Food delivery platforms across India recorded unprecedented order volumes on New Year's Eve, with biryani emerging as the overwhelming favourite as millions of Indians rang in 2026 from home.

Swiggy reported nearly 2,19,000 biryani orders by 7:30 PM on December 31, with demand peaking at over 1,300 orders per minute around 8 PM. By 8:30 PM, the platform had delivered more than 2,18,000 pizzas and approximately 2,16,000 burgers, highlighting the diverse tastes shaping India's urban food economy.

Zomato and its quick-commerce arm Blinkit together processed 7.5 million orders, an all-time high, serving 6.3 million customers through 4,50,000 delivery partners, according to Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal. The surge came despite a planned nationwide strike by gig workers demanding better pay and working conditions, which unions said drew over 1,00,000 participants across 22 cities.

Unusual Orders and Celebration Patterns

Individual ordering patterns revealed the scale of celebrations. A customer in Bhubaneswar placed a single order for 16 kilograms of biryani, while a Bengaluru user ordered 100 burgers at once. In Goa, another customer ordered 39 portions of kebabs and tikkas. A user in Nagpur placed more than 93 orders throughout the day, and someone in Surat ordered from 22 different restaurants on December 31 alone.

Quick-commerce platforms also saw high-value purchases beyond food. A Mumbai user received gold worth Rs 1.45 lakh as a gift through Swiggy Instamart, while a Bengaluru shopper bought two iPhones valued at Rs 1.8 lakh. A Patiala customer purchased gold coins worth Rs 6 lakh.

Traditional desserts gained prominence as the night progressed. Rasmalai, gajar halwa, and gulab jamun were among the most ordered sweets around 10:30 PM, with 46,627 gulab jamun orders recorded. Pizza emerged as the most popular choice to begin 2026.

Dining Out Sees Strong Growth

Restaurant bookings through Swiggy Dineout surged, with Bengaluru and Hyderabad leading overall reservations. Ahmedabad recorded a 1.6-times increase in dine-out bookings compared to typical levels, followed by Lucknow at 1.3 times and Jaipur at 1.2 times. Large group bookings were common in Vadodara and Chandigarh, where tables for 30 were reserved.

Magicpin, India's third-largest food delivery platform, reported butter chicken as the most-ordered main course in Delhi-NCR, followed by biryani and dal makhni, with dessert orders including gajar ka halwa and ice cream seeing a three-fold increase compared to last year.