Delivery Service 'Caviar' Is Looking To Change Up The Ordering-In Game

Craving piping hot Dan Dan noodles from Han Dynasty? How about an overstuffed Katz's pastrami on rye? Or perhaps Mission Chinese Food's famously explosive chicken wings? What if we told you that all of these dishes could be delivered directly to your home or office today in just a few clicks? Welcome to the world of Caviar, a new delivery service currently operating in New York City, San Francisco and Seattle.

Launched earlier this year, Caviar has received some buzz for its inclusion of popular city restaurants that do not offer delivery. Here's a basic rundown of how it works: individuals join the service for free, select a merchant and place an order on the company website. Caviar phones in the order directly to the restaurant, picks it up and delivers it to your doorstep — tax and tip are included automatically. The catch? There's a flat fee of $9.99 per order. The website reasons that this cost is justified since "your time and travel costs (gas!) are worth more." And get this — users can track their meal couriers via a real-time tracking system. From personal experience, this little tool is great fun for the hungry and impatient. Refresh. Refresh. Refresh. Refresh.

Third-party delivery websites are somewhat commonplace in smaller cities and towns (and for a smaller fee, naturally), where venues are less likely to provide an ordering-in option. It remains to be seen if a service such as Caviar can make it in the big city. If their expanding selection of NYC grub is any indication (in addition to the aforementioned places, Caviar features Baohaus, Caracas Arepa Bar and Corner Bistro, among many others), the answer is a resounding YES.

Want to try it out? Caviar is waiving its delivery fee on all orders through November 21.

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