DoorDash Outage Response Checklist for Local Restaurants

When DoorDash has an issue, make your website the clear source of restaurant updates

Reports have described a DoorDash technical issue affecting some orders, along with Dasher app problems that included earnings information not displaying for some users. These reports do not establish that every order, market, or restaurant is affected, but they are a useful reminder that third-party ordering platforms can be unavailable or unclear to customers at inconvenient times. WAVY and Hindustan Times reported on the issue.

When that happens, your restaurant website can give customers a simple answer to the questions they need resolved:

• Are you open?
• Can I place an order directly?
• Is pickup available?
• Are other delivery services working?
• What number should I call?
• How long should I expect to wait?

A website cannot replace your point-of-sale system or a delivery platform. It can, however, provide a dependable place to publish current ordering instructions while customers look for answers.

Table of contents

• Publish a clear temporary notice
• Make the next ordering step obvious
• Confirm pickup details before sending customers over
• Check your menu, hours, and alternate ordering links
• Set realistic customer expectations
• Prepare your team for calls and website inquiries
• Remove or revise the notice when service returns

Publish a clear temporary notice

Put a short update where customers are most likely to see it: at the top of your homepage, on your online ordering page, and near any DoorDash link on the site.

Do not make people hunt through a blog post or a social media feed to learn whether they can still order dinner.

Your notice should answer four things:

1. What customers may be experiencing For example: trouble placing or tracking DoorDash orders.
2. What your restaurant can currently confirm For example: “We are open for pickup” or “Phone orders are available.”
3. What customers should do next Give one primary action: call, order through a verified alternate platform, or place a pickup order.
4. When you will update the page Avoid promising a resolution time you do not control. Instead, say you will update the notice as service information changes.

Temporary website notice template

Ordering update: Some customers may be experiencing issues with DoorDash. We are currently open during our regular hours.

Pickup: Available at [address or pickup entrance].
Phone orders: Call [phone number] to place an order.
Alternate delivery: [Available through linked platform / Currently unavailable / Please check back for updates.]

We’ll update this page as our ordering options change.

Only publish options your team can actually fulfill. If phone ordering is not staffed during a rush, do not make it the main fallback option. If an alternate delivery app is accepting orders but your kitchen cannot support additional volume, remove that link or set expectations clearly.

Make the next ordering step obvious

During a platform issue, customers may arrive on your site unsure whether their order went through. A generic “Order Now” button is not enough.

Give each available ordering path a clear label.

Avoid sending customers from one unclear destination to another. A button labeled “DoorDash” should not remain at the top of the page if you believe it may not be usable for some customers.

If you keep a DoorDash link live, add context beside it:

DoorDash availability may vary. If you have trouble ordering, please call us at [phone number] for current pickup options.

This distinction matters. Do not imply that delivery is available just because pickup is available, or that an order has been received simply because a customer attempted to submit one through a third-party platform.

For more ways to make a restaurant’s calls to action easier to follow, see How to Write Website Copy That Gets Local Customers to Call.

Confirm pickup details before sending customers over

Pickup can be a useful fallback when a delivery platform has problems, but only if the instructions are complete.

Before highlighting pickup on your site, verify:

• Your pickup hours for the day
• The correct pickup address
• Whether customers should use the front counter, a side entrance, curbside spot, or drive-through
• Whether customers need to bring an order name, confirmation number, or payment method
• Whether your phone line can handle order calls
• Any menu items or promotions that are temporarily unavailable
• Whether parking, building access, or event conditions affect pickup

Pickup instruction template

Pickup orders: Please enter through the main entrance at [address] and check in at the host stand. Have your name and order total ready.

Pickup hours today: [hours]
Questions or order changes: Call [phone number].

If curbside pickup is available, state precisely where customers should park and how they should notify the restaurant. “Curbside available” without a parking location or call-in instruction creates more confusion than it solves.

A mobile-friendly layout is especially important here. Customers checking ordering instructions are often on a phone while they are already on the way to your restaurant. Review Why Your Local Business Website Has to Work on a Phone First for practical mobile website priorities.

Check your menu, hours, and alternate ordering links

An outage notice will not help much if the rest of the site provides contradictory information.

Run this quick website check before publishing your update.

Menu accuracy

Check that your website menu reflects what customers can order right now:

• Remove sold-out items if you can update them quickly.
• Mark limited menu availability clearly.
• Do not list lunch specials after they end.
• Confirm prices and modifiers if customers will place orders by phone.
• Make sure dietary information is not accidentally removed when creating a simplified temporary menu.

If you cannot keep a large online menu current during a short disruption, it is better to say, “Please call for today’s available items,” than to let customers order from an outdated list.

