Should My Food Truck Use Delivery Apps? Here's the Hot Dish
Life on the road isn’t for the faint of heart. Between prepping food, navigating parking spots, and keeping customers happy, you’ve already got your hands full—probably with tacos. But as delivery apps become a go-to for hungry diners, you might be asking yourself: Should my food truck jump on the third-party delivery train? The answer? It depends on how you play the game.
Should My Food Truck Use Delivery Apps? Here's the Hot Dish
Life on the road isn’t for the faint of heart. Between prepping food, navigating parking spots, and keeping customers happy, you’ve already got your hands full—probably with tacos. But as delivery apps become a go-to for hungry diners, you might be asking yourself: Should my food truck jump on the third-party delivery train?
The answer? It depends on how you play the game.
Delivery Apps: Worth the Fees?
Let’s not sugarcoat it—apps like Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Grubhub can bring in orders, but they also take a serious bite out of your bottom line. With commission fees climbing up to 30%, it’s easy to feel like you’re cooking just to feed the app.
For food trucks, where every dollar counts and speed is the name of the game, that kind of overhead can be a dealbreaker. But here’s the twist—it doesn’t have to be.
Think of It as Ancillary Revenue
Third-party delivery doesn’t have to be your main hustle. Instead, treat it like extra cash flow—a way to add volume without reinventing your operation. Use it to reach new customers, especially when you're parked in a quieter spot or during slower times.
When handled right, it’s not a burden. It’s a boost.
One System to Handle It All: GoTab + Stream Integration
Here’s where GoTab makes things magic. With our integration with Stream, you can bring in all those third-party orders—from multiple platforms—and funnel them right into your GoTab POS. No juggling tablets. No missed tickets. No kitchen chaos.
Everything syncs into one streamlined system, so your crew can focus on food and service, not trying to figure out which order came from where. Whether it’s coming from Uber Eats, DoorDash, or Grubhub, you’ll see it all in one place, like a beautiful, organized command center for your food truck empire.
Keep First-Party Ordering Front and Center
Third-party apps might bring in eyeballs, but your own customers? They’re the heart of your business. That’s why GoTab’s branded online ordering is such a powerful tool. It puts you in control of the guest experience—from branding and messaging to pricing and upsells.
When customers order directly through your GoTab-powered site, you keep more revenue, avoid commissions, and build loyalty. No middleman. No distractions. Just your food, your vibe, your brand.
One Tablet to Rule Them All
Food trucks need simplicity. GoTab’s Tablet POS is designed to be your all-in-one tool for taking orders on-site, managing third-party tickets, and handling online sales. No need for five devices cluttering up your counter. One sleek tablet, total control, and zero tech headaches.
Final Bite
Third-party delivery can absolutely be part of your food truck strategy—as long as you’re not letting it run the show. Use it smartly, treat it like the side hustle it is, and lean on GoTab and Stream to make the process seamless.
When you combine the reach of delivery apps with the power of branded first-party ordering and a rock-solid tablet POS, you’re not just rolling with the punches. You’re driving the whole food truck game forward.
Ready to level up your food truck operation? Check out GoTab’s Food Truck POSand bring all your orders—onsite, online, and third-party—into one system built for the road.
Tap Room Playbook Episode 2:
When you really think about it, with everything managers need to do in a tap room, the hospitality aspect is often overlooked.
Situated “in the heart of it all, yet tranquil enough to make you feel away from it all too,” The Limelight Hotel Snowmass offers 99 hotel rooms and 11 residences, as well as footsteps-to-gondola access in winter and summer — right in the middle of Snowmass Base Village.
The Situation
Especially over the last few years, the Limelight Hotels IT team had witnessed a significant shift to contactless technology in the hospitality industry. After evaluating friction points in the guest journey, aligning with modern technology platforms in their restaurant was determined to be an effective way to offer elevated contactless dining experiences to their guests while also evolving their technology platforms to continue to support long-term company goals. Limelight Hotel partnered with GoTab to provide an enhanced on-demand dining experience on par with the brand’s reputation for exceptional guest service.
The Solution
Reducing Staff Touch Points Without Sacrificing Guest Experience
Guests are now able to begin a tab from their room or the property’s restaurant by scanning a QR code, texting a link to friends or family members on the ski slope to add in their orders, then meeting up together at the patio or lodge to enjoy their meal and après ski festivities without interruption. By streamlining tasks like inputting orders and processing payments, this eliminates friction for hotel staff and allows them to focus on delivering renowned guest service for a memorable experience. Since partnering with GoTab, Limelight Snowmass has consistently seen higher check averages and sales.
“We found the Point of Sale platforms we were looking at offered the guest and staff limited opportunities to further reduce touch points or improve the traditional restaurant experience. The GoTab platform enabled the guest to take an active role over the flow of their experience while simultaneously reducing touch points and further streamlining restaurant operations.”Nick Giglio, Manager of Hotel IT Operations, The Little Nell Hotel Group
According to the Limelight Hotels team, some of the other platforms that were evaluated were either missing some of the pieces they were looking for, had weak customer support models, or had little willingness to develop integrations to existing hotel platforms already in place. To that end, GoTab integrated with cloud-based platform, Infor. Together, GoTab and Infor are providing dynamic solutions to support central, efficient service across hotel amenities and deliver exceptional guest experiences.
“Previously, guests would call down to the restaurant to begin an order from their room or while they were out enjoying the ski slopes. Using GoTab, guests can now place orders from anywhere on the resort, giving them the on-demand service they want without interrupting their day. GoTab empowers us to give control to the guest, reducing touch points and streamlining overall restaurant operations, making Limelight Hotel the resort of choice for Snowmass.”Nick Giglio, Manager of Hotel IT Operations, The Little Nell Hotel Group
Since introducing GoTab, The Limelight Hotel has seen a consistent level of upsells and items sold per check resulting in additional revenue capture. They have been able to maintain service levels in their restaurants during periods when there was reduced staffing available without significantly diminishing the guest experience.
The Benefits
Eliminate Phone Orders – Take Orders from the Slopes. Guests can start a tab from their room or on the mountain without interrupting the flow of their day.
Future-Proofed Technologies – Delivering elevated contactless ordering via integration with the Infor hotel management platform.
Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
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