There are few downsides to everyone’s favorite source of burritos, Chipotle, except that their praised burrito bowl insists you “come pick her up at her place” rather than come over to yours. Since Chipotle’s inception this has been a source of outcries for lazy college students who can’t get their burrito bowl when they truly want it—in their bed, at the library, or accompanying them on their House of Cards binge.
Never again will students have to suffer the brisk walk to State Street or settle for second-string pizza delivery thanks to EnvoyNow, a student-run delivery company at UW-Madison that delivers food from the best places on campus, including those that don’t offer delivery. Chipotle, Noodles and Company, Panera, Pita Pit, Five Guys, Qdoba, Wendy’ and Potbelly’s can now be delivered with the same speed and friendliness of your average Jimmy John’s guy. Starting at a $2 delivery fee, students can order food straight from their phones through EnvoyNow’s easy-to-use app.
“To order, students download the app, order what food they would like, and wait for the student deliverers to arrive,” says Ethan Claes, a sophomore majoring in Marketing. “It doesn’t matter whether they prefer their delivery made to their bedside or their current table at College Library, we’ll bring the food straight to the customer.”
Originally founded at the University of Southern California by a close friend, Claes brought the company to the UW campus in October having recognized the serious need for it.
“There’s a high demand for this service on campus when students can’t get the food they really want through easy delivery. For those students, they can count on EnvoyNow,” said Claes.
The app operates in a food-delivery-meets-Uber manner, in that the student deliverers, referred to as “Envoys”, can be tracked by users through the app so students know when to expect their food. When choosing one of the 15 possible Envoys to deliver, users can see the current number of orders underway and ratings from previous customers. Students can also pay for their order and easily add a tip through the app—no more awkwardly fumbling for loose singles at the door.