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Every business and their mother is telling us we’re living in “unprecedented times”. However, not all businesses are actively trying to do something about it by helping their communities.

EatStreet has been making a conscious effort to help students, local restaurants, and their drivers through their practices, new and old.

Like many delivery services, EatStreet delivers your favorite restaurants right to your door. However, unlike other delivery services, EatStreet also focuses on the smaller, local restaurants that make communities special. According to EatStreet co-founder and CEO Matt Howard, partnering with chain restaurants and local restaurants not only gives EatStreet the most restaurant options in the market, but it also helps the company “deliver the best experience” to its customers.

“First of all, we pride ourselves in having the most restaurants in every market we operate in. A lot of our competition really only focuses on the national chains. We really pride ourselves in not only getting the national chains but also getting the, what we call, ma and pa restaurants — the single, independent restaurants that are special to Iowa State,” Howard said.

As for its relationship with college students, EatStreet tries to run student-focused promotions to increase orders. It’s no secret that the pandemic has hurt local businesses, so EatStreet has made their top priority getting restaurants as many orders as possible.

“If a student had used EatStreet last year, or really just even earlier this spring, we would recommend checking it out again because there are so many more restaurants that came in due to COVID. And really, our biggest objective right now is to get restaurants as many orders as we possibly can. If you think about it, we can’t succeed without our restaurant partners, so if they don’t survive, we won’t either. So we are doing everything in our power to get as many orders as we can so they can keep pushing ahead,” Howard said.

Howard said that EatStreet is taking the pandemic very seriously. Not only is EatStreet focusing their energy toward helping their customers and drivers, but they are offering a reduced delivery fee to get restaurants more orders. Through November 16, delivery on all orders has been lowered to $2.99. In addition, EatStreet is supplying all of their drivers with PPE, or personal protective equipment, and is providing a contactless delivery option for all orders.

“Restaurants have never needed their customers more than they need them right now,” Howard said.

For students wishing to make a little extra money, EatStreet can help with that too. Food delivery services are notorious for having flexible hours and paying well — traits which have only been amplified within recent months. However, EatStreet structures their setup a little differently than other delivery services. At EatStreet drivers are W-2 employees, meaning they have a baseline wage and are “official members of the company,” according to Howard.

“[Drivers] do make a minimum wage, so no matter how busy they are, they are continuing to make money. A lot of our competition, they have no guarantees in place- so if they’re not busy, they’re not making money. So we firmly believe at EatStreet that the right way to grow is to make our drivers employees of the company. We think it’s just the right way to set it up,” Howard said.

Because EatStreet is also leading the Ames market in restaurant orders, their drivers are typically busier than drivers at other delivery services. Howard said that because of the higher volume of orders, EatStreet drivers can also make more money than other drivers since “more orders means more money.” Drivers at EatStreet have a baseline wage of $10 per hour, but usually make around $20 per hour, said Howard.

Despite the pandemic, EatStreet has centered its focus around its restaurants, drivers, and communities. Students can take comfort in the lower delivery prices and extensive restaurant options. Howard said, “We’re trying to do our best to make student’s lives a little bit easier during this pandemic. Obviously there’s a lot going on, and I think just being able to get the food you love delivered to you and not have to worry about that just makes life just a little bit easier.”

There’s no doubt, whether customers want a chain restaurant or a local favorite, EatStreet can really deliver.