Food delivery service still offers personal touch

Last week I wrote about some of the biggest new entries to the restaurant delivery scene, and one interviewee mentioned the problem of a lack of personal touch, that is, no one to call when orders go awry. This serves neither the diner nor the restaurant, which fields the angry phone calls when orders are late or missing.

Over in Central Oahu and on the Leeward side, Quick Cuisine is a locally owned and operated delivery service that accepts orders via app and website but still takes old-fashioned phone calls, just as it did when Alex Hendry launched the service from his home in Wahiawa in 2006.

Then 21, he said he was eating too many pizzas and decided there had to be more to home delivery than that, so he set out building his own service, starting by folding and stapling menu booklets in his bedroom.

“The new companies started with tech and got rid of the booklets and don’t take phone calls, but I think they’re still important,” he said. “Some people like to read and plan what they want to order, and 30 percent of our orders are still through the phone.”

Today the service offers 35 restaurant options, with 75 drivers available for delivery from Wahiawa to Kapolei, from restaurants within 15 to 20 minutes of a delivery site.

“We have insulated bags but feel the quality of food deteriorates with more distance,” Hendry said.

The same dispatchers who take the calls are able to field questions when drivers are late, and the more personal model that leads to happy customers has allowed Hendry to expand his business.

“We plan to be in Honolulu by the end of the year.”

Visit quickcuisinehawaii.com.