Lee Southwick chooses to walk to pick up her food instead of having it delivered.
The 19-year-old UF geography sophomore uses it as a study break, she said.
"I order out more during finals, but I like to pick it up myself," she said. "I like to walk from the library to Midtown, grab my food and walk back with it because I like the fresh air to clear my head."
Most students are not like Southwick, according to the increase in business’ delivery services during reading days and finals week.
Eric Layton, the general manager of 2 Dollar Delivery, said the business experiences a major spike in deliveries toward the middle and end of the semester.
"We do a lot of deliveries to the libraries and to the eastern side of campus, where the sorority houses are," he said. "We have four or five extra drivers on board, and the delivery time goes up for all the restaurants by 10 or 15 minutes."
After 7 or 8 p.m., he said, the more popular restaurants like Bento Cafe start to have hourlong waits when a customer places an order. 2 Dollar Delivery also extended its hours by half an hour on its busiest days, he said.
Layton said this year he’s noticed more students having "study parties" and placing large orders between $50 and $70.
"We get that with offices and places like Shands and VA hospitals all the time," he said. "But it’s abnormal for students."
Deliveries have also been faster since the launch of the 2 Dollar Delivery app in November, Layton said.
He said the most popular restaurants students order delivery from are Bento, Mi Apá Latin Café, Chuy’s, Piesanos Stone Fired Pizza and Reggae Shack Café. Starting next week, just in time for finals, the delivery service will likely offer delivery from Krispy Kreme, Little Caesars Pizza, McAlister’s Deli and possibly even Mother’s Pub and Grill.
"On Friday and Saturday, we stay open until 10:30 (p.m.)," he said. "And we get orders that late. Sometimes they’ll come in right at 10:29."
Contact Brooke Baitinger at bbaitinger@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @baitingerbrooke
