San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
1. Luke’s Local
Luke Chappell started by selling prepared meals out of a shop on the platform at the Hillsdale Caltrain station in San Mateo. In 2013, he moved his online grocery and meal delivery company to a commissary kitchen, and three years ago opened a permanent brick-and-mortar storefront in Cole Valley. This allowed Chappell to appeal to a wider variety of consumers — those who prefer the convenience of online, as well as those who like an in-person neighborhood market experience. Order: Luke’s smoked chicken salad over baby spinach with green goddess dressing ($11.49). While this was the most modest salad in terms of portion size, it was still hearty. The greens and fennel were super fresh. The roasted sweet potato and cranberries added nice texture and a pop of color. Flavors and seasoning for the salad were perfect (all chicken-centric salads should use smoked chicken). Other items available on the short menu include marinated pork loin with roasted vegetables, Moroccan chickpea tagine, a pearl barley bowl with grilled chicken and a chorizo breakfast burrito.
Packaging: Everything was compostable, which is a huge plus for me, as I’m always concerned at how much waste I accumulate with meal delivery.
Delivery: Luke’s also offers an app for smartphone users that’s easy to navigate. In addition to scheduling next-day delivery, Luke’s also offers same-day delivery. The delivery fee for orders placed via the app is $5.99. Tip seemed to be included, as there was no prompt in the app for tipping. Delivery is available only in San Francisco.
Grade: B+ The quality of the ingredients and expert seasoning earn top marks — also, kudos to having all the packaging, at least for the meal we ordered, be entirely compostable — but the market’s limited menu is a bit of a drawback.