The last several years have seen an explosion in food delivery options.
Of course, as convenient as it is to get food delivered to your door, food delivery services are also a great option if you want to send food to someone.
Food delivery apps are available to you for various situations.
You can arrange dinner for your child from out of town.
Send groceries to a friend who can’t go out.
Or plan a special surprise for your romantic partner.
In this article, we’ll demystify the wonderful world of food delivery.
Let’s dive in to seven convenient options you can use to send food to someone.
Table Of Contents
How Can You Send Food to Someone?
With advanced mobile apps, it’s a cinch to send food to someone.
The procedure is slightly different for each app, but the basic formula is the same.
You open the app, sign in or create an account, select the venue you want to order food from, select your items, input a delivery address, and press a button to confirm the order.
From there, a professional food courier handles the rest.
The courier will go to the designated location, pick up the food, and bring it to the delivery location that you inputted.
What’s more, there are several options available for food delivery services.
Some apps, like UberEats and Grubhub, prioritize delivering cooked meals from restaurants.
But others, like GoPuff and Harry & David, emphasize other kinds of delivery.
Apps That Help You Send Food to Someone
Here, we break down the seven most convenient options you can use to send food to someone.
We’ll pay specific attention to the procedure, what can be delivered, and how much it’ll cost you.
1. Uber Eats
How Does Uber Eats Work?
Uber Eats is one of the most popular meal delivery services, and for good reason: it offers a simple, streamlined way to get restaurant food to your door.
With Uber Eats, you log in, select a restaurant you want to get food from, pick out a meal, and then input a delivery address within delivery range.
Once you pay, the meal will be at the door within two hours.
Suggested: How does Uber Eats work?
What Can You Send Using Uber Eats?
Uber Eats allows you to send food from any participating restaurant on its app.
Uber Eats prioritizes convenience, so the choices are predominantly fast-casual restaurants and mid-range eateries rather than fine dining establishments.
How Much Does Uber Eats Cost?
The cost of an Uber Eats order depends on what you’re ordering.
When you order, you pay the standard price that you would pay at a restaurant.
However, you also pay a delivery fee that Uber Eats calculates on its end.
This fee can range from $0.50 to $8 and adjusts according to the distance the driver has to go and their business at the time.
How to Send Food to Someone Using Uber Eats
Sending food to someone on Uber Eats is simple.
Pick a restaurant from the app, place your order, and then select their address as a delivery option.
Keep in mind that the driver may contact you, not them, to let you know that the food has been delivered.
Postmates
How Does Postmates Work?
While Postmates’ parent company is Uber and it functions in a relatively similar way, it does have a major difference: with Postmates, you can deliver not just prepared meals but alcohol, groceries, and more.
Postmates maintains a list of participating establishments from which you can order food.
Using the app or web browser, you can select the item you want, place your order, and wait for an Uber driver to deliver your order.
What Can You Send Using Postmates?
Postmates allows you to send a wide variety of foods to someone.
You can send prepared meals, of course, but you can also send drinks, grocery items, and other items such as alcohol.
This means that Postmates is an ideal service if you’re looking to send someone convenience items on the fly, or if you want to surprise them with a small treat or big meal.
How Much Does Postmates Cost?
Postmates has just two fee options.
For Postmates “partner” establishments, the fee is between $1.99 and $3.99.
For those who aren’t partners, the fee is between $5.99 and $9.99–plus the service fee, of course.
Suggested: How much does Postmates cost?
How to Send Food to Someone Using Postmates
Sign up for a free account, pick out what you want to order, input the delivery address, and place your order.
In just a short while, an Uber courier will deliver the Postmates order right to the recipient’s door!
Gopuff
How Does Gopuff Work?
Gopuff is a service more oriented towards snacks, alcohol, and essentials than full meals.
It offers a streamlined process by which users can see what items are available at a nearby GoPuff facility, place the order, and receive them within just a short period.
What Can You Send Using Gopuff?
Gopuff allows you to send low-budget items that you might find at a convenience store or local liquor store–namely frozen meals, ice cream, snacks, drinks, and alcoholic beverages.
The one asterisk is that GoPuff drivers check a recipient’s ID when they deliver alcohol, so it cannot work for anything illegal.
How Much Does Gopuff Cost?
Gopuff, unlike Uber or Postmates, has a flat delivery fee, charging just $2.95.
Keep in mind that if you include alcohol, tobacco, or vaping products in your order, Gopuff adds a $2.95 fee.
How to Send Food to Someone Using Gopuff
To send a sweet treat to someone on Gopuff, download the Gopuff app and then input the delivery address.
Gopuff will display the items available in its nearest facility (which may vary from place to place).
All you have to do is select the items, pay, and confirm the order.
