Are drones the future of delivery? It’s now possible to get food to your door in 3 minutes

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s … your food? And it’s delivered in record time by drone.

While it may seem otherworldly — or at least a bit strange — to have food delivered by drones, some Texas cities are already embracing the future.

What is drone delivery? Where do drones deliver in Texas?

During the Super Bowl, a promotional partnership between PepsiCo and Wing, Alphabet’s drone delivery service, brought free snacks to Frisco, about 30 miles north of Dallas. Customers placed orders through the app, tracked their deliveries in real time, and received snacks securely enclosed in a cardboard box. The drone slowly lowered the box, which was then opened to reveal a selection of game-day treats, including Doritos, Tostitos dips and Pepsi Zero Sugar.

However, prior to this weekend, drone delivery had already begun to make a footprint in North Texas.

For instance, Wing had already partnered with Walmart at 11 locations across the Dallas-Fort Worth area, including Dallas, Plano, Murphy, Richardson, Mesquite, Rowlett, The Colony, and Garland. More recently, in December, Wing further expanded its services, partnering with DoorDash to launch drone deliveries from local Brookfield Properties malls, including Hulen Mall in Fort Worth and Stonebriar Centre in Frisco, the Dallas Morning News reported.

According to the Wing website, the company’s quickest delivery from order to drop-off was 2 minutes and 47 seconds. Their drones can fly speeds of up to 65 mph and up to 12 miles round-trip.

Another drone service, Flytrex, operates in Granbury and Little Elm, a neighboring town to Frisco, promising to deliver food in under five minutes — though it doesn’t specify if that’s from launch to door-time or order to door-time.

The app offers menu options from over 30 restaurants, including Raising Cane’s and Chick-fil-A, along with smaller items like ice cream, sandwiches and items from the Flytrex Market, and even full meals from Chili’s and Hoffbrau’s Steakhouse.

The company guarantees that food will arrive at the intended temperature without any spillage during delivery.

As long as the order weighs less than 6.6 pounds, nothing is off the table.

Can you order alcohol via drone?

While DoorDash and other food delivery apps allow for the delivery of beer via drone, the option is not currently available on Wing or Flytrex in Texas.