Fifteen years ago, when Bend TakeOut got started, food delivery was limited to pizza and Chinese food. Ahead of its time, the delivery company has been joined by national delivery services with apps — among them Uber Eats, Door Dash and Grubhub. It’s now possible to get everything from a fast-food burger to a fine-dining meal delivered to your door.

The first complaint you’ll hear from those who dislike these services is that they’re expensive. These delivery services don’t offer free delivery from restaurants, as in the past. Still, they may be worth the $10 (average) extra you’ll pay.

Perhaps you’d like some Starbucks or Sparrow Bakery pastries and coffee while you snuggle in bed on a cold weekend morning. You may want a meal delivered to fit into your half-hour lunch break. You can have shrimp and grits delivered from Bistro 28 as you watch the snow come down. As long as you understand that it will probably take an hour and that you will pay not only delivery fees, but increased prices on menu items, you’ll be happy that you can stay home and get good food.

Locally owned Bend TakeOut (and Redmond TakeOut) doesn’t raise standard menu prices on deliveries. Instead, owners Angela Bove and Phil Geiger said, they charge a driver fee and a delivery fee.

Said Geiger, “I bought the business for a dollar and assumed its debt. I worked day and night for the next few years to make it profitable.” At first, customers would call in their order, chosen from distributed menus, he said. The dispatcher would contact drivers with walkie talkies.

As technology progressed, the company advanced to a phone app that rivals that of any of its national competitors. You can choose to have food quickly delivered from a restaurant that is currently open. For restaurants that are closed when you make the order, you can schedule for delivery later. Restaurant hours are displayed when you click on the info button.

One benefit of a small local company is that they still accept cash or credit cards at the door for those who don’t like sharing that information online or in an app.

As with other apps, I got a text when my order was placed with Cuban Kitchen. As the restaurant was busy, the driver sent me a text that she was waiting for the food. Once it was ready, the driver again texted me to tell me how long it would be before she arrived with my dinner. I could follow an icon on the app’s map to watch the driver’s progress.

Restaurants exclusive to Bend TakeOut include Croutons, Mother’s, Himalayan Bites, Greek Street, Kebaba, Barrio Food Truck, Birdies Cafe and Noi Thai.

DoorDash is a popular national delivery service. Download the phone app, add contact and payment info, and you are ready to order. Unlike Bend TakeOut and Grubhub, you cannot schedule an order for a later delivery time.

Because I had driven for DoorDash in the past, I understood when I ordered from Hola on the night of the snowstorm there might be a later delivery time. I had an excellent driver who texted that it was busy and I might have to wait. (It can get busy during peak hours and bad weather, when the app assigns more than one pickup and delivery to a driver.) Nonetheless, I received my food within an hour of my ordering.

DoorDash does raise the prices of menu items by a dollar or two. I signed up for the $10 per month delivery service, so the delivery charge was free (instead of $3) and the service fee was half price at $1.45.

Restaurants exclusive to DoorDash include Chan’s, Double Happiness, Beach Hut Deli, Active Culture, Pine Tavern, 900 Wall, El Rancho Grande, Bistro 28, Tortilleria Reyes, Pacific Pizza and Brew, Baskin-Robbins and Los Jalapeños.

My favorite thing about the Uber Eats app is that it is much like the Uber ride app. A picture of the driver and his or her license plate, make, model and color of car appears as soon as the delivery is assigned.

A flashing banner in the Uber Eats app offered a 25% discount code on orders over $15. I ordered a couple of rolls from Mio Sushi. With the discount, the delivery price was about the same as if I had gone to the restaurant.

The only restaurants exclusive to Uber Eats are Deschutes Brewery, Plant’d, Pancho’s and 10 Barrel West.

The last national service I tried was Grubhub, with whom I scheduled an order from the Pour House Grill to arrive at dinnertime. The restaurant opened at 5 p.m., so the earliest delivery was at 5:45. A little after 5, I received a text that my order was in process. The order arrived at 6.

The best thing about the Grubhub app is that it has more photos of menu items than other apps.

The worst is that it crashed three times, requiring me to restart the app. Further, the car tracker on the map seemed to jump around so that I couldn’t see the progress of the driver, and there was no way to text the driver.

Restaurant delivery services are convenient. You will pay more than going to pick it up yourself, and occasionally, you may have to tolerate longer delivery times due to a busy restaurant or peak hours, especially in bad weather. Still, I’m thrilled that when I want good food without having to drive across town, it’s available.