Skip the Dishes

A new food-delivery service just launched in Cleveland, called Skip the Dishes. It's currently running in several Canadian cities, and now in three USA cities in Ohio. The service connects customers to local restaurants, and through Food Couriers, great food is just a few clicks away.

Personally, Mr. H and I use similar services often. There are nights when we just don't feel like cooking or going out, but I crave something more than just pizza or Chinese. Services, like this one, connect diners to restaurants well beyond the standard delivery fare, and most restaurants included don't normally provide delivery. Win, win.

Skip the Dishes approached me to review their service. After a quick peek at the list of restaurants available in my area, I gladly accepted. 55 restaurant selections were available! That far exceeds the two other delivery services that we've used in the past.

I saw some exciting listings, like Johnny's Bar, Ty Fun, Le Petite Triangle Cafe, Adega, Wonton Gourmet & BBQ, Koko's Bakery, Number One Pho, Miega Koren BBQ, Sterle's, and Cafe 55. Many of these, we've never been able to get delivered, and a few we haven't even been to.

I was also immediately pumped to see Banana Blossom listed. They used to be delivered through another service, and we had become hooked on their Crab Rangoon before they were yanked from the service that we typically use. I can get those little puffs of creamy, tangy goodness delivered again!

You can order online, or use their app. Both are user-friendly, and creating an account was very simple.

Things that I liked better than other local services:

- full menu is listed in one drop-down menu (no categories to shift through)
- delivery fees begin at $2.99 and range up to $5.99 (lower starting rate than other services)
- no minimum order amount
- tip is not included and we can select the amount to add during check-out
- can sort restaurant list by rating, distance from your location, delivery fee, and cuisines
- more accurate estimated delivery time
- provides an online tracker for your order (including the name of your driver and order packer, estimated delivery time, and the progress of the delivery)

Seriously, the online tracker reminded me of Uber. It was very creepy cool to watch the progress of our order. We could watch his car make its way to our house, including the couple of times that he made wrong turns on the way. The tracker kept refreshing, and it appeared to accurately keep up with his location and the estimated delivery time. 

For us, that becomes very important. We have three pups, and they tend to go quite crazy when someone comes to the door. It's a lot to handle when trying to answer the door and manage payment/food. So, we like to let them outside before any deliveries arrive. With other services, we've ran into times when they are so late that our poor pooches are left outdoors for quite a while. Skip the Dishes kept refreshing the delivery time, and we were able to scoot them out just in time.

We ordered dinner from Cha Pizza Spirits & Pizza Kitchen, located in Battery Park. We haven't been in yet, so it was fun to check out their menu and sample a few items.

We settled in with hot, local food in front of the TV to catch up on The Voice. No fuss, no mess in the kitchen, and we had quality food delivered to our doorstep. Our Food Courier wasn't the friendliest, and he seemed very flustered over getting lost, but otherwise, using this service was a positive experience. That was seriously the only negative that we ran into. Its ordering system is simpler to use than others, the list of restaurants participating is much more extensive, no minimum orders, and the online order tracker is accurate and cool. Skip the Dishes gets a big thumbs up from us! 

I have good news. One lucky reader will get the opportunity to try this service out for themselves. Skip the Dishes is providing one random winner a $50 coupon code for a future order. Just use the Rafflecopter giveaway below for multiple ways to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A winner will be selected and announced on Monday, November 23rd. Good luck!

Head to their website to see what restaurants are participating in your area. So far, they are in Cleveland and Columbus, and will be launching in Cincinnati soon. This service is seriously great for those nights when you don't feel like cooking, but want something beyond your typical delivery options. They are the best service that we've used in Cleveland, and we'll continue to use them on our own.

Disclosure: I was provided with a $50 coupon code to test and review the service, and one $50 code to give away, in exchange for this blog post. All opinions stated are 100% my own.