Under new ownership, Carry Out Kings deliveries continue with flare

When driving, Vici Gajdzik is becoming something of a local celebrity. Since acquiring the Carry Out Kings delivery service late last year, Gajdzik has tricked out a delivery car in ways that make it hard to forget. 

The car that Gajdzik drives, a 2006 Subaru Outback Imprezza Sport, has gotten one of the best-known makeovers in New Paltz. It’s been turning heads for close to three years, for Gajdzik is seriously into car culture — but remains deliberately on the fringe of that hobbyist group. Tweaking the appearance of this remarkable car is a continual project. 

After spending two days — and a fair amount of purple spray paint — covering the original gray color, Gajdzik started adding “art pieces” to express some individuality, before repainting the interior. Upon discovering a long-abandoned shopping cart in the woods, Gajdzik thought, “I need a roof rack,” and got some help securing it to the roof with that the driver cheerfully calls “lobotomy bolts” because they do stick down inside a bit, and anyone riding in the back seat might otherwise be in peril. For safety’s sake, these were covered with rubber ducks, a counterpoint to the doll that’s carried in the cart itself. 

Car-focused friends have contributed custom bumper stickers, and eventually realistic street signs like the one that has “Butt Corners” on it, and another that has the business website of carryoutkings.com in the classic silvery-white on green. Graffiti artist Domino Twist brought a crew to a vacant lot to layer on some epic paintings. It’s the kind of vehicle that gets small children pointing, dogs wagging and class traitors cheering. 

Gajdzik worked as a driver at the company starting around 2018 when studying at SUNY New Paltz, following a path similar to company founders Mike Katz and Eric Cichinsky, who launched the enterprise as New Paltz Delivery Doctors in 2013 after coming to town for their studies. Katz broke the news to employees last June that the business was going to be wound down, and Gajdzik used that moment to pitch the idea of buying it outright. 

Carry Out Kings continues a legacy of local food-delivery services stretching back at least 20 years, when customers called Fast Lane Delivery on the phone to get orders from Yanni’s, Moonlight Cafe, Neko Sushi, and the College Diner, among others now vanished from the local scene. A lot has changed since then. Now, old-timers order through a web site, but the cool kids download the Carry Out Kings app to their phones. There are 18 different local eateries available that cover everything from the Gadaleto’s seafood to the vegan options of Karma Road, and customers can get food from up to three locations in a single delivery. Orders can be paid for with any kind of plastic, as well as hawk dollars and even cash. Gajdzik continues to work on expanding the offerings as well as the geographic area, with Gajdzik hinting that a Rosendale restaurant might be listed soon. 

Gajdzik has also been laboring to make this service seamless for the food workers themselves. Each partner business has a dedicated tablet on site for receiving orders, in order to avoid clogging phones or otherwise complicating the workflow. The cost for each participating business owner is negotiated directly, human to human, and any problems are resolved the same way. 

While the back end has been getting updated, hungry customers have been seeing the same faces when the food arrives: Gajdzik held onto the core drivers. “We have the best ones” compared to those who run for the corporate services. Those other drivers might know that, too; Gajdzik has more applications from people who want to join Carry Out Kings than there are presently deliveries to support. 

Customer and partner support is something that is taken very seriously at Carry Out Kings. “There is always a human available to help,” Gajdzik said. Restaurateurs who use corporate services like Door Dash and Grub Hub report that “there’s no one to call with problems,” and Gajdzik recognizes that avoiding bots and call centers and artificial intelligence is a competitive advantage. “I will never change that. I only use human cashiers when I shop.” 

For those who have never made contact with the Carry Out Kings, Gajdzik said that the promotional code FIRST5 will yield a five-dollar discount on that premiere order with the service. Weekday promotions are frequent, which means following one or more social media accounts might not be a bad idea for regulars, as well.