Ordering food around Chapel Hill tonight? Do it now. The UNC game changes everything.
It’s far from a typical Monday in the Triangle, as the vibrations of UNC-Chapel Hill’s national championship game tonight against Kansas will be felt beyond Tar Heel Nation.
So if you’re thinking of ordering takeout or delivery within the UNC universe Monday night, here are a few things to keep in mind.
Order cutoffs
Your favorite delivery or takeout spot might end orders early Monday night, as restaurants prepare to serve dine-in guests and satisfy pre-orders. The popular pizza shop Italian Pizzeria III will stop taking orders at 7:30 p.m. Monday, co-owner Vinnie Marrone said. The shop sold more than 400 pizzas Saturday, as UNC defeated Duke to advance to the national championship game. Marrone said the pizzeria started Monday with 100 pre-orders already placed.
The Franklin Street restaurant is also booked solid with reservations, and Marrone plans to serve until the game ends.
The wing joint Heavenly Buffaloes will also wrap up online ordering early, cutting orders off just after 7 p.m., while staying open until 10 p.m.
Delivery delays
Should UNC prevail, celebrating with a delivered burrito might be difficult with tens of thousands of fans rushing Franklin Street.
Those early cutoffs could apply to delivery as well, said Wes Garrison, who co-founded local food delivery service Takeout Central.
“We’re generally not as busy on the big sports days as we are typical weekend nights,” Garrison said. “We’re dead on the Super Bowl. But I expect we’ll be a little busier tonight. Restaurants might be shutting off early around the time the game starts.”
Garrison said restaurants will be cautious to not let delivery orders pile up while many have full dining rooms.
Mediterranean Deli owner Jamil Kadoura said the Franklin Street restaurant will screen Monday’s national championship game in its banquet hall, while also fulfilling delivery and takeout orders. But Med Deli will stop taking orders around tip-off time.
“The reason is you get too many orders and you start screwing up,” Kadoura said. “In a situation like this, for us to feel good, if we’re not going to do it the right way, we’re not going to do it. So get your orders in before 9.”
Kadoura said Saturday night was Med Deli’s busiest of the past month, ending with tens of thousands of fans and students running down Franklin Street to celebrate. On Monday night, he said Med Deli would close when the game ends.
“It was really crazy here,” Kadoura said. “We learned something. When we win and rush Franklin Street, that’s when we close.”
