Unpacking the restaurant experience: how food delivery technology favors the affluent urban core

We study how technological innovation has transformed the valuation of consumption services, using the sudden national expansion of food delivery services (FDS) in China as a natural experiment. Using a Bartik-style instrumental variable strategy that interacts national FDS growth with pre-existing restaurant density, we estimate the capitalization of delivery-accessible restaurants into Beijing housing prices. An additional 100 delivery-accessible restaurants raise housing prices by approximately 3 percent. Effects are strongest near the city center, declining by 0.15 percentage points per kilometer from the CBD, consistent with higher adoption rates and time valuations among central residents. Beyond quantity, households also value cuisine diversity. Unlike ride-sharing platforms, which reduce commuting costs and flatten the urban rent gradient, FDS unpacked the food and menu choice element of the restaurant experience, allowing this to be traded as a separate service. By reducing travel costs for consumption rather than commuting, FDS amplifies existing urban price gradients, disproportionately benefits central residents and demonstrates the continuing importance of consumption services in delivering differential welfare in cities.