A host of McDonald's restaurants in central Ohio have something new to offer, and it's not a menu item.

Central Ohioans no longer will have to venture to a Golden Arches to get a Big Mac or an Egg McMuffin.

UberEats will now bring it to you.

McDonald's tested the delivery service in Florida and is now slowly rolling it out across the country. Columbus is one of the first four markets in which delivery will be offered. In fact, the service was quietly launched at 59 area restaurants last week.

Los Angeles, Chicago and Phoenix are the others.

"I look at it as something we need to do," said Rod Boester, owner of seven McDonald's, including stores in Delaware County and the restaurant on North High Street, across from Ohio State University.

"It is important for us to stay relevant with the consumer, and delivery is a big part of that."

The UberEats app on a smartphone will show whether McDonald's is an option. The app will take care of ordering, payment and will track your order.

"It makes it easy," Boester said.

An increasing number of restaurants now offer delivery through third-party vendors such as UberEats, DoorDash, Cafe Courier and Amazon Restaurants. Earlier this year, Wendy's announced a test of delivery here and in Dallas with DoorDash. It plans to roll it out nationwide.

The partnership with McDonald's is a big deal for UberEats. The delivery arm of ride service Uber also delivers items from Donatos, Graeter's and Jeni's scoop shops, and also serves many other small chains and independent restaurants.

Working with McDonald's is a different story.

"This would be the largest," said Paolo Lorenzoni, general manager for Ohio for UberEats. "We haven't approached anything of this scale."

UberEats and McDonald's have a few tricks for helping ensure that food is as fresh as possible when it arrives.

For example, when a driver is within three minutes of picking up an order, the restaurant gets a signal. Food prep begins and French fries — a difficult item to keep hot and fresh — are put in the fryer. The fries are also the last item to go in the bag.

Delivery is not easy, Boester said, but it has been proven to boost sales. In a market that isn't generating much additional traffic for fast-food stores like Wendy's and McDonald's, delivery helps. People using delivery also tend to spend more.

"Delivery can add incremental sales, and at a higher ticket, too," said John Gordon, principal at Pacific Management Consulting Group, a restaurant industry analyst. "Delivery has become the restaurant topic over the last year that every brand is talking about."

He acknowledged that delivery services take a cut of restaurants' profits, but also provide the drivers, cars and software, meaning restaurants don't have to incur those costs.

The service will expand to the Cleveland and Cincinnati regions later this year, and elsewhere, said Phil Saken, McDonald's spokesman.

Boester's campus restaurant has been taking orders through UberEats for about 10 days and has received more than 300 orders — and that's without Ohio State in session.

"I can't imagine this fall when the students come back," Boester said.

jmalone@dispatch.com

@j_d_malone