, Cypress, Irvine, Newport Beach and Santa Ana.