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29 May, 2013

Bring Me That Restaurant Delivery Service

Comments : 26 Posted in : Food, Product Reviews on by : The Gourmez

Warning! Please make sure to read the comment thread below, as many customers have reported having problems with this service in the past four years since I wrote this post. Use caution-the Gourmez, 5/23/2017

Bring Me That, a Web-based service for ordering food, is a startup with the Triangle Startup Factory in Durham. This is of particular interest to you, the readers of my blog, because you tend to like food from local restaurants and Bring Me That is making it easier for their food to end up in your mouths. After launching in Ohio, Bring Me That has opened up shop for North Carolinian restaurants, and they asked me to check out the service for them.

Bring Me That aims to make ordering delivery less painful by providing an online system to make it no harder than point-and-click for customers. I have definitely had the phone call or twenty that ended with me unsure I’d ordered what I wanted, so I’m behind anything that makes it easier. Bring Me That partners with restaurants that offer delivery, sets up their menu within the system, and confirms the order with the restaurant after you place it. You’ll get a confirmation email with a time estimate after that. Pretty nice!

To order, go to their website (linked here), enter your zip code, and voila!

First-page results for my zip code.

First-page results for my zip code.

It gives you a list of nearby restaurants offering delivery to your area. The website is easily navigable, and if you have any difficulties, a chat window pops up after a few minutes to assist you. Now you might notice two things about that screen: (1) There are a lot of chain restaurants listed, many of which already have online ordering systems; and (2) Catering only and large minimum purchase amounts abound. I asked Michael LaMarca, one of Bring Me That’s founders, about that. His response:

We understand that we have a lot of restaurants that cater or have high minimums. We are working on providing a filter option that will either place all these options toward the end or have the customer filter them accordingly.

Sounds like a good plan to make sifting through the options easier, but supporting local restaurants are the reason Bring Me That’s founders wanted to make ordering delivery easier. Michael explained how they are encouraging more to sign up for the service:

We’d love to add even more Mom and Pop stores, especially since a lot of customers use our site to discover Mom and Pops. We crowdsource this and encourage anyone who knows of restaurants that aren’t on our list to let us know. Also if any new restaurants come around, we personally reach out to them and try to get them up on our site immediately.

In southern Durham, there were roughly five local restaurants for me to choose from. Ordering is simple.

Example of the order screen.

Example of the order screen.

If there is no price listed on the order screen, the menu item likely has different prices based on the portion size, so you’ll see that choice as soon as you select the item.

Menu item selection.

Menu item selection.

You can also add in special instructions at that point. Just confirm the order in the cart when you’re done, give Bring Me That your billing info, and wait for that confirmation email.

Because I’m addicted to trying new-to-me places, I chose Ping Pong Cafe, a Chinese restaurant near South Miami. I placed my order in a jiffy. Then I discovered a snafu—keep in mind that Bring Me That is a startup, so those come with the territory. It turns out I am outside of Ping Pong Cafe’s delivery area. Now, it would be better if Ping Pong had not appeared as an option for me, but I was impressed with the customer service I received to clear it up. Within a few minutes of placing the order, a Bring Me That representative called to explain the problem, and he was prepared with recommendations for another Chinese restaurant. He even offered to take a new order over the phone for me and place it. It’s nice to know someone’s there to handle just that sort of problem.

I placed my order for Asian Kitchen instead, and the food was at my house in half the estimated time on the confirmation email.

bring_me_that_01

That spread includes their scallion pancakes, Thai spring rolls, and the Thai Double Delight with tender beef in a pepper sauce and shrimp in a white sauce. Now this isn’t a restaurant review, but that won’t stop me from posting gratuitous food photography.

bring_me_that_04

bring_me_that_02

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It was all delicious, especially those golden-red scallion pancakes. That food was digesting in my belly within 30 minutes of clicking on the Bring Me That site. I was quite happy with the service despite a few kinks that will be worked out in time and the modest selection of local restaurants in my area. Hopefully, as word spreads and users recommend new restaurants, that selection will increase.

