Uber Eats, along with several other services, has arrived in Huntington, delivering food for restaurants that don’t have their own service.
Other delivery services like DoorDash, Grubhub, Eat24 (owned by Grubhub), Seamless (which merged with Grubhub in 2013), and delivery.com are also available in Huntington. The services are just one of the ways food delivery is changing; for example, some restaurants are offering curbside delivery, saving a buyer a trip into the restaurant.
To use the service, download the app, register, or, if you have one, log in with your Uber account. Then, enter your delivery location, add any special instructions, choose your restaurant and pick your meal. Depending on distance from the establishment, your meal should arrive in 45 minutes or less.
According to Uber Eats’s website, “prices and offers on the Uber Eats website and in the Uber Eats app may differ from prices and offers in the restaurant.” However, on Zaro’s Café’s website, Falafel is $7.50 and with Uber Eats, Zaro’s Falafel is also $7.50. On Spice Village Grill’s website, Mango Chicken is $20. With Uber Eats, Spice Village’s Mango Chicken is $20. As reported by this article on Forbes, and this article on Ridester, Uber Eats charges restaurants 30% of each dish delivered and does not allow restaurants to up their prices to cover the loss. So, if you order a pizza for $20, the pizzeria gets $14 and Uber Eats gets $6.
Consumers do not usually see that 30% increase. Instead, they pay the price of their order plus tax and a $3 to $5 (possibly more if order volume is high and driver volume is low, sort of like Uber’s surge charge) “booking fee,” previously called a delivery fee.
Kaitlin Shepherd, 24, of Huntington, has used the platform three times, with mixed results. She said it was useful when she did not have time to pick up lunch and traditional delivery times were too long. However, once, her driver got lost and another time, part of her order was forgotten. Shepherd would try again, though. She said when her order was forgotten, she “was able to easily navigate the app and let them know and got a refund. There was no option to have the items delivered, though.”
Regarding Uber Eats’s booking fee, Shepherd would prefer to pay the establishment from which she ordered and not a middleman, but Uber Eats’s convenience wins out. Shepherd said that Uber Eats is “a bit faster than other delivery options; they will deliver from places that don’t always deliver and will deliver farther.” Shepherd would like for there to be a way to contact the driver without the driving having to contact you first.
You can use Uber Eats with the following establishments in the Huntington area:
- McDonald’s
- Checkers
- Roy’s Deli
- Applebee’s
- Bango Bowls
- Kebab Express/Halal Grill
- May’s Gourmet Delicatessen
- Coliseum Kitchen
- The Greek Grill
- Popeyes
- Critic’s Choice
- Krinti Mediterranean Grill
- Toxic Wings
- Pollo Campero
- Gustoso Pizzeria
- Farmer’s Chicken and Ribs
- Zaro’s Cafe
- Jamba Juice
- Kabul Restaurant Afghan
- Spuntino
- European Republic
- Tropical Smoothie Cafe
- Golden Dolphin Diner
- Sobol Huntington
- Bee-Organic
- Bistro Cassis
- Cafe Revue
- Curry Express
- Sur Argentinian Steakhouse
- Mac’s Steakhouse
- Spice Village Grill
- Ruvo Restaurant
- Francos Gourmet Deli
- Sandbar
- Pizza Express
- House of India
- MB Ramen
Plus a LOT more. Available options will change based on your location.