5 Of The Best Food Delivery Apps Every Android User Should Have Installed
One of the most essential apps every Android phone user should have on their device is one that facilitates food delivery or pickup. Many restaurants and establishments that sell items like groceries have tapped into the online ordering market in recent years. Those who avail of the service either pay a little bit of extra to have their orders delivered right to their doorstep or set up a pick up at the venue when the food is ready so customers don't have to line up in long queues.
There's a wide variety of Android apps that you can install on your phone to make buying food a hassle-free experience. Most of the popular apps listed in Google Play's Food & Drink category are for specific fast food restaurants, like McDonald's or Starbucks, which are totally fine to use if you are a regular customer or are keeping track of rewards or points related to the store. However, if you have no specific craving and are hoping to browse for food delivery services within your vicinity, there are general food delivery apps that will map out the different food joints you can order from.
In picking a food delivery app to use, check its coverage in your locale as some restaurants may not be partnered with them. You can also compare delivery fees and minimum order amounts. Finally, you'll want useful features, like the ability to track orders in real-time or communicate with the assigned delivery person. With these factors in mind, below are some of the best food delivery apps you can start using on your Android phone.
Grubhub
A great service to try is Grubhub. You don't need an account to start using the app — upon launching it, tap the "Search nearby" button, plug in your current location's address, and see what establishments you can order from within your immediate area. Restaurants are conveniently arranged into helpful categories, such as "30 Minutes or Less" if you want food delivered ASAP, or "Support Local Favorites" which may contain restaurants you haven't heard of before but are well-rated by Grubhub users in your town.
You can search for restaurants according to cuisine, meal type, or even specific dishes. You can also pre-order food or groceries from select stores up to four days in advance. Every delivery order comes with a delivery fee, a service fee for operating costs that will never be over $9, a small order fee if you don't the minimum price threshold, and tax. Switching to pickup will remove some of the fees and shave a few dollars off the total.
Once your order is finalized, you'll be able to track its progress. You'll also be able to offer a tip amount for the Grubhub driver assigned to deliver your food, track their location, and chat with them via text message through the app to give additional directions.
If you like the app, you can look into upgrading to a paid Grubhub+ subscription. For $9.99 per month and a potential free trial, you'll enjoy unlimited $0 delivery fees on orders above $12 from certain venues, lower service fees, a 5% credit back for future orders when you opt for pickup, and other exclusive offers from select restaurants and food establishments. According to Grubhub, the company operates in 4,000 U.S. cities, in 365,000 stores.
DoorDash
Another highly popular option worth considering is DoorDash. Prospective new users can also try out the app using the "Search nearby" function and enter an address to see which restaurants offer delivery or pickup in the area. Stores are also classified into categories like "Fastest Near You" or "Wallet Friendly." Much like Grubhub, you can also search for common food items and cuisine types, or tap one of the popular choices right on the app's home page.
DoorDash also offers a premium subscription for extra perks. A fee of $9.99 per month with a one-month free trial of DashPass earns you zero delivery fees, reduced service fees on orders over $12, and an average of $4-5 savings for every order you make on the app. Do note that only certain restaurants participate in DashPass — they should be marked with the DashPass logo. You can also use the DashPass filter on the main page to finetune results, along with other qualifiers like available discounts, ratings, price, delivery speed, and pickup availability.
Some of the DoorDash app's coolest features include a $0 delivery fee on your first order through the app and the ability to request a package pickup from companies like UPS or FedEx. The ability to track your order in real-time, tip your DoorDash driver, and communicate seamlessly with them make it one of the most comprehensive food delivery app options. DoorDash works in more than 7,000 cities across the U.S. On Google Play, it currently sits at #2 of the marketplace's best free apps for food and drink, has a 4.6 rating and an Editor's Choice badge, with over 50 million downloads and 3.75 million reviews.
Uber Eats
If you have an Uber account for ridesharing, then using Uber Eats to order food online shouldn't be hard at all. You can log into the app using your Uber credentials and search for restaurants to order food from. You can also buy items from grocery and convenience stores, order alcohol in areas where it's permitted, and look up stuff you need at pharmacies. Uber Eats also recommends dishes for you to try and highlights stores that have offers available on the day that you order.
Like competing food delivery apps, Uber Eats has a similarly priced subscription option called Uber One. For $9.99 with one month free, you won't get charged a delivery fee on eligible food and grocery items. You can also get up to 10% off on select deliveries and pickup orders, a $5 credit if the Uber Eats arrival estimate on your order from participating stores is off, and the ability to cancel orders without penalty fees.
Notable features include the ability to order in advance and track your order's progress. You can also browse food categories, in particular, "Best Overall," which features establishments that customers have awarded high ratings for prompt delivery and good quality food upon arrival. It's highly rated by Android users as well, with the app currently in the top 3 spot for best free food and drink app, with a 4.4 rating, over 100 million downloads, and about 5.15 million reviews. It reportedly serves over 10,000 cities in 45 countries including the U.S. with approximately 825,000 restaurant partners in 2022.
Caviar
As a food delivery platform owned by DoorDash, you can expect a similar look and feel in terms of the Caviar app's user interface, which is easy to use and navigate. You can search for restaurants according to delivery time, price, pickup availability, cuisine type, and other filters. You can also browse through highlighted establishments based on customer popularity and Caviar staff recommendations.
Since the Caviar app is essentially a mirror image of the DoorDash app, you can also avail of a DashPass membership for $9.99 a month, which affords you zero delivery fees on qualifying orders, reduced service fees, and 5% back on pickup orders. DashPass-eligible restaurants are easily identifiable by an accompanying logo next to the stores' names.
What differentiates Caviar is the absence of fast food options on the platform. Instead, you can choose from a curated selection of local restaurants and have high-quality food delivered right to your doorstep. On top of being able to track your order in real time, schedule deliveries ahead of time, skip certain fees when you opt for pickup, and pick no-contact delivery, first-time users are also offered a $0 delivery fee on their first Caviar app order. There's also no minimum amount for orders, so you can buy as little or as much as you want.
Another cool feature that Caviar offers is the ability to nationwide from certain venues. Items are packed well to maintain freshness and should be delivered to select states within a few days.
Even though Caviar's coverage is limited to certain cities, it's highly rated at 4.7 stars and has an Editor's Choice badge on Google Play, with over a million downloads.
Instacart
If you don't necessarily want food from restaurants, you can cook your own using Instacart to order groceries from your Android phone and have them delivered to your door. Instacart is partnered with over 900 national and regional retailers — including stores that sell alcohol where it's allowed — so you can rest assured that whatever ingredients or products you need, you'll be able to get. An Instacart shopper will be assigned to your order and that person will be in charge of picking up items from the grocery aisles — if a certain thing is out of stock, you can chat with them via the app to discuss any substitutions or refunds needed.
Certain shops may have minimum orders you have to hit in order to check out and you will have to pay a service fee on top of tax and a delivery tip. Not all stores will have pickup availability, but you should be able to easily filter out those that do by using the Pickup tab on the app. Those who select the delivery option can pick a preferred timeframe for delivery, up to five days in the future.
If you find that you're using the Instacart app a lot, you can opt to upgrade to an Instacart+ subscription for $9.99 a month. You get unlimited free delivery on orders of $35 and above, reduced service fees, 5% back on qualified pickup orders, and other exclusive offers. To date, Instacart is on Google Play's list of best free food and drink apps in the #4 spot, with over 10 million downloads.