City dwellers in search of takeout jump immediately to Seamless, which (NYC readers are wincing that we have to spell this out, but sorry, it’s just not as popular here) allows you to easily scan menus at nearby restaurants, order, pay, and tip, all through the Seamless website.
For whatever reason, Seamless hasn’t fully caught on in the ‘burbs. Maybe it will, but in the meantime, there’s Westchester Select Delivery to fill the void.
Launched in May, Westchester Select is a delivery startup founded by recent SUNY New Paltz grad Austin Schatz, 22, and four friends (all are under 25, and four out of the five were classmates at Ossining High School). When he came back to Westchester from school, Schatz was heartsick for the ease of his college-town online restaurant delivery.
Key word there is “restaurant.” Westchester Select’s client list comprises not just the pizza joints and delis that already deliver, but “real,” sit-down places like River City Grille and Chutney Masala in Irvington, and The Huddle in Sleepy Hollow. Not exactly places you associate with delivery—but that’s the point.
“The main difference [between us and Seamless],” says Marketing Director Dylan Robinson, is “where Seamless and GrubHub bring more orders to places that already deliver, we seek out slightly more upscale options…dine-in restaurants that don’t have or haven’t considered a delivery service. We make possible for them what they couldn’t or wouldn’t otherwise do on their own.”
“I know there’s a market for this,” says Schatz, founder and CEO. “We have talked to similar businesses all over the country and we think there are people in offices who are tired of sandwiches and commuters too tired to cook who will be happy to know about us.”
The plan is to keep delivery radius within seven miles from any given restaurant. You can check out what’s available near you by visiting westchester.delivery.
