Restaurant delivery has moved past pizza joints in recent years with the explosion of third party delivery services. Now, with companies like Grubhub, DoorDash and Uber Eats, you can order food from restaurants online and it shows up at your door.
With the pandemic forcing us to stay in our homes, the use of these third party delivery services is climbing. Not cooking every meal is a luxury, so third party delivery services position themselves as a sort of savior that benefits both the customer and local restaurants. But like most middleman services, the benefits are not cut and dry.
Even before restaurants were ordered closed to dine-in customers, third party delivery services regularly employed predatory business practices that harmed restaurants. One company, for example, is well known for adding restaurants to their platform without permission. These non-partnered restaurants would have their information populated by that company, including outdated or completely wrong menus. Customers would place orders, and restaurants would be unable to fulfill them. The delivery service would cancel the order, and customers were mistakenly upset with the restaurant because they didn't know that the situation was entirely the fault of the delivery service. The end result is bad online reviews and other irate behavior that required a restaurant employee's time to resolve. A number of well-known restaurants in Milwaukee have reported that situation happened to them.
Many customers also don't understand that the third party delivery services make an exorbitant commission of 15-30% on each order. That money comes directly out of the restaurant's pocket and straight to the middleman, on top of delivery and other fees charged to the customer. Just a couple days ago, a proposed class action lawsuit was filed against a number of third party delivery services in New York alleging they violate antitrust laws because these commissions lead to higher prices for consumers.
The contracted delivery drivers are not benefitting much in all this, either. On average, Grubhub drivers make $12 an hour. Tips might be increasing right now, but so is the danger of performing their job, coming into contact with people all day long. And as gig workers, they get no benefits even as their tech company employer's business is increasing.
So, now that we're all stuck inside and wanting to support local restaurants, what do we do? It's simple: Call the restaurant directly first. The only way to ensure that all of your money goes to the restaurant and its employees is to deal directly with them. Go to the restaurant's website to find their phone number, because sometimes third party delivery services will create a new phone number to reroute calls in order to collect fees, and sites like Yelp sometimes list those numbers. (Remember when I called them predatory?)
Many restaurants that never offered delivery are now doing so with their own employees. Some are choosing to partner with third party delivery services and will tell you if they prefer you place your order through the service. That's the key: It's their choice. And if a restaurant doesn't do their own delivery and you'd rather delete your delivery apps, then go pick it up. If you consider the work of preparing your food essential enough for the restaurant employees to be around other people in a pandemic, then the least you can do is drive there and open your trunk.
A Couple Openings
In good news this week, two restaurants in our area have gone ahead with their grand openings. Sweet Basil, at 6509 S 27th St. in Franklin, opened earlier this week. They offer a menu of Thai and Lao food, including papaya salad, panang curry, and family-style platters for contactless delivery or curbside pickup that can be ordered on their website.
The Buckatabon Tavern & Supper Club has also opened in the former Cafe Bavaria in Wauwatosa. This switch has been in the works from the Lowlands group for a while, and it is their only location open now. An abbreviated menu with prime rib, lasagna, ribs and cocktail kits is available for curbside pickup or at the pickup window on the patio. Delivery is coming soon through DoorDash.
