Students living on campus have easy access to the University of Richmond’s various dining facilities, while off-campus and on-campus students in apartments can cook their own meals at home. Nonetheless, students sometimes want the convenience of food delivered right to their door.
College students frequently use large, non-local, third-party delivery services such as GrubHub, UberEats and DoorDash. These services have become increasingly popular during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the University of Richmond still in the Enhanced Red Stage, students are not supposed to leave campus for food, making these contactless delivery options even more popular.
However, large, non-local, third-party delivery services tend to charge the restaurant a service fee. This charge costs the restaurants extra money, which can hurt small, local restaurant businesses, especially during the pandemic.
Local Richmond businesses have suffered because of the COVID-19 pandemic, as restaurants have had to close indoor dining, limit capacity, and even temporarily close down. Several restaurants have had to close permanently, such as Dutch & Company and Nota Bene. Other restaurants in the Richmond area are barely staying afloat.
“WPA Bakery, a bakery and coffee shop, stayed open and adapted by going takeout only and limiting the number of customers inside,” an NBC article noted. “But the business has lost as much as 30% of its business over the past six months.”
UR students are part of the greater Richmond community and have the opportunity to support local businesses in a socially distanced and safe way.
Fortunately, students can support local restaurants via ways not found through large third-party delivery services that work specifically with local RVA restaurants. Quickness RVA and Chop Chop RVA are local delivery services helping Richmond’s restaurants succeed. These services allow customers to have a larger selection of small, local businesses and support the restaurant during the pandemic.
Quickness RVA is a completely bicycle-based courier service. Its staff provides services such as food delivery, package delivery and other jobs that customers might need. Quickness RVA prides itself on providing support to local businesses at an affordable price. It has over 20 popular restaurant partners and an easy-to-use ordering system.
Quickness RVA restaurant partners:
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Chop Chop RVA is another delivery service unique to Richmond. The site has instructions on how to order and provides details on delivery zones, which designates which restaurants will deliver to you. Chop Chop RVA partners with over 30 restaurants and offers an app for easy and convenient ordering.
Chop Chop RVA restaurant partners:
City Dogs, Barrio Taqueria + Tequila
In light of the pandemic, it is important to support small and local businesses in a socially distanced and safe way. Services like Quickness RVA and Chop Chop RVA provide an easy opportunity to do so. Both services’ websites have more information on how they operate and more about their business partners.
Contact lifestyle writer Michelle Parente at michelle.parente@richmond.edu.
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