Business

Local Restaurants Have Mixed Sentiments on Delivery Apps

One local eatery said delivery apps' high take-away percentage cuts deep into revenue while another restaurant said the service helps their business

NBC Universal, Inc.

Delivery apps are easy and convenient for customers. All customers have to do is access their phone and the food possibilities that can show up at their doorstep are seemingly endless.

One local restaurant who spoke with NBC 7, however, say the to-go order you’re making through a third-party app might not be as much of a win for them as you might think.

Antique Row Café owner, Elain Lopez, says she considered signing on with the third party delivery apps right when the pandemic broke out, contemplating business alternatives that could work and generate profit under COVID-19 restrictions. But she said she quickly found the apps not to be a fit for her particular restaurant, surprised by just how much they would cut into her revenue.

“It shocked me that they were taking that high of a percentage,” Lopez said. “For restaurants, we are lucky to be operating with fifteen, twenty percent net. For them to take 30 percent, that is high.”

Lopez says she realizes not working with them is also costly. She said she knows they provide an additional revenue stream but involving outside hands can muck with the quality of the food being served.

“I think there would be a lot more revenue with the delivery apps, but I think this way…this way for me, is a quality control issue for me,” Lopez says. “If I can’t control the quality of the food that’s going out, it’s not worth having it.”

But some restaurants felt differently about bringing in someone to help with the legwork.

Places like URBN in North Parks said the delivery apps have been a boom for business. General manager Derric Bailey said when the pandemic happened, he pivoted onto more delivery service apps and found the move to be the right business decision.

“The to-go delivery service has been a great success for us,” Bailey told NBC 7.

Bailey said on weekends, the tablets for delivery app requests start dinging all at once. He said they’re seeing numbers they wouldn’t otherwise have if it weren’t for the delivery apps.

“These definitely have brought our numbers up a lot more,” Bailey says. “Rather than before, we wouldn’t have hit some of these numbers.”

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