Uber doesn't want to just get you a ride; the transportation goliath wants to deliver your next meal too.
Uber's new app, UberEats, started working in New York City, Atlanta, Dallas, Washington D.C., and Seattle on Tuesday. The app itself has been available in the App Store for several weeks (and in service in a few other cities), but its full list of restaurants hasn't been available in the aforementioned cities until now.
UberEats leverages the company's vast network of couriers and drivers to deliver food from local restaurants. The app itself is well-designed with big, beautiful photos of food and descriptions of ingredients.
The UberEats service was quietly buried in the main Uber app until it was spun out into its own app earlier this month. The only delivery options were on a smaller "Instant Delivery" lunch menu that promises to deliver meals in 10 minutes, which the standalone UberEats has as well.
Uber has set its sight on Seamless and GrubHub (both of which are owned by Seamless) in the food delivery game with the expanded roster of restaurants you can order from throughout the day in the UberEats app. There are more than 100 restaurants offering delivery on day one in Manhattan alone.
Each restaurant displays an estimation of how long it will take for your food to arrive. Unlike Seamless, there's no place for customer reviews or direct contact with restaurants — all contact is facilitated through Uber. You can rate individual orders after they're delivered with a thumbs up or thumbs down in the app. Sometimes an Uber driver will bring your food to you in a car, and other times the order will be delivered by a bike courier.
Unlike Uber rides, UberEats deliveries won't be subject to surge pricing. In many cities the delivery fee is a flat $5, while some markets like New York are currently offering free delivery to entice new users.
UberEats is a free download in the App Store and Google Play for Android devices. The service currently delivers in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Toronto, Atlanta, Dallas, Washington DC, New York City, and Seattle. The next cities to get UberEats support will be Austin, Paris, and Melbourne.
