When you’re traveling to a new location and working full time, chances are good that you want to actually explore or relax during your time away from work, rather than spending time grocery shopping or getting food. Different locations have different delivery apps available, so getting familiar with them all means you’ll never be stuck running to the store. Just don’t forget to tip when ordering from these apps—drivers rely on tips to earn a living and you’ll often get faster service by tipping ahead of time.
One thing to note if you’re getting food delivered from a restaurant. Some restaurants may be operating as “ghost kitchens,” which means that the food is being prepared at a different restaurant. Ghost kitchens are also known as virtual kitchens and only offer delivery or takeout. For instance, YouTuber MrBeast has a ghost kitchen for his restaurant MrBeast Burgers. Many of them operate out of Italian eatery Buca di Beppo. There’s no real reason not to order from a ghost kitchen. However, some folks may want to look for health code violations before ordering. A quick Google search will often give you the address of the ghost kitchen. Then you can do a deeper dive to determine where the food is actually being cooked.
Also, if you’re looking to save fees, check individual restaurant websites before ordering through an app. Sometimes, a restaurant will contract with a delivery service, but you’ll pay less since you’re not paying the delivery app fees. It might be slightly less convenient, but the savings can be up to $10 on a single meal.
DoorDash
DoorDash is one of the first delivery apps that showed up and has existed in larger cities for 10 years. The service offers both restaurant and retail deliveries with national and local chains available, depending on where you are. Users can sign up for DashPass, a monthly subscription for $10 that gives you free delivery on purchases over $12, plus lower fees. DoorDash frequently sends out deals and coupons so watch your emails if you’re looking for a discount.
Drizly
Drizly focuses strictly on alcohol purchases. The app partners with retailers around the country that sell alcohol and deliver it within 60 minutes. Drizly doesn’t add to the cost of the items and instead charges the retailers a monthly fee to show up on the app. The app also uses its own identity document verification tech that ensures each customer is old enough to legally to purchase alcohol.
Grubhub
Grubhub originally started as an online menu service, way back in 2004. About 10 years later, the company expanded into a delivery service, offering delivery from restaurants that didn’t offer their own services. Grubhub also offers Grubhub+, a $10 a month service that gives unlimited $0 delivery fees. You may still see service fees though, which can significantly increase the cost of your meal.
Instacart
Instacart offers shopping and delivery from grocery, warehouse, drug stores, as well as alcohol delivery and retailers like Best Buy, Michaels, Sephora, Bath and Body Works and plenty of others. An Instacart+ membership costs $100 a year and offers delivery on orders more than $35 in a few hours. Depending on what you’re ordering and when you want it to be delivered, fees can vary, even if you don’t have a membership. If you decide to pick up your order instead of having it delivered, you’ll get back 5% towards a future order.
Postmates
Postmates is not unlike other services, with a number of restaurants and retailers. It’s actually owned by Uber, which makes it very similar to Uber Eats. In fact, in its FAQs, there are references to Uber Eats throughout. Postmates subscription is known as Unlimited, which costs $10 a month and gives $0 delivery on restaurant orders over $15 and grocery orders over $30, plus 5% off.
Shipt
Shipt is unlike restaurant delivery services because it allows users to shop online and a contracted shopper actually goes through the aisles and selects items for you. Shoppers connect with users in real time and can send text messages if the store is out of a product or even to confirm whether the produce looks good enough to purchase. Another benefit is that users can add forgotten items while the shopper is still in the store. The service costs $100 a year (or $11 a month) and gives users unlimited delivery on orders over $35. Some Visa cards even provide up to a year of free service so check that out before you pay for a membership. Target purchased Shipt in 2017, which makes Target the most prominent store on the platform. However, grocery stores, drug stores and pet stores are all also available. Stores can vary by location though.
Toast Takeout
Toast Takeout is smaller than some of the more well-known delivery services. For instance, in the Omaha local area, we found locally owned places. This makes Toast Takeout a great idea if you’re trying out more of the local cuisine during your assignment. Toast Takeout doesn’t charge a commission to the restaurants on the app, sending more of the proceeds directly to the restaurant. Also, many places may default to takeout, rather than delivery so if you’re not looking to leave home, make sure you’re checking the right tab before ordering.
Uber Eats
Uber Eats is well-known throughout the country. It spun off from the ride-sharing app Uber and offers delivery from restaurants and a number of grocery stores, drug stores and other retailers. National chains like Milk Bar or H&H Bagels also deliver through Uber Eats so you can order directly through the app and have your favorites mailed to you in 5-7 business days. Like similar services, Uber Eats offers Uber One, a subscription service that covers delivery fees and gives you up to 10% off.
Are we missing any delivery apps that you’ve used? Let us know!
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