![]() ![]() That ETA was incorrect, however - it predicted a delivery 5 minutes earlier than it happened - while GrubHub’s ETA was right on the money. ![]() Notifications: Eat24 is even less aggressive than it’s budget-level sibling, sending only one alert, to confirm your order was received and to give you an ETA. Otherwise, the user experience is pretty similar, down to the cherry red color scheme. That’s also true if you’re the kind of person who makes restaurant decisions based on Yelp reviews, because they’re listed right there. Interface: If you’re the kind of person who can’t stand a few seconds of loading animation without accompanying cute messages (“Rolling sushi…” “Melting chocolate…”), Eat24’s user experience will make you happy. In any case, despite the working-horse status of the sandwich, it’s one that can easily be ruined by time or mishandling, making it a valuable litmus test. Is it really necessary to place a delivery order for something as simple as a bacon, egg and cheese? If you’re asking the question, your lack of rough Sunday mornings is one to be admired/pitied. About the service fee: Postmates looks lower, but the app prompts you to add a tip after the order is delivered, hinting that your courier won’t make buck if you don’t tack on that additional 10, 15 or 20 percent, so it ends up just as high - if not higher. Price: Caviar - 18% service fee, $1.99 delivery Postmates - 9% service fee, $6.75 delivery. Caviar offers a special low delivery rate for restaurants that are close by, where Postmates starts at $5 and goes up from there. Postmates suffered another lag here, though - the “Your order is on its way” and the “Your order is about to arrive” notifications popped up just after the delivery person dropped the order off. Notifications: Both apps send three alerts for each order: one to confirm your order was placed, another when the courier picks it up and a third when the courier is about to arrive. A unique feature in Postmates is that it asks you to choose a preference for “substitutions” (take merchant’s recommendation, leave item out, or cancel order), so that if the kitchen happens to be out of an ingredient, a courier won’t have to call you to find out what to do. Both let you track your order in real time, but Postmates’ tracker had a tendency to get stuck in one location, even if the courier was obviously on the go. It saves time and is less annoying than navigating back to the main menu after you add to cart. Interface: The devs at Caviar had a brilliant revelation: People don’t mind scrolling! Instead of Postmates’ short lists that you drill into to make ever-more detailed selections, every Caviar menu item is arranged in a long scroll, complete with a photo. Deluxe online ordering services to the rescue. ![]() That doesn’t stop people from wanting to enjoy the chewy, tangy crust covered with fresh toppings in the comfort of their own homes. Earlier this year, GrubHub acquired DiningIn, which added a fleet of dedicated couriers and higher-end establishments to the company’s stable (Jose Garces spots are now GrubHub-able, for example).Īsk any chef and they’ll tell you Neapolitan pizza doesn’t travel well. So there are both budget-focused and gourmet-targeted services to choose from, and it’s not even just a question of picking within the two categories, because there’s now overlap. Both services provide a network of delivery couriers (made up of Uber-like independent contractors), allowing a whole slate of high-end dining establishments to jump into the on-demand fray. Philly at-home dining options leapt up a notch in 2014 with the launches of Postmates and Caviar. For the most part, these companies provide online portals to eateries that already offer delivery - think spots that serve Chinese, burritos, pizza or hoagies - and mostly rely on the restaurant’s own employees to bring the food to your door. Services like GrubHub/Seamless (they merged in 2013) and Eat24 (now owned by Yelp) have been available in Philadelphia for half a decade or longer. The harder part is deciding which app to use. Getting dinner delivered to your doorstep is as easy as a few taps on your phone. ![]()
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