A zero-commission delivery service tries to give smaller restaurants a fair shake

Photo: Fare

Restaurants cough up a lot of dough to partner with third-party delivery services like Grubhub and Seamless, which can charge restaurants commissions of 20% to 30% per order.

The newly launched Fare aims to make delivery more — well, fair — for smaller, local restaurants who can’t afford those fees.

Sounds appetizing… 

Fare curates weekly menus from participating restaurants within a specific area. This menu is available only to customers located nearby.

Limiting the menu to a few items helps restaurants achieve what Fare calls a “decentralized catering” situation. Customers order a day in advance, which gives the restaurant time to prepare the meals, group them together based on address, and then deliver them within 1 hour of a designated time.

Because the restaurants handle the delivery, Fare doesn’t have to charge them fees. Instead, customers pick up the tab for the service.

Fare currently serves Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn.

Dinner is served!

Fare can’t offer as many menu options as its competitors. And ordering a day early means customers can’t satisfy those sudden pho cravings.

But restaurant enthusiasts who now find themselves stuck at home and missing their favorite local eateries might be excited to order something other than pizza for the umpteenth time. And to know the local business isn’t getting gouged.