Restaurants and startups try to outdo Uber Eats and DoorDash

Apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats have provided restaurants with a flood of customers in the pandemic. Now, a host of food ordering tools, as well as some restaurants, are finding ways to bypass these apps and the commissions they charge.

DoorDash Inc., Eats of Uber Technologies Inc. and Grubhub Inc. can charge restaurants up to 30% of each order – a big chunk that many owners say profits are dropping even as more orders arrive.

A new range of services promises lower-cost online ordering for restaurants, leaving restaurants to arrange more deliveries themselves.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., Shake Shack Inc. and a growing number of chains have recognized the cost of app-based delivery orders, and many say they intend to address it. Local governments from New York to Seattle have imposed rules capping delivery charges, in an attempt to keep restaurant costs down while the health crisis keeps people home.