Glen Houghton draws customers to his small Thai restaurant near downtown Kent from Federal Way, Des Moines and other nearby cities because of a new delivery service offered by UberEats.
Prior to joining UberEats in November when the service expanded to Kent, Grandma Thai Cuisine rarely attracted customers from as far away as Federal Way.
“It’s adding 20 percent to our revenue and it’s steadily increasing,” Houghton said during an interview at the restaurant, 603 E. Smith St. “I did delivery at night, but I would have to leave front of the house. We restricted hours to after 5 p.m. and it had to be certain amount and within a 3-mile limit. Now we can go anywhere.
“We can see areas on a map where we are going to. We are reaching Des Moines and Federal Way – areas we didn’t think about as markets for us. It’s great for us.”
People can download the UberEats app on their smartphones to order delivery from restaurants similar to the Uber app to get rides. Customers pay a booking fee of $3.99 for the order, according to Uber. Orders for more than $30 are delivered free. Tips are not required but drivers welcome them.
Restaurants pay UberEats a percentage of what they charge for the food to help cover the delivery costs. Food is delivered within 30 minutes or sooner if the customers isn’t too far away. Uber drivers carry insulated bags to keep the food warm.
“It’s essentially the food people love from local restaurants delivered by Uber and because of our network of drivers we’re able to deliver quickly,” said Uber spokesman Nathan Hambley in an email. “We work with hundreds of restaurants in and around Seattle, including Kent. So if someone were to open the app in Kent during lunch or dinner, they would be able to choose from full menus across dozens of restaurants.”
UberEats started about a year ago in Seattle and recently spread into Everett. The company plans to expand into Pierce and Whatcom counties in 2017. In South King County, restaurants in Renton, Tukwila, SeaTac and Des Moines signed up for the delivery service.
Several of the participating restaurants in Kent include The Habit Burger Grill, Saigon Soul Vietnamese, Trapper’s Sushi and Dickey’s Barbecue Pit.
Houghton, who along with his wife bought Grandma Thai Cuisine in May, said UberEats approached him about joining the service.
“We had a call out of the blue from UberEats,” he said. “Apparently they looked at our reviews on Yelp and selected us as one of the restaurants they wanted to start with here in Kent. They said we had good reviews and invited us to participate.”
Uber supplied Houghton with a iPad strictly for delivery orders. A customer can order from a full menu. As soon as they order, the requested items show up on the tablet and Houghton can begin to fill the order.
“They click on what they want to eat, place the order and it gives them the subtotal with the delivery estimated time,” Houghton said. “We can adjust time to let the customer and driver know. We hit the green button when the food is done, and it looks for a driver.”
A driver is where Latanya Cheatam, of Renton, and other Uber contractors come in. She has worked for Uber for about two years and sets her own hours, usually in the evening since she home schools her children.
Drivers can sign up as they check in whether to receive requests for rides or food delivery. They are not allowed to carry food orders with passengers. Lately, Cheatam has stuck to food orders.
“It depends on the day, but most days I do anywhere from four an hour to 12 to 15 in a four-hour block,” Cheatam said about how many food deliveries she makes.
She figures she’s picked up deliveries at anywhere from 60 to 80 restaurants in the Seattle area.
Cheatam gets interesting delivery requests, including one order that wanted a Thai iced tea from Grandma Thai in Kent delivered to West Seattle. She also makes food deliveries to a blind man in Seattle as well as office workers and University of Washington athletes.
“We get a lot of them (athletes) after they work out,” she said. “We deliver to the gym and they run out and say ‘I’m starving.’”
It’s curbside delivery for customers, unless they have made a special door delivery request because of a disability.
Houghton said a man who lives up the East Hill from Grandma Thai’s has become a regular customer with the UberEats delivery.
“He is a disabled veteran, he couldn’t get us to come up before 5 in the evening because I couldn’t break away from the restaurant,” Houghton said. “Now we can take care of him.”
Office workers are becoming regular delivery customers.
“If they have to drive here and drive back, it kills the lunch hour,” Houghton said. “They can order from here and enjoy their lunch hour.”
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