The chimichanga from Cinco de Mayo in Dover, New Hampshire, delivered to Berwick by DoorDash. Photo by Bob Keyes

BERWICK — First we ordered beer, then we ordered food.

Two times in however many weeks we’ve been hunkered down, my wife and I have ordered out. More accurately, I ordered two four-packs of beer from our local Corner Point Brewing Co. in Berwick, which I picked up, and we ordered food for delivery from Cinco de Mayo, just over the border in Dover, New Hampshire.

Our food was delivered by DoorDash, and it was the first time my wife or I had tried the delivery service. The service was excellent. The estimated delivery time was 47 minutes, and it arrived much more quickly, in half that time. And the delivery person, which whom we had zero interaction, literally dashed up our driveway.

“Oh look,” my wife said, getting out of her seat to gaze out the window, “he’s dashing up the driveway!”

“As advertised,” I said.

The food was mediocre, but the thrill of the experience was worth it. It was our first food “out” in more than a month, and we savored the experience, the decadence of the moment and the ease and efficiency of it at all. In a small town like Berwick, delivery options are limited. We do have a few good locally owned places that deliver – Somersworth House of Pizza across the river in New Hampshire and Bubba Frye’s in North Berwick are two – but we wanted to try one of the big delivery services that we’ve seen advertised on TV these last few weeks.

We ordered and paid through the DoorDash app, interacted with no one and got our our food really fast. I was impressed.

In Berwick, our GrubHub options are dominated by fast food and chains. Among the first choices that come up are Burger King, Applebee’s and KFC.

DoorDash is similar, with Chipotle, Chili’s, Five Guys and Wendy’s popping up right away. But DoorDash offers more local options and one of them Cinco de Mayo, a Mexican restaurant that we already liked, despite its unoriginal name.

Corner Point Brewing Co. in Berwick, with a Civil War memorial in the background. Photo by Bob Keyes

I ordered two chimichangas, one beef and one chicken, served with rice and beans and a guacamole salad on the side. My wife ordered a variety of a la carte items, including at least one tamale, chili relleno and taquito. It came in many different containers – too many to my eye – all neatly packaged and stacked. It tasted about the same and about what you would expect – not quite warm, even with the quick delivery, with quickly congealing grease. I was perfectly pleased with the meal, but next time I will try not to order anything fried for delivery.

Our total bill, paid in advance through DoorDash, was $47.23, which is less than what we would have paid in the restaurant with drinks.

I didn’t save any money drinking at home. I ordered two 16-ounce four-packs, one each of the Straight Outta Berwick IPA, a 6 percent abv IPA that I loved, and another of the Old Town Blonde Ale, with flavors of biscochito coffee beans, that I didn’t love. The IPAs are long gone. Two of the blondes are still in the fridge. Those beers, in total with tip, cost $36.63.

When asked if I wanted to leave a tip, I didn’t hesitate to say yes. Later, I wondered why. There was no delivery, and the service amounted to taking my order, charging my card and placing two four-packs on the table out front. There was no delivery. I walked 10 minutes from home to pick them up. I decided the tip wasn’t about the service provided, but simply about being there and creating a safe and easy environment for the transaction. I much prefer buying beer from my neighbor-brewer than going into a convenience store to pick up a six-pack, even if that would have cost considerably less money.

I know that Cumby’s will be there when all of this is over. I want Corner Point to be there too.