A dish caddy for transporting food to a restaurant table, the dish caddy comprising:
- a base member;
- a supporting rod mounted to the base member and extending upwards from the base member in a vertical direction;
- a plurality of dish holders mounted to the supporting rod, the dish holders respectively extending away from the supporting rod in a plurality of different radial directions and at a plurality of different levels along the vertical direction of the supporting rod;
- and
- a hand grip on the supporting rod, the hand grip positioned between a first level and a second level along the vertical direction of the supporting rod and having no dish holders extending from the supporting rod between the first level and the second level;
- wherein the different radial directions of all the dish holders extending from the supporting rod are within a range of one-hundred and eighty degrees around the supporting rod and the dish caddy as a whole has no dish holders extending from the supporting rod outside the range of one-hundred and eighty degrees;
- the range of one-hundred and eighty degrees around the supporting rod has a center direction at ninety degrees corresponding to a front direction of the dish caddy;
- each of the dish holders includes a top pressure pad and a bottom pressure pad for supporting a respective dish placed into the dish holder by a user;
- the bottom pressure pad of each of the dish holders extends away from the supporting rod a further distance than the top pressure pad;
- the bottom pressure pad of each of the dish holders is a first surface for supporting a base of the respective dish supported thereon and including a friction increasing means for facilitating a stable hold on the respective dish;
- the top pressure pad of each of the dish holders is a second surface blocking an edge of the respective dish from moving upward in the vertical direction to thereby prevent the respective dish from rotating around the bottom pressure pad and falling off the bottom pressure pad;
- the top pressure pad and the bottom pressure pad of each of the dish holders, in combination with gravity acting on the respective dish, thereby collectively hold the respective dish in a fixed position relative to the supporting rod when a user lifts and carries the dish caddy from the hand grip, the fixed position of each respective dish being within a plane that is substantially perpendicular to the supporting rod and parallel to the base member;
- and
- a respective radial direction of each of the dish holders corresponds to a vector extending from the supporting rod less than ninety-degrees from the center direction such that the respective dish supported by each of the dish holders are angled away from a back side of the dish caddy, whereby the user can thereby carry the dish caddy fully loaded with dishes and food to the restaurant table from the back side of the dish caddy with the supporting rod held adjacent the user's body.