Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

Amazon launches restaurant delivery in Manhattan with more than 350 eateries

Free delivery, but the fee for restaurants to participate is steep.

an amazon prime now delivery person hands a bag to a customer
an amazon prime now delivery person hands a bag to a customer
Amazon
Jason Del Rey
Jason Del Rey has been a business journalist for 15 years and has covered Amazon, Walmart, and the e-commerce industry for the last decade. He was a senior correspondent at Vox.

Manhattan’s restaurant delivery market just got a lot more crowded.

Amazon announced today that it is partnering with more than 350 New York City eateries on meal delivery, in a move that will pit it against a host of incumbents and delivery startups, as well.

The list of restaurants participating with Amazon at launch include well-known local names like Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken, Le Pain Quotidien and Sarabeth’s Tribeca.

Amazon is also adding restaurant delivery in Dallas, Texas, which means that the service is now available in 10 cities in the U.S. Customers place orders through Amazon’s Prime Now express delivery service, which is only available to members of Amazon Prime, and costs $99 a year or $10.99 a month.

Amazon will not charge any delivery fees or service fees on these orders, and restaurants won’t be permitted to mark meal prices up, either. Amazon had previously said its no-fee structure was temporary, but the company now says it is permanent.

Several of Amazon’s competitors — like GrubHub’s Seamless, delivery startup Postmates and Square-owned Caviar — either charge extra fees on orders, or allow participating restaurants to do so.

The benefit for customers comes with a big consequence for participating restaurants, however. Amazon is reportedly charging restaurants 27.5 percent of each order, which is as much as double what some competitors charge. That’s a steep price for the potential volume Amazon can drive.

An Amazon spokesman declined to comment on Amazon’s reported cut of sales, but said that the service allows restaurants to add new customers and “takes the burden of delivery off a restaurant’s back.”

Recode Video: Tough questions for the Amazon Echo

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

More in Technology

Technology
The case for AI realismThe case for AI realism
Technology

AI isn’t going to be the end of the world — no matter what this documentary sometimes argues.

By Shayna Korol
Politics
OpenAI’s oddly socialist, wildly hypocritical new economic agendaOpenAI’s oddly socialist, wildly hypocritical new economic agenda
Politics

The AI company released a set of highly progressive policy ideas. There’s just one small problem.

By Eric Levitz
Future Perfect
Human bodies aren’t ready to travel to Mars. Space medicine can help.Human bodies aren’t ready to travel to Mars. Space medicine can help.
Future Perfect

Protecting astronauts in space — and maybe even Mars — will help transform health on Earth.

By Shayna Korol
Podcasts
The importance of space toilets, explainedThe importance of space toilets, explained
Podcast
Podcasts

Houston, we have a plumbing problem.

By Peter Balonon-Rosen and Sean Rameswaram
Technology
What happened when they installed ChatGPT on a nuclear supercomputerWhat happened when they installed ChatGPT on a nuclear supercomputer
Technology

How they’re using AI at the lab that created the atom bomb.

By Joshua Keating
Future Perfect
Humanity’s return to the moon is a deeply religious missionHumanity’s return to the moon is a deeply religious mission
Future Perfect

Space barons like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk don’t seem religious. But their quest to colonize outer space is.

By Sigal Samuel