LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — Some restaurants in the Las Vegas valley hit hard by the pandemic plan to go head-to-head with the likes of GrubHub, DoorDash and Uber Eats.
This service will be called the Loco Co-Op. Rather than using other third-party apps for food delivery, these restaurants will be providing their own.
“The platform will operate just like the local apps will,” said Kristen Corral. “But it will be locally owned and operated by restaurant owners.”
News 3 introduced you to the Tacotarian co-founder over the summer, who helped push Clark County to cap food delivery fees at 15 percent of the bill.
“While that has been beneficial it was just a band-aid that expires in May,” said Corral. “And then we’re back to square one, paying 33, 35 percent commission.”
So, she says right now is the perfect time to launch.
Crazy Pita owner and founder Mehdi Zarhloul agrees and is considering joining in on the service.
“The delivery business has been very challenging the last- especially the last year, as you have these very big conglomerate businesses that are dominating the market,” he said.
Zarhloul believes Loco is an attractive opportunity for restaurants like his three locations.
“Our restaurant we specialize in cooking, we specialize in dining, we specialize trying to do multiple things,” he said. “We like to keep it to one party that can handle all that with reasonable prices. So, we’re really excited that this is coming up.”
Corral says the benefits expand to customers. “We’re keeping all the commissions low, restaurants won’t be forced to add all these additional fees,” she said.
But what about drivers? Corral says they’ll make even more driving for Loco Co-Op, up to $15 per hour.
So how do restaurants join in? If they just want to use the platform, they pay the 15 percent commission fee.
As for ownership of the app, up to 70 restaurants will be allowed to buy-in.
“Each person that buys into the co-op as a restaurant owner will put in a little bit of investment money, and that will be our operating capital,” said Corral.
The co-op is expected to launch in late April with an initial focus on westside and downtown restaurants.