Waitr, a mobile dining app, is a delivery service available in The Woodlands that enables residents to order and enjoy restaurant cuisine without leaving the house, while boosting business for local eateries.
Waitr launched in The Woodlands in January and has partnered with 15 local restaurants, ranging from Ruggles Green to Escalantes to Stadia Sports Grill and Jerry Built Homegrown Burgers.
The app, based out of Lake Charles, Louisiana, was created in 2013 and is also available in California and Alabama.
“Our CEO Chris Meaux had a general idea of creating an app to answer the age old question of, ‘What’s for dinner?’” Regional Director Lauren Nwanonyiri said. “While the idea was broad he wanted it to connect users with all things food. Waitr allows customers to discover our beautifully photographed menus, order your favorite meal from your favorite local restaurants and eat them in the comfort of your own home.”
After downloading the free app, customers are able to choose which restaurant they would like to order from and peruse the menu. From there, the patron can submit their order, pay and tip through the app, and pay a flat delivery fee of $5.99. The restaurant is then notified of the order, selects a prep time and a driver will pick up the food and notify the customer when their meal is on the way.
Three months after beginning a partnership with Waitr, Chris Johnson, assistant manager of Ruggles Green in The Woodlands, said business has increased during a season that is typically slower than other times of the year.
“The summer months are usually the slowest time for us, but we’ve had a tremendous boost in the amount of to-go orders recently,” Johnson said. “I think it definitely has to do with the accessibility and convenience of just pressing a few buttons and having someone show up to your door with dinner.”
Ruggles Green uses two other similar mobile dining apps, however Johnson said Waitr is the most consistent and the restaurant plans to continue using the app.
“It’s been fairly lucrative for us and they also do a lot of exterior marketing for us,” Johnson said. “When they hand out their cards and it has the Ruggles Green logo on it, I believe that also a boost business for us, too—not just in to-go orders. It’s a benefit to any business and I wholeheartedly think that every restaurant—especially in The Woodlands, should use Waitr.”
The app’s group feature allows multiple people to order and pay, while only having to pay one delivery fee. Waitr users can cater entire events and order meals up to two weeks in advance.
In Texas, Waitr is also available along the I-10 corridor from 610 to Hwy. 6., as well as in Montrose, Lake Jackson, Beaumont and Port Arthur, with plans for expanding further into the Greater Houston area.
“We should be launching very soon in Katy [and] Sugar Land and then Cypress [and] Vintage Park by the end of the year, if not sooner,” Nwanonyiri said. “We try to have a minimum of 15 restaurants with variety in a market before we go live, so it all depends on how fast we can get restaurants on board as to when they launch.”
For more information, visit
www.experience.waitrapp.com.
