New Yorkers with empty stomachs and smartphones have no shortage of options to order up a bite to eat, but that hasn’t stopped Uber from expanding its service into a standalone app beginning Tuesday.
UberEATS will now offer access below 100th Street in Manhattan to menus from more than 100 eateries, including some of the most in-demand establishments around.
The service will do so daily between 8 a.m. and midnight, charge no tip or other extra fees, and offer the chance to track food couriers on their bikes in real time.
Despite the cluttered market, including Seamless and Delivery.com, food experts hailed the significance of Uber’s increased presence.
“I certainly think this is a game-changer, especially if it’s just certain restaurants that are doing it.” said Roze Arnold, the editor of the food blog NYCtastes. “The most frustrating thing is when you order and it’s 30 minutes and you have no idea where it is.”
Uber first began offering food delivery with its UberEATS instant delivery menu last April, which guaranteed limited meals in midtown within 10 minutes.
About 600 bike couriers will be transporting the food from 109 restaurants including the Egg Shop, Ivan Ramen Slurp Shop and Babu Ji, at the touch of a button. Three of the restaurants are exclusive to UberEATS: Le District, Fat Radish and Tartinery.
The app will show eateries’ top menu items, complete with original photos, ordered based on the customer’s eating habits and food ratings.
“The intent is to help you find the right restaurants and right menus,” said Chetan Narain, the project manager who helped develop UberEats New York.
Pricing for the app hasn’t been revealed, but customers will have free delivery for a limited time and there will be no surge pricing, according to Uber. Restaurant owners will have to pay a 30% commission on the order to pay for the courier service but they won’t have to pay for their own delivery person, a spokeswoman said. Couriers are independent contractors.
Cynthia Kueppers, the co-founder of Uma Temakeria at 64 Seventh Ave., said she partnered with Uber because she wanted to expand the reach of her sushi burrito restaurant with as little hassle as possible.
“We can focus on the food more,” she said.
A spokeswoman for Seamless/Grubhub said the company, which works with more than 40,000 restaurants in 1,000 cities, can benefit from UberEATS and other future delivery apps.
“Being part of a high-growth space with even higher potential means that a lot of people want to enter the space. That’s a good thing; competition drives innovation, which is good for everyone,” she said in a statement.
Kevin Dugan, a spokesman for the New York State Restaurant Association, said he couldn’t comment about UberEATS’ launch but spoke to the larger value of on-demand ordering services in the New York City market today.
“If we look at it in a vacuum in terms [of] this is exposing restaurants to a bigger base, especially people who don’t want to travel far away, it is a good thing,” he said.
Yagil Kadosh, who owns the restaurant delivery service BK Shift, agreed and said the competition among the different services only helps the mom-and-pop restaurants.
“The online ordering apps have increased a lot of volume for a lot of restaurants in the last five years,” he said.
Arnold predicted New Yorkers and restaurants will jump on UberEats and hailed the role of technology in creating a full menu of digital options for dining in.
“I think the Uber name has nothing to do with it, in the end we want what will work with our schedules and tastes,” she said.
Here are some of the Manhattan restaurants participating in the expanded UberEATS:
Babu Ji 175 Avenue B
Black Seed Bagel 176 1st Ave.
Egg Shop 151 Elizabeth St.
Frankies Spuntino 570 Hudson St.
Ivan Ramen Slurp Shop 600 11th Ave.
Ice & Vice 221 E Broadway
Pies and Thighs 43 Canal Street
Le District (exclusive) 225 Liberty Street
Fat Radish (exclusive) 17 Orchard St
Tartinery (exclusive) 209 Mulberry St
