McDelivery brings Big Macs to your door

McDonald’s said it has expanded delivery via UberEats to about 270 restaurants in Chicago and about 700 more nationwide, a move aimed at winning back younger consumers willing to pay more for food brought to their doors.

“McDelivery” is also now available at about 300 restaurants in Los Angeles, 144 in Phoenix and 59 in Columbus, Ohio. McDonald’s started testing delivery in several Florida cities in January, and said last month it planned to roll it out “to a number of U.S. cities this quarter.”

Delivery is a tricky proposition for McDonald’s. UberEats’ delivery charge is $5, more than nearly all of the chain’s menu items. There’s also the risk that a customer might be disappointed with soggy fries or a warm soft drink.

But McDonald’s executives say delivery is successful because the huge number of locations — it has 14,000 nationwide — doesn’t leave much room for the food to get cold.

“When we first started considering delivery, food quality was our top concern,” said Bill Garrett, McDonald’s vice president of global delivery. “But when you look at our real estate footprint, we are so close to so much of the population, delivery times are very tight. We’re getting great reviews (of the food).”

Nearly 75 percent of the U.S. population lives within three miles of a McDonald’s restaurant, according to the company.