The Joy of Food Delivered to My Mouth

postmates_logoRecently, a company called Postmates established itself in St. Louis. Like every other startup these day, it can be explained using the phrase, “Uber for ____.” Postmates is Uber for restaurant food.

The service is really simple. You select a restaurant on the Postmates app and choose the food that you want to order. In my area, the list includes a list of really great restaurants (and, oddly, Arby’s). The menu is built into the app, so pick what you want and place the order.

The screen then updates to show a map with a bunch of different Postmates drivers. It really is just like Uber. You get to see the car moving around on the map as they get the food and make their way to you.

Perhaps the cleverest thing about it is that to the restaurants, it’s no different than a takeout order. There’s no technology to install that I’m aware of. That’s because when a Postmates driver accepts an order, they actually call the restaurant to place the order, so they’re then responsible for it. Then they pick it up and deliver it to you.

I’ve used the app a few times in group settings, but it’s on my mind today because I used it for the first time for a meal for myself. And man…it was WAY too easy. I really should have eaten the leftover fish and rice in my fridge, but the part of me that wants delicious food too over, opened up the app, and ordered a gyro before I could stop it.

And it was totally worth it.

I think the service is best used when you’re ordering for more than one person, as there is a delivery fee. Or maybe in the future I’ll just order more than one meal for Present Jamey and Future Jamey. I’m actually excited to use it again sometime.

Have you ever used Postmates or a service like it? What do you think?

5 thoughts on “The Joy of Food Delivered to My Mouth”

  1. I have OrderUP where I live and it works the exact same way. I use it every couple of weeks when I have had a long day at work and don’t feel like cooking. And, yes, watching the drivers move around like Uber is pretty fun and I enjoy timing the delivery so I’m already waiting at the door for them before they can ring the bell. (Mine has McDonalds, weirdly).

    Reply
    • Katherine: Very nice! It sounds quite similar to Postmates. I like that you can get food from places that normally don’t deliver.

      Reply
  2. In my area we have a skin of Orderup called Hungry Boiler, as it uses the play on our local University Mascot. I’ve used it a few times, and love that I can get chain restaurants and other places that Don’t normally deliver.

    I know a few sit down restaurants and even diners that use it exclusively for delivery. Whats interesting is the idea that it is a local skin for a national chain, and most people I’ve asked locally think that its a locally based startup company.

    Reply
    • That’s awesome! I like the local skin concept. It seems like the type of business that’s good for the restaurants and for the people like me who enjoy having good food delivered to me on my own schedule.

      Reply

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