Be glad, yet again, that you live in Seattle, where deliveries are made curbside and not out on the water. Then again ...
Comes now a new service from the ride-hailing app Uber. The company jumped in the restaurant delivery game in various cities last year, and has just docked in Seattle. Back in June, the Wall Street Journal reported on Uber's plans to "disrupt the food-delivery business as much as it has with taxis," and now we're about to see for ourselves.
UberEATS promises to deliver lunch in ten minutes ("Faster than a microwave") to subscribers who live in half a dozen downtown Seattle area neighborhoods. The service will be available weekdays from 11 AM to 2 PM in Downtown, Pioneer Square, Belltown, Lower Queen Anne, South Lake Union, and Capitol Hill, and menus will change daily, according to Uber.
The opening week menu includes items like drunken chicken from Monsoon, pulled pork from Skillet Diner, and a trio of salads from Volunteer Park Cafe. Dishes will be priced between $8 and $12. Restaurant partners will do all the cooking, but UberEats will use a facility in SLU to pre-position popular meal options. Some 20 restaurants will be signed up as partners for the launch, with more coming, according to an UberEATS spokesperson.
Registered Uber users will see the UberEATS options available for their locations on their mobile devices, and must meet the drivers curbside to pick up their meals. Despite early reports of a $3 delivery charge, delivery is included in the price; tipping is not necessary.
Registered Uber users will see the UberEATS options available for their locations on their mobile devices, and must meet the drivers curbside to pick up their meals.
Seattle is the tenth city with access to UberEats. The others are Austin, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Washington DC, Atlanta, Toronto, and Barcelona.
Less than a month ago, Amazon Prime launched a similar delivery service for central Seattle in cooperation with scores of local restaurants. The field was (is) already crowded, with competition from Bite Squad, GrubHub, Munchery, Postmates, Instacart, Caviar, Lish, Peach, Groupon (Groupon-to-go), and Yelp (Eat 24), but the services seem to keep multiplying.
Uber has not added any drivers to its existing team, says David Rutenberg, who's in charge of the program in Seattle. "We think this will be a game-changer," he said.
One of the chefs involved, Ericka Burke of Volunteer Park Cafe and Chop Shop, says she looks forward to staying in touch with her restaurant customers through UberEATS.
A reminder: if you can't find UberEATS on your phone, you're not covered by the service. On the other hand, 90 minutes and counting for a sandwich. Will let you know if it ever gets here.
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