Uber Enters New York’s Crowded Grocery Delivery Game

Uber launches grocery delivery services in parts of Manhattan

New York is the latest addition to Uber’s new grocery delivery service, an international business that started in Dallas, Miami, and parts of Canada and Latin America earlier this summer. For its New York City debut, Uber appears to be focusing on higher-end grocers, and the company has already signed-on upscale mini-chains like Gristedes, Westside Market, and D’Agostino’s. Grocery delivery is only available to residents in parts of Manhattan to start, though the company plans to expand the service citywide in the coming months, according to an Uber spokesperson.

Grocery delivery existed long before the coronavirus pandemic, but services like InstaCart, Fresh Direct, and Amazon Fresh have become incredibly popular — and in some cases, necessary — over the last seven months. Less than one month into New York City’s shutdown in April, customers reported that big box grocery delivery was almost impossible to obtain, with some customers staying up through the night to place orders. Other services have since popped up to fill that demand, including mutual aid groups, community-supported agriculture (CSA) boxes, local specialty food stores, and restaurants offering pantry staples for delivery.

Uber is the latest entrant into the grocery delivery game. The new service is built into the Uber and Uber Eats apps. Deliveries are carried out in partnership with Cornershop, a grocery delivery company that Uber acquired last year.

In other news

— Restaurants across the city are offering Halloween-themed specials ahead of the holiday: black “Halloween noodles” are available at Strings Ramen in the East Village; Greenwich Village newcomer Crop Circle is selling black guokui filled with pumpkin puree; and Lazy Sundaes, the newly opened trio of Korean dessert shops, is offering swamp water bingsoo.

— Beloved Asian cooking kit company Omsom is launching a new line of vegan sauces this week in partnership with hit New York City chefs, including Amelie Kang of MáLà Project and Maiko Kyogoku of Bessou.

— Welcome to Chinatown is back with another neighborhood food crawl this November. Tickets are either $40 or $45 each, and the self-guided tour includes dishes from hit Chinatown restaurants Jing Fong, Public Village, and Tonii’s Fresh Rice Noodle.

— East Village cafe Short Stories is hosting a winter clothing drive for local group the Bowery Mission, according to an organizer. Coats, gloves, socks, scarves, sanitizer, and tissues can be brought to the cafe this Sunday, November 1 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

— Le Crocodile in Williamsburg is using vacant rooms in the upstairs Wythe Hotel to offer private, three-course tasting menus. Reservations for the private dinners run at $100 per guest, with rooms available for groups of four to six or seven to 10.

— Queens County Farm is reimagining its annual Thunderbird American Indian Powwow this year as an autumn dance celebration. Music, dance, and food from eight Indian nations will be represented at the event, set to take place November 7 and November 8.

— New York Times critic Pete Wells visits Mokyo this week, the sequel to Thursday Kitchen from chef Kyungmin Kay Hyun.

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