For Toronto restaurants, one of the hardest parts of having to subsist only on takeout and delivery orders is not being able to control the quality of their food once it leaves the building.

A huge part of this is how it's handled by delivery people. Now, one Thai restaurant in the city is trying to make sure drivers are doing their jobs correctly by posting a sign letting them know that without thermal bags, they won't be able to pick up any food.

"No bag, no food," reads a sign posted on Sala Thai's door. "No bag = cold food. Cold food = customers complain. Customers complain = no order. No orders = no money. No money = store close. Store close = no job for me and you!"

"We want to make sure the food is still hot when it arrives to customers. If the food gets cold it reduces the quality and flavour of our food, which results in a bad experience. Especially now that the in-person portion of restaurant experience is off the table, the experience from a box has to deliver," Sala owner Kasorn Meepan (AKA Chef Mo) told blogTO.

"We are trying to keep the first-timers satisfied. We've seen a surge in first-time takeout orders, probably due to the shifts in habits. People rarely give you a second chance if you couldn't impress them the first time. If customers will continuously get cold food, we will have no money to keep delivering the top notch Thai food we're known for."

Not only does Meepan say the temperature of the food obviously affects how good it tastes, thermal bags also protect the food "from accidental damages which is a very common issue."

"We do disappoint some delivery guys for sure because some of them don't have a warmer bag on them so they have to cancel the order because of the no bag, no food policy," says Meepan.

"Some of them have to walk back to the car to get the bag which can be frustrating. But it is safer for them and customers and keeps us on our feet. We have to remain professional and do our job in the best way if we want to survive through this damn COVID."

Sala Modern Thai is known as one of the best Thai restaurants in Toronto and makes some of the city's best pad thai, so it's important to them that every order is perfect to uphold their reputation.

"A restaurant is a passion business and your food experience with us largely depends on whether or not we can give our beloved team the hours they deserve to stay motivated," says Meepan. "I took responsibility over my team and I owe them at least this. It costs a driver nothing to simply bring his bag."