The Collegian
Friday, March 29, 2024

Local delivery services that support Richmond businesses

<p>Beijing on Grove is a restaurant approximately three miles away from campus. Its food can be delivered to campus through Chop Chop RVA.</p>

Beijing on Grove is a restaurant approximately three miles away from campus. Its food can be delivered to campus through Chop Chop RVA.

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

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:

521 Biscuits & Waffles

821 Cafe, Alamo BBQ

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Big Herms Kitchen

Branch & Vine

Cafe Ole World Grill

Carytown Sushi

Cask Cafe, Goatocado

Helen's Restaurant

J Kogi

Kung Fu Tea

Lift Coffee Shop

Nile

Perly’s

Rostov's Coffee & Tea

Salt and Forge

Spice of India

Sticky Rice

The Camel

The Jasper

The Savory Grain

ZZQ Texas Craft BBQ

Bingo Beer Co.

Saison Market

Chop Chop RVA

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: 

Anthony’s On The Hill

Athens Tavern

Beijing on Grove

Bingo Beer Co

Bistro 804

Boulevard Burgers and Brew

Buddy’s Place

Burger Bros

Buz and Ned’s

Cafe Ole

Campus Waffle

Capitol Waffle Shop

Carytown Burger and Fries

Casa Italiana

Chicanos Cocina

Christian’s Pizza

City Beach

City Dogs, Barrio Taqueria + Tequila

Coppola’s Deli

Fat Dragon

Foo Dog

Four Brothers

Greek on Cary

Home Sweet Home

Hot Chick

Instabowl

Izzy’s Kitchen

Jalapenos Mexican Grill

Kokee Tea

Kokonut Grill

Kreggers

La Bodega

Lalo’s Cocina

Latitude Seafood Co.

Libbie Market

Lillie Pearl

Little Mexico

Lucky Asian Fusion

Mama J’s Kitchen

Maple Bourbon

Mellow Mushroom Pizza Bakers

Mi Jalisco

Natalie’s Taste of Lebanon

New York Deli 

Osaka

Park Lane Tavern

Peter Chang

Pho 95 Hai Ky Mi Gia

Pizza & Beer of Richmond

Red Salt

Sabai

Sam Miller’s

Sheppard Street Tavern

Shyndigz

Social 52

Soul Taco

Sticky Rice 

The Camel

The Daily Short Pump

The Greek Taverna

The Mill on MacArthur

The Pizza Place

West Coast Provisions

Wong Gonzalez

Wong’s Taco - Short Pump

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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