Too Good To GoToo Good To Go
What is it? Too Good To Go, which launched in Chicago over the summer, aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions caused by wasted food. The app partners with restaurants, cafés, and grocery stores, such as Lincoln Park’s Deep Purpl and Go Grocer, to curate “surprise bags” filled with surplus food that would otherwise be wasted. Customers can purchase the bags for a third of the normal price.
What’s in it for the app? From each bag sold, the company gets a flat rate fee of $1.79.
EatOkraEatOkra
What is it? The EatOkra app was created as a way to find Black-owned restaurants, cafés, and food trucks, such as Hot Dog Box in Bronzeville and Lizzy J Café in North Center. The app directs customers to the restaurant’s website and any third-party delivery app the business uses.
What’s in it for the app? Businesses are featured for no charge, but can pay for perks, including special placement on the app.
ChowbusChowbus
What is it? Chowbus offers pickup and delivery services from Asian restaurants and grocers. The app, which offers a wide delivery radius that covers the entire city and parts of the suburbs, has a unique bundling option that allows you to order from multiple restaurants at once. Order cumin lamb from Northern Taste and Peking duck from La Mom Kitchen, and they’ll both hit your doorstep together.
What’s in it for the app? The app charges the restaurant an agreed-upon percentage of commission (typically lower than what other large third-party providers charge), but tips earned by drivers go to them 100 percent.
Happy CowHappy Cow
What is it? Instead of scrolling through pages of online menus to find vegan and vegetarian options, type your location into Happy Cow, and the app will pump out a list of vegan or vegetarian restaurants nearby. Click on the app’s Feed tab to find live reviews and recommendations of restaurants users are visiting in real time, including Edgewater’s Alice & Friends’ Vegan Kitchen or Austin’s Vegan World Cafe.
What’s in it for the app? The app is community run, and there’s no cost to businesses for being listed in the directory.