Grubhub
How Does Grubhub Work?
Grubhub is a meal delivery service akin to Uber Eats, delivering food from nearby restaurants.
Its basic formula is similar to Uber Eats, with a driver delivering a virtually-placed order.
The one caveat is that Grubhub can often accept cash, whereas Uber Eats does not.
What Can You Send Using Grubhub?
You can send food to someone from any restaurant in Grubhub’s network.
Notably, Grubhub’s selection is very often different from Uber Eats’, so you can find a better selection in some situations.
If interested, you can also send alcohol using Grubhub.
How Much Does Grubhub Cost?
In addition to the cost of the meal you order, you can also expect a Grubhub delivery fee from $1-$10.
Most of the time, Grubhub’s fee does not fall outside the $2-$7 range.
How to Send Food to Someone Using Grubhub
To send food to someone on Grubhub, log on to Grubhub’s website or app, select the restaurant you want to order from, place your selection, and wait for them to deliver it.
In some cases, the recipient can pay with cash, although this does depend on the restaurant from which you order.
Harry & David
How Does Harry & David Work?
Harry & David is an ideal choice for sending upscale food, gift baskets, and pre-made treats.
Rather than use an app, Harry & David operates a website with an extensive catalog of classy food items and healthy meals.
They even have vegetarian meals.
Customers pick out which items they want (and whether they want a one-time order or a recurring food-of-the-month delivery), and Harry & David delivers the items on a date of the customer’s choosing.
What Can You Send Using Harry & David?
Harry & David is oriented to thoughtful, classy items.
Their catalog includes cheeses, wines, chocolate, fruits, vegetables, baked goods, perishable food, sauces, canned goods, household items, and more.
You can also order a food item from select brands, such as the Cheesecake Factory.
How Much Does Harry & David Cost?
Harry & David’s cost depends entirely on what you order.
There are sundry items that come in at $15 or less, but they have more premium options that can cost several hundred dollars.
The company also charges for shipping based on a sliding scale, with shipping being more expensive, but proportionately cheaper, for more expensive orders.
How to Send Food to Someone Using Harry & David
To use it, simply log on to the Harry & David website, browse through their catalog of items, and select the item you want to send to someone (we’ll say more about their offerings in a moment).
Then, enter the shipping information for the person to whom you want your items sent.
From there, Harry & David will prepare the items and deliver them on the date you selected.
Send a Meal
How Does Send a Meal Work?
Send a Meal focuses on fully pre-prepared dinners based on vetted recipes.
The company does all the prep work, and all the customer needs to do is pick out a meal they want, select a delivery time, and place their order.
From there, Send a Meal sends the frozen meals to your door.
The last step is to heat the meal and enjoy it!
What Can You Send Using Send a Meal?
Send a Meal has several meal options, but it focuses on upscale frozen dinners for special occasions.
You can select meals including lasagna, fettuccine alfredo, prime rib, or even a holiday feast.
How Much Does Send a Meal Cost?
The value of Send a Meal dinners ranges from about $20 to about $150.
Many meals offer size options depending on how many people you’re looking to feed, which can run up the bill.
The standard dinners, however, typically start at around $30.
How to Send Food to Someone Using Send a Meal
To send food to someone using Send a Meal, log onto the Send a Meal website.
Select a meal from their catalog, input a delivery address, and finalize your order.
Send a Meal handles the rest, delivering the meal right to the recipient’s home.
Crave
How Does Crave Work?
Crave is a relatively new food delivery service that aims to elevate meal delivery.
It blends the concept of the ghost kitchen with virtual delivery, creating a “virtual food hall.”
Essentially, Crave has recruited 18 restaurants from around the country into its “collective,” gaining the recipes for some of their most popular dishes.
Customers can place an order from any restaurant in the collective–and can even mix and match, getting Italian food from one restaurant and seafood from another, all in the same order.
What Can You Send Using Crave?
Using Crave Delivery, you can send meals from any restaurant in the Crave Collective; these include offerings from Japanese fried chicken and Italian meatballs to Thai food and smash burgers.
How Much Does Crave Cost?
The cost of a Crave order depends on what you’re ordering and how much you’re ordering.
Meals can cost as low as $10, making Crave a solid option for sending a quick meal.
That said, the delivery fee and tip will increase the price of any order.
How to Send Food to Someone Using Crave
To send food to someone, log into the Crave app, select one or multiple restaurants from the Crave Collective, and pick the food you want.
Then, pick a delivery location and allow Crave’s professional drivers to handle the rest.
Wrapping Up
From high-class eats to barebones essentials, you can send just about any food to someone using delivery apps.
Give it a try.
All you need to do next is pick an app and send the food!