So what distinguishes Bring Me That from Takeout Taxi or Tarheel Takeout, other than the obvious being that neither provides service to Durham? Michael answered,

Tarheel Takeout and Takeout Taxi do the delivery themselves so that limits them to the amount of drivers they have, geography, et cetera. They are a great option for restaurants that do not offer delivery. We focus on the restaurants that offer delivery and make it simple for the user to see which restaurants deliver to them and then order through us online. Down the road we hope to partner with other third party services like Tarheel Takeout, which will offer the customer even more options for delivery or takeout.

An obvious obstacle to expansion would be the lack of a delivery person at some local restaurants, so I asked Michael if they’d had any success convincing stores to add one on so they could provide this service.

We have had a lot of success increasing sales and signing up restaurants that do not have an online delivery presence.  As we expand our options we will of course be able to sign up restaurants that haven’t offered delivery in the past.

Finally, with such a predominant selection of catering options, I wondered if those orders have gone well, imagining that a business, as well as the average diner like me, might find placing a catering order online a lot more convenient than over the phone. Michael shared,

They have gone well. The majority [of orders] have been through individuals, and we are working on adding better functionality to the customer whether it is for a business or for a large party [to] make it more friendly to order larger items.

So if you’re looking for an easier way to get delivery from a favorite local restaurant in NC, give Bring Me That a whirl. If they don’t have it yet, suggest the restaurant to them, and hopefully it’ll pop up soon.

Obligatory disclosure: I was compensated for this post and my dinner was courtesy of Bring Me That. Service used on 17 May 13.

26s COMMENTS

26 thoughts on : Bring Me That Restaurant Delivery Service

  • Pingback: Online food delivery service BringMeThat press roundup

  • Katie
    August 22, 2013 at 7:43 pm

    What Michael doesn’t tell you is that the prices he puts online are higher than the prices the restaurant charges.

  • Pete
    September 16, 2014 at 8:29 am

    This is a scam. Ordered from a local restaurant (~$40) was billed for the $40 AND THEN was billed for $121 for nothing and CANNOT get our money back from Bring Me That. Filing complaint with Attorney General Consumer Affairs

    • September 16, 2014 at 1:04 pm

      Pete, I’m very sorry to hear you’re having trouble with Bring Me That! They were assuredly not a scam when I tried out their service and offered excellent customer service. I’m shocked you’ve had such difficulties. Good luck to you with working it out with Consumer Affairs–that and the Better Business Bureau are always good to contact when you have issues like that with a company.

      • bryan lopez
        July 26, 2017 at 9:49 am

        I don’t think people want good costumer service, i am pretty sure people they just want good service or at least get what they are expecting from all the things Bringmethat is offering

  • Cheryl P
    September 28, 2014 at 9:34 am

    Just placed my order, only to receive a confirmation email telling me the restaurant only accepts CASH, no the debit card. So now my “refund” will be issued within 1-7 business days. RIDICULOUS

  • leah
    October 20, 2014 at 2:47 pm

    I think they’re scam. . I work at a restaurant from NC.. and bring me that .Com put our menus on their website without telling us.. and we always confused there were a lot of customers told us they had issues for online ordering which we never have anything online services.. and we couldn’t even find their numbers or customer services.. many of my customers complained that they got over charges almost twice amounts than when they ordered from the store!!!! And now we don’t even know how to tell them to take our menus down

    • Anonymous
      November 20, 2014 at 9:21 pm

      Same problem at the restaurant I work for! Nothing but head aches and confusion from customers.

  • Charlene
    November 14, 2014 at 2:26 pm

    This is totally a scam. They charge more than the store would charge. I thought I ordered directly from the restaurant but it turned out it was not.

  • November 18, 2014 at 2:51 am

    Just for the record, I contacted Bring Me That to tell them they are welcome to respond to your complaints on this post, but they haven’t taken any action. I’m happy to let the complaints remain.

    • Anonymous
      December 23, 2014 at 4:14 pm

      I ordered online on 12/ 20/14,was billed 26$, then three days later was charged 29$. It’s a scam, they get ur order and credit card number and call the restaurant and order ur food then they keep charging ur card, please someone tell me who to call at Bring me That to resolve this issue.

