Delivery service provides meals 'straight to your door'

Craving sushi, a chef salad or a 12-ounce prime rib steak but don't feel like making the drive to get it? Don't stress, you can have it all delivered straight2yourdoor.\nStraight2yourdoor.com is a Web-based delivery service that offers a distinct alternative to the standard pizza and Chinese fare that most students have grown accustomed to ordering. \n"Straight2yourdoor is really a beneficial service because it offers you something others don't," said co-creator and recent IU graduate Jason Moldoff. "We deliver from restaurants that normally do not, and the food is healthier and better quality."\nMoldoff, an IU alumnus fresh out of the Kelley School of Business, and fifth-year student Seth Fishman teamed up during their junior year to turn their vision of a different kind of delivery service into action. After getting restaurants around town hooked and designing a Web site complete with restaurant menus and easy order-and-pay services, Straight2yourdoor.com was born.\nPart of the inspiration for starting the company came from national services similar to Straight2yourdoor like Take-Out Taxi and College Bellhop.\n"We hadn't heard of anything like this in the Midwest and thought IU would be a good place to start it up," Moldoff said.\nStraight2yourdoor.com currently serves as the liaison for delivery from Colorado Steak House, Mikado, Buffalo Wild Wings, Esan Thai, Opie Taylor's, Yogi's, Truffles, El Regio and Quizno's. In the coming months, Moe's Southwest Grill and Tutto Bene are hopping on board, and Moldoff said he hopes that is just the first batch in a long line of restaurants that will join Straight2yourdoor. He also hopes to get more connected on campus.\n"I'd love to work with the (Residential Housing Association) and the dorms and do catering for fraternities and sororities next," he said. \nStraight2yourdoor is also in the process of creating group specials with restaurants like Mikado, where a group of people could order sushi entrees for about half the price they would normally cost.\n"That kind of thing would be great for places like Greek houses who don't serve house dinners on Friday and Saturday nights," he said. \nMoldoff said there is an $8 minimum for orders and a 10 percent service charge, and all payments must be made online with a credit or debit card. Tips must be included when paying online and are automatically tacked on to orders. The Web site promises delivery in 50 to 60 minutes, but Moldoff said if it's not too busy, an order from somewhere like Quizno's can get to your door in a half-hour. To ensure quality food, Straight2yourdoor's drivers keep food warm en-route by using heated bags similar to those used for pizza delivery.\n"The food really isn't that expensive," he said. "Depending on what you order, you'd spend about the same amount ordering pizza and breadsticks, but you'd get a really good meal." \nDespite averaging more than 20 orders per night in the first few weeks since it reopened for the semester and having a Facebook group 300 strong, some are still unsure about using Straight2yourdoor.com just yet.\n"If I'm going to spend the money to eat an expensive meal, I'd rather go out and have it be served to me than have it delivered," said junior Amy Freiburger.\nStill, those who have utilized the service find it an accommodating and healthy alternative to what they would normally order in.\n"I like it because it's convenient in times of laziness and illness when I don't feel like leaving the house," said junior Amber Copeland.\nA feature unique to Straight2yourdoor.com is that orders from multiple places can be made and delivered to a single location for a $1 dollar charge per additional restaurant.\n"I think that's really cool because if I want food from one place and my friends want food from another, we don't have to compromise and everyone can be happy," Copeland said.\nFor Moldoff and Fishman, Straight2yourdoor.com in Bloomington is just the beginning. They have plans of expanding to other schools in the Midwest, targeting Purdue as their next step. They also offer maid services and are looking into creating an inexpensive cleaning service for student apartments in the coming years.