Get dinner delivered in Sonoma County with Uber-style companies

While scanning the Yelp reviews of Jidaiya Sushi in Rohnert Park, a theme emerges. Delivery, delivery, delivery. Many of the Japanese restaurant's customers, it seems, prefer having their food brought to their homes instead of jostling for one of the eight tables or four seats at the sushi bar.

In fact, about half of the restaurant's customers opt for delivery through commercial services like GrubHub and Yelp's Eat24, confirms Jidaiya manager Lulu Xu.

“It's very, very popular,” she said. “Gyoza, teriyaki chicken, California rolls, whatever they want.”

The Yelpers don't list their ages, but chances are good that many lean toward millennials. Nationally, that generation chooses at-home convenience for about 20 percent of their dining, versus 13 percent for Gen Xers and 10 percent for baby boomers, according to Technomic food industry research firm.

And the trend is building, with “The Delivery Revolution” among Technomic's top 10 predictions for 2016. In its report released in November, the research firm noted that on-demand delivery “may transform the food service industry more than the other nine trends put together.”

That's not news to Darren McAdams, founder and CEO of Food To You USA, Inc. His Sacramento-based company hires self-employed contractors to make deliveries from online orders - a culinary Uber - and he says business is booming. After dropping out of Sonoma State University in 1993 to pursue his fledgling idea, he now has built operations to 13 markets in six states with more than 1,000 restaurant partners.

He thought the delivery model had potential even 23 years ago, he said, but it really took off only six years ago after he acquired Flohr's Takeout Express, a Santa Rosa-based restaurant delivery service that had been run for two decades by Bill and Beverly Flohr. As his first course of action, he amped up his company's technology platform, created the foodtoyou.com interactive website, and started reaching out to younger customers.

“Millennials are 100 percent our target audience,” he said. “They have been around online ordering, Amazon, smartphones and all things technology most of their lives. They want things now, they want things from their phone, and they want things cheap. If you can package something with these elements, this generation will love you.”

Currently, foodtoyou.com coordinates thousands of deliveries per month in the Santa Rosa area alone, with customers paying a flat $6.99 fee. That compares to charges that range from free to $6 on a $25 minimum order at Jidaiya, which works with Eat24, GrubHub, Beyond the Menu and EatStreet delivery services.

Restaurants that sign up with these delivery services pay for the privilege - Food to You charges them 25 percent of the total order, for example, but handles payment, sends receipts and tracks delivery times.

Clearly, doorbell dining is big business. Capital investments in restaurant delivery companies like GrubHub and Seamless reached $1.2 billion in 2015, according to TechCrunch. That's double the estimated $600 million invested in 2014, and 25 times the $46 million invested in 2013. GrubHub alone is expected to grow its national business to $2.6 billion in 2016, up from $1.5 billion in 2014.

Starbucks launched delivery service this year through Postmates. Taco Bell signed up with DoorDash last year, while McDonald's is testing Postmates service in select markets. Yet as consumers look for higher quality food options, full service restaurants like Himalayan Café & Grill in Santa Rosa and Tonayan Mexican Restaurant in Rohnert Park are joining the delivery game.

Chalk it up to convenience, with 23 percent of Technomic's poll participants citing a lack of time to cook, overwhelming daily responsibilities and being on the go. “It's all about time, time and time. Everyone is busier now than ever before,” said Jeff Poetzel, vice president of operations for Johnny Garlic's in Windsor and Tex Wasabi's in Santa Rosa. His company has used Food To You for several years, and also utilizes UberEats, DoorDash and Waitr. “Delivery is absolutely a benefit for us, especially at dinner.”

Popularity is expected to grow beyond Millennials as more customers embrace the app and online technology. At Colibri Grill in Santa Rosa, owner Rosa Gomez sees a strong market with Baby Boomers, too.

Gomez was a Flohr's client for several years and stayed with Food To You once the company was purchased. She said about 30 percent of her customers now opt for door-to-door served, but she has developed a niche. About 80 percent of her delivery customers are in the 50-plus age group, many of whom live in Santa Rosa's Oakmont Village active adult community.

Professionals chained to their desks at offices and hospitals like Sutter Health also are Colibri fans. Breakfast is especially busy, with large orders coming in for specialties like tofu scramble, chicken fried steak, barbecue pork rib hash and chilaquiles.

“Sure, I'd rather have them come to eat here, since delivery is a little pricey for us to do,” Gomez said. “But it works for us, because they'll deliver maybe 20 meals at a time, and it's free advertising when (co-workers) see the food.”

Helping ease the sting of consumer fees, some sites also offer coupons, such as GrubHub's free kakiage tempura, deep fried California roll or vegetable tempura roll with purchases of $35 or more.

McAdams also is working on ways to dial down that cost. On Nov. 1, he launched a new concept called FoodJets in downtown Sacramento, and soon will unroll it in Santa Rosa. It involves employing his own drivers and requiring restaurants to work only with FoodJets.

“This new, ‘hipper' company of ours has one mission - to bring the best local restaurants curbside in less than 30 minutes for only $2.99,” he said. “We have online and app ordering, estimated delivery windows and live driver tracking, but most of all, we are super-fast and way cheaper than anyone else out there.”

Meanwhile, Xu points out Jidaiya Sushi provides area customers with its own free delivery on orders $25 and over. But for the time being, there's no online option. For that, guests have to dial their phones and talk to a real live person.