  • Andie
    December 18, 2014 at 9:13 pm

    Just placed an order (or so I thought) for a local Chinese restaurant, received a receipt that the order was confirmed and would be here in 40 mins and then received an email receipt from credit card co. that my card was charged. About 5 mins later received a call from the restaurant…. saying that credit card didnt work. I was confused.. explored it with them (gave them the “order confirmation number” from “Bring Me That,” they had no idea what I was talking about. They had received a call from some guy submitting PART of my order and not even giving my correct card number. I forwarded the confirmed charges to my card to the restaurant, they said they were sorry but had no knowledge of that — and no receipt on their end and that I would have to dispute it with BMT. Of course there is no telephone number to call. So, now I am out $20.49. I have

  • December 29, 2014 at 3:15 pm

    I should also note that Michael LaMarca, whom I interviewed in May 2013 for this post, is no longer with Bring Me That, so he should not be associated with these issues.

  • kelsey
    January 27, 2015 at 10:34 am

    I placed an order. Paid. Got charged. Never got my order. I am pissed. Give me my damn money back now.

  • Pat
    February 21, 2015 at 4:09 pm

    This is a scam. I also ordered Chinese food. Never got email confirmation like they said it would occur. Called restaurant directly and they said they don’t have email orders. Called credit card company. Bring MeThat had already charged me twice. Received no food! Have already started process to contest charges and cancelled my credit card, feared theft. This site is robbing people blind! Do NOT use!!!!!!

  • Ernest
    February 22, 2015 at 2:39 pm

    This is definitely a scam I ordered some food from a local pizza shop was waiting an over an hour so called the pizza shop they said they dont do online orders canceled my card after I got off the phone with the pizza shop.

  • Allison Warburg
    March 12, 2015 at 12:01 pm

    They have awful customer service its been 30+ minutes since I asked to receive a call from them, there are 100 restaurants that “supposedly” deliver to my address and half of them won’t actually deliver, yet they still have them listed as within delivery zone. This is a company based in NYC, I live in Bergen county New Jersey. If they can’t figure out restaurants that deliver in my area I seriously doubt they can figure out what the delivery zone is in Ohio.

  • Katie Spencer
    June 8, 2016 at 4:07 pm

    God I’m so glad I read this! Was just getting ready to call in a birthday dinner for my son! What a disaster that would have been after the worse day ever!

    • The Gourmez
      June 10, 2016 at 11:48 am

      Yeah, at this point it sounds like “stay away” is the wiser plan!

  • emma
    May 23, 2017 at 6:33 pm

    This is a scam. I work at a local pizza place in NY and we just got a call from a customer, angry because they hadn’t gotten their food. The man insisted his wife placed the order online but we do not have email ordering. The wrong phone number, address, and order were given to me. STAY AWAY FROM THIS WEBSITE.

    • The Gourmez
      May 23, 2017 at 10:16 pm

      Thanks, Emma. I am amazed that this is still happening. I will amend the blog post with a warning up top.

  • JC Bennett
    January 3, 2018 at 8:50 am

    We keep vetting these reaccurring charges on our account and we don’t use these guys and never have. Can’t get any feed back from these guys. We have rrported them to BBB with the hope they can get to the bottom of this chaos.

    • The Gourmez
      January 5, 2018 at 12:24 pm

      I’m sorry to hear that, JC. There have definitely been suspect actions reported here by Bring Me That over of the years. It’s why I added a warning up top.

  • Anonymous
    May 16, 2018 at 3:37 pm

    I ordered through their app then actually got a phone call from the restaurant asking where I was. I explained I ordered through the Bring Me That app and they told me they never agreed to sponsor them and they were a scam. Luckily the refunded my money.

  • December 5, 2020 at 1:28 am

    It’s the end of 2020, and this company is still an ongoing problem. Staff at our restaurant told us several people have come in to pick up either non-existent orders, or unpaid orders, claiming they had “paid online.” Have tried to have them take our info off their site, and have not heard anything.

  • The Gourmez
    December 17, 2020 at 8:29 pm

    I am amazed they are still around! Thank you for pointing out the continuing problems, Scott.

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