UBER EATS FOR DARWIN WITHIN DAYS

UBER Eats is almost here with the service expected to begin in Darwin on July 3.

About 20 Darwin restaurants have signed up to the hotly anticipated food delivery service.

Last Monday, Uber Eats held a launch party where restaurants signing up could meet and learn more about the service.

The service, however, has had strong opposition from some restaurateurs, who say the cut Uber is taking from a delivery is not sustainable.

It’s understood the multinational giant takes a 35 per cent cut of the total order.

Chow, a popular restaurant at the Waterfront dishing up Southeast Asian cuisine, was believed to be the restaurant most requested by the public to join the delivery app.

But owner Jason Hanna said he wouldn’t be signing up any of his restaurants because it wasn’t economically viable.

“I haven’t been able to get my head around how you can do it without losing money,” he said.

“I’m interested to hear who is signing up.”

Mr Hanna, who owns more than half a dozen venues across Darwin and Palmerston – including The Deck Bar, Nirvana and Lazy Susan’s Eating House, said there had been strong objections to Uber Eats from the industry.

“We’ve had the benefit of looking at other cities and they have jumped on board because of a fear of missing out,” he said. “I don’t think it’s going to be great for the local industry in the condition it is now.”

Noodle House owner Nelson Jong said he wouldn’t be signing up either as the Uber cut would force him to put up prices. He said he understood the convenience of the service for consumers but it wasn’t a viable option for him.

Burger joint Good Thanks is considering joining up. The owners, Eddie and Alex James, said they considered providing a delivery service previously.

“We’re going to trial it because there’s no lock-in contract,” Alex said.

“It will be interesting to see how it works up here.”