Our Restaurants Are Failing. Why Should Food Delivery Apps Thrive?

Delivery app fees for restaurants were onerous before the pandemic, but now they have become life threatening for owners.

Just ask Chicago restaurant owner Giuseppe Badalamenti, who posted his March invoice from Grubhub.The shocking numbers made the post go viral.

His pizzeria pulled in $1,042.63 in pickup and delivery sales. But after fees and commissions, he made only $376.54.

"Leveling such steep commissions on an industry with notoriously thin profit margins does not help restaurants in the best of times. During a pandemic, it is hastening their demise," writes Lucas Kwan Peterson in The Los Angeles Times. 

Peterson offers more stories from restaurant operators who are furious over the app fees in this column.