Uber Eats food-delivery service is now available in Asheville

Mackensy Lunsford | The Citizen-Times

Show Caption Hide Caption Uber Introduces New Meal Delivery App Uber is looking to eat up even more of your wallet by offering the promise of instant gratification in yet another key spending category: food.

ASHEVILLE — Starting Thursday, Uber Technologies will launch Uber Eats in Asheville, bringing locals a way to — let's face it — obsessively track the approach of their delivery food.

Uber Eats, the delivery division of the popular on-demand ride service, launched in 2015. It now services more than 250 cities globally.

"(We're in) 35 countries and across six continents, which includes our recent expansion to over 100 cities in Europe and the Middle East," said Uber communications department employee Carly DeBeikes via email. "Eats has 350 cities to go to catch up to our rides business."

Here's how it works: Download the Uber Eats app to gain access to 43 local restaurants, including Gan Shan Station, Karen Donatelli Bakery and Café and Loretta's Cafe.

The delivery area appears to be only within Asheville city limits.

When you’re ready to check out, you’ll see your address, an estimated delivery time, and the price of your order, including tax and booking fee. Tap "place order," and the app automatically charges the card you have on file.

An Uber driver picks up the food and delivers it to you. Just as with the transportation service, diners can watch their delivery driver approach in real time.

There's an option to tip the driver through the app after the food arrives.

First-time Uber Eats users can enter promotional code ASHEVILLEEATS to earn $5 off their first order.

According to DeBeikes, Uber Eats' average delivery time is less than 35 minutes.

"One of the best parts of being a part of Uber (is) we’re able to easily leverage Uber’s logistic platform and continue to expand in markets where Uber rides already operates," she said. "Once we’ve entered a city, we look to see how we can offer consumers a wide variety of options."

Farm Burger founder George Frangos uses Uber Eats successfully in other markets to deliver food from his restaurants. His Asheville stores will be part of the local Uber Eats launch.

"Third-party delivery is here to stay and really isn’t the future anymore, but the present," he said.

Asheville does have food-delivery service already. Perhaps the best known is Takeout Central, formerly the locally founded Valet Gourmet.

Valet Gourmet in 2016 combined its Asheville and Tennessee operations with the Chapel Hill-based Takeout Central.

Frangos said Farm Burger has worked with locally with Takeout Central "with much success."

"We also have internally revamped our (compostable) to-go packaging to ensure our product will hold up as best it can through delivery, although we realize there is nothing better than being in the restaurant and getting a burger straight off the grill."

Takeout Central sales and marketing manager Megan Watts said Uber Eats competes with her employers in other markets across North Carolina, "so we are very familiar with all of the ways in which we are similar, as well as all of the ways that we set ourselves apart."

Of note is the business's direct work with the local community, she said.

"We care a lot about our community and regularly deliver food from some of our partner restaurants to homeless shelters, donate gift certificates to charities, and give back whenever and wherever we can," she said in an email.

Here is the list of restaurants Uber Eats will work with in the Asheville area, with more to come: