Food delivery is nothing new in Paris, but the choices used to be pretty slim unless you happen to adore pizza, sushi, or tandoori chicken. Now there’s a new generation of services offering delivery of food we actually want, whether it’s from popular restaurants, gourmet home-cooked meals, or just breakfast in bed.
And of course, there’s an app. Being lazy just a whole lot easier…and just in time for the chilly season when all we want to do is snuggle up inside! Here are just a few of the latest ones that look appetizing.
Foodora Food delivered to you within 30 minutes by bike courier, in Paris and Lyon. Smartphone app for iPhone and Android. The well-known restaurants are promoted on the home page (Frenchie to Go, Schwartz’s Deli, Chambelland, Grilled Cheese Factory), but only those in your delivery zone will be listed once you punch in the delivery address. My neighborhood in the 13th has pretty slim pickings (as it’s not close enough to the center for 30-minute delivery, I assume), but if you’re in the center of Paris there is a nice selection. One restaurant will even deliver Dom Perignon for €190. There’s a €15 minimum per order, delivery is just €2.50. They deliver when the restaurant you want to order from is open.
Deliveroo This service is almost the same as Foodora except that the delivery time is posted according to the restaurant (sometimes under 30 minutes, sometimes more) so there seems to be more choice, including Frenchie To Go, Big Fernand, the Sunken Chip, and Floyd’s. Same minimum and delivery fee, and an iPhone app. They operate noon until 11pm, and from what I can tell deliver by car.
CityChef allows you to order freshly-prepared meals (including the bread and cheese) that all you need to do is pop in the oven (and pretend you cooked it, hee hee). Better than Picard, no boxes to hide! About €15-30/person, and you can add wine or other goodies.
My Cuistot isn’t just food delivery, it’s chef delivery! You pay to have a professional chef come to your home, bringing the groceries if needed (there’s a small organic supplement), and prepare your meals for you, according to your own tastes (and you get a French tax deduction, so it can cost as little as €10/meal).
Tok Tok Tok This is an interesting service: they’ll go get whatever you want (that can be purchased by credit card) and deliver it to your door, 24/7. Breakfast, dinner, wine, socks, a roast chicken, a tub of ice cream, flowers, a magazine, a new suitcase, cleaning supplies, razor blades, the London Times Sunday edition, you name it! They have a NoLimit service where you tell them what you want if you don’t see it on their site (only available of the store you want it from is available). For example, I asked for an Olaf stuffed toy from the Disney Store on the Champs-Elysées at 9pm on Friday night and they immediately said it would take one hour and would cost me €12 for delivery plus the cost of the item (to be charged to my credit card) plus a 9% commission on the price. That seems totally reasonable to me! As I’m packing to leave in the morning, I can think of a ton of things I’d love to have delivered so I don’t have to run last-minute errands. Not sure they actually deliver on skates like in the video below, but I want to find out so I joined! You can get €10 if you join using my code (and I get €10 credit, too, isn’t that nice?): B7ID3
FoodChéri is another service promising 20-minute delivery of dishes prepared by their own team of chefs, but they only cover central and western Paris and Neuilly-sur-Seine, so I can’t test them down here in the 13th.
UberEats also delivers daily meals via their regular app for lunch Monday-Friday, but so far only the 8th arrondissement is covered (if you don’t see the “Eats” option on your app, you can’t order). PS: Yes, Uber still exists in Paris, but only with professional drivers, not just anyone with a car who signs up (aka UberPop).
Personally I'd rathger do away with home delivery. There are far too many bikes zooming through red lights and pedestrian crossings on defiance of traffic. They are often faster than cars and many do not have lights. I think Mayor Hidalgo's recent statement encouraging this kind of bicyclist misbehavior is highly irresposible.Barney Kirchhoff