Food Delivery in Philadelphia

A $184.99 dinner for four from Fat Ham. Photograph by Jason Varney

Foodler

foodler.com
The Rundown: Foodler works with casual eateries like Chinese restaurants, pizza joints and delis.
Delivery Area: Philadelphia and select suburbs
Restaurant Highlights: Han Dynasty, Jane G’s, Dim Sum Garden
Pros: Instant rebates; Amazon-like customer-feedback ratings.
Cons: The limited selection and — in some cases — the quality of restaurants available.
Fees: Free to $7.99

EAT24

eat24hours.com
The Rundown: Thanks to a recent partnership with Yelp, you can now see what Yelpers think of your dinner choices.
Delivery Area: Philadelphia and select suburbs
Restaurant Highlights: Rotisseur, Grubhouse, Smile Café, Scoop DeVille
Pros: Excellent filtering on the site — you can search, for instance, by free delivery or Yelp ratings.
Cons: Not a lot of high-end options.
Fees: Free to $5

Caviar

trycaviar.com
The Rundown: This service, which recently launched in Philly, vets a fleet of couriers and only works with top-tier restaurants.
Delivery Area: Most of Philadelphia
Restaurant Highlights: High Street on Market, Dizengoff, HipCityVeg
Pros: Gorgeous photography on the site; high-end restaurants; GPS tracking of your driver through the app.
Cons: Some restaurants selectively mark up individual items.
Fees: $4.99 flat rate

GrubHub

grubhub.com
The Rundown: GrubHub recently acquired DiningIn, so the offerings here are plentiful (1,500-plus).
Delivery Area: Philadelphia and select suburbs
Restaurant Highlights: Many Garces and Starr restaurants
Pros: Communication: You’ll be pinged (via text or app) when your order is picked up and on its way.
Cons: With so many restaurants available, choices can feel overwhelming — you have to know exactly what you want.
Fees: Free to $15

Postmates

postmates.com
The Rundown: A do-all service that will pick up food from literally any restaurant. As with Uber, a courier has to “accept” your request.
Delivery Area: Greater Center City
Restaurant Highlights: Shake Shack, Chipotle, Honeygrow, Pizzeria Vetri, Capogiro, Sweetgreen
Pros: Quick service; works with virtually any restaurant; real-time order tracking.
Cons: The occasional price surging and dependence on a courier accepting your request. (They don’t always.)
Fees: 9 percent service fee plus a $5 to $9 delivery fee

MainLineDelivery.com

mainlinedelivery.com
The Rundown: Launched in 2008 by two locals, this service employs its own fleet of reliable drivers.
Delivery Area: Most of the Main Line and many western suburbs, like KOP
Restaurant Highlights: Susanna Foo, White Dog Cafe, Savona
Pros: Follow them on Facebook and Twitter for special promotions.
Cons: Interface needs some sprucing-up; the company raises the prices of some menu items.
Fees: $2.99 to $6.99

Originally published as “Feed Me” in the April 2015 issue of Philadelphia magazine.