Hours accuracy

Check the same hours in all prominent places:

• Website header or footer
• Contact page
• Ordering page
• Google Business Profile
• Social profile bios, if your team updates them
• Voicemail greeting, if appropriate

A customer should not see “Open until 9 p.m.” on your website and hear a voicemail saying the kitchen closes at 8:30 p.m.

Your website and Google Business Profile should support each other, especially when customers are searching for a restaurant’s current status. Read Google Business Profile and Your Website: How They Work Together to Get You Found for a clearer picture of their different roles.

Alternate ordering links

If you use other ordering services, link only to the exact restaurant location and verify the links before publishing.

For each link, confirm:

• It goes to your restaurant, not a search page.
• It reflects the correct location if you have multiple locations.
• The restaurant is accepting orders.
• Delivery versus pickup is labeled accurately.
• The menu shown there is reasonably current.

If you cannot confirm an alternate platform is working, do not present it as a guaranteed fallback. Use wording such as: “Check availability through [Platform Name]” rather than “Delivery is available now.”

Set realistic customer expectations

Customers may be frustrated when an order fails, is delayed, or cannot be tracked. Your website copy should be calm, brief, and specific without assigning blame or making promises your restaurant cannot keep.

Useful expectation-setting language includes:

• “We are currently confirming available ordering options.”
• “Pickup wait times may be longer than usual.”
• “Please call before heading over if you need to confirm your order.”
• “If you placed an order through a third-party platform and have not received confirmation, please check the platform first.”
• “We cannot view or change all third-party orders from our restaurant directly.”

Avoid statements such as:

• “All DoorDash orders are down.”
• “Your order will be ready in 10 minutes.”
• “We can fix any third-party order issue.”
• “Delivery is guaranteed.”
• “DoorDash is responsible for the problem.”

The reported issue affected some orders and app functions; it is not a reason to make broader claims about every customer’s situation. Keep your public update focused on what your restaurant can offer now.

Prepare your team for calls and website inquiries

A temporary website notice works best when the people answering phones and messages have the same information.

Create a short internal status sheet with:

• Current restaurant hours
• Whether phone orders are being accepted
• Whether pickup is available
• Current estimated pickup time, if your team uses one
• Available ordering links
• Who can update the website notice
• The time of the last update
• When the team should reassess the situation

Simple phone script

Thanks for calling [Restaurant Name]. We’re currently aware that some customers may be having trouble with DoorDash. We can help with [pickup orders / current available option]. Our current pickup time is approximately [time, if your team can provide one]. Would you like to place an order?

For customers asking about an order placed through a third-party platform, staff should avoid guessing. They can explain the restaurant’s current confirmed options and direct the customer to the platform’s order support when the restaurant does not have access to the order status.

Log unresolved inquiries

The reports do not document a rise in restaurant calls or website inquiries. Still, if questions increase during an ordering issue, a small log can help your team spot recurring confusion.

Track:

• Date and time
• Customer’s question
• Ordering channel mentioned
• Whether the customer was able to place a pickup order
• Whether the website notice answered the question
• Any information that needs to be clarified on the site

For example, if several callers ask where to pick up phone orders, add the pickup entrance and parking details to the notice. If customers keep asking whether a delivery link is working, remove vague wording and state what you can confirm.

Use a minimal contact form during a fast-moving update. Asking for only the information you need can make inquiries easier for customers and safer for your team to manage. See Local Business Website Lead Form Fields: What to Ask and What to Leave Out.

Remove or revise the notice when service returns

A temporary notice should not become permanent clutter.

Once your team has confirmed that the affected ordering option is functioning normally for your restaurant, remove the alert banner or revise it. Then check that the regular ordering buttons are back in their usual places.

Before closing out the update:

• Test every ordering link.
• Confirm pickup and delivery labels are correct.
• Restore your normal homepage call to action.
• Remove temporary language that is no longer accurate.
• Review the inquiry log for questions that could be prevented by clearer evergreen website copy.
• Save the notice template for the next platform, phone, internet, or software interruption.

This is also a good time to make sure your restaurant has a durable ordering-status area on the site, rather than relying on a rushed edit during the next issue. A similar principle applies to other software disruptions; see Salesforce Outage Website Response Checklist for Local Businesses for a broader communication framework.

A website backup plan should be ready before customers need it

A third-party ordering issue may create customer confusion, but it does not have to leave your restaurant without a way to communicate. Keep a short outage notice template, current phone number, accurate pickup instructions, verified ordering links, and an internal update process ready to use.

The goal is not to promise that every order will be recovered. It is to give customers one clear, current next step when a platform they rely on may not be working as expected.

If your restaurant needs a website that makes menu details, pickup information, hours, and customer updates easier to manage, StoopCraft builds done-for-you local business websites and includes on-page SEO for $99/month.