Third-party delivery apps often charge processing fees per transaction, as well as commission fees, delivery fees, and subscription fees. Of course, nobody makes a billion dollars without ripping somebody off. But as the big hitters grew, so did the complaints against them. As of November 2020, DoorDash had 50% of the market’s share of sales, with UberEats and Postmates at a combined 30%, Grubhub at 18%, and all the other services in the last one percent. The race was then for market share, as apps attempted to strike exclusivity deals with major chains and ensure they had the most restaurants available to any diner. Last November, UberEats bought Postmates for $2.65 billion, and in December DoorDash went public with one of the biggest IPOs of the year. As you’re probably aware, the model was hugely successful for the apps. Now, small restaurants no longer need to hire delivery personnel themselves, with many instead choosing to strike a deal with one of the apps, which in turn would connect the restaurant with an independent contractor to pick up and deliver the food. Apps allowed restaurants to shift their ordering services from the phone to the internet without having to build their own websites, but soon they also outsourced delivery staff. Seamless and Grubhub merged in 2014, the same year Uber launched UberEats. Seamless was founded in 1999, Grubhub in 2004, Postmates in 2011, and DoorDash in 2012. In the early 2000s, websites and eventually apps began to replace paper delivery menus. The True Cost of Convenience When did delivery apps get so powerful? Conversely, the delivery app industry, with billions of dollars in investment, is shaping up to fight every legal challenge thrown its way, and to spend its way to crafting labor legislation in its favor. As we enter a new year, pushback against delivery apps and predatory practices is growing - in courtrooms, polling booths, and within restaurants and their customer base. The apps offer infrastructure to tackle delivery, while simultaneously employing suspect practices like charging exorbitant fees to the restaurants that use the services. Not only was it convenient, it was also an ethical imperative: If you wanted to see your favorite restaurant survive, you needed to order out.īenefitting the most from this disruption to an already broken food supply chain are third-party delivery apps, such as UberEats, Grubhub, and DoorDash. As the pandemic limited access to restaurants and the government dragged - and continues to drag - on providing financial support for small businesses, consumers were given few options outside of takeout and delivery to eat a meal that they didn’t cook themselves. Staffers who contributed to this compendium include Erika Adams, Emma Alpern, Matt Buchanan, Sonia Chopra, Terri Ciccone, Serena Dai, Patty Diez, Brittany Holloway- Brown, Luke Fortney, Amanda Kludt, Jaya Saxena, Robert Sietsema, Ryan Sutton, and Tanay Warerkar.2020 was an undeniably big year for food delivery. Note: This map is an updated version of one originally published on March 23.

Remember to tip well and call before using a delivery platform such as Seamless or Caviar, which comes with hefty fees for consumers and restaurants. It’s not an exhaustive list - check in on the Instagrams and websites of your favorites, too - and details such as hours and menu items may change, as restaurateurs adapt to reduced business and a new business model. Here are some of the favorite places of Eater staffers that are still offering takeout or delivery to some extent.

But many are also opting to stay open in hopes of bringing in some revenue to cover costs such as rent and taxes, while others are using it as a way to employ a few staffers. It’s not an easy time for restaurants most of them in New York have temporarily closed, an important measure to help curb the spread of COVID-19 in NYC.

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