How far does Uber Eats deliver? You might be asking yourself this question if you’re trying to order food with Uber Eats, but want to order from a restaurant that isn’t near you.
Another situation might be if you’re working as an Uber Eats driver. You might be wondering how far Uber Eats will send you for your deliveries.
So how far does Uber Eats deliver? The short answer is that, in general, most Uber Eats orders are fairly short – within a few miles of the restaurant. However, Uber Eats does not have a hard limit on how far away they will deliver. So long as there are drivers willing to accept the order, you can seemingly order from any restaurant in your city. I know that I’ve ordered from restaurants that are 10 or more miles away. It can take longer if you order from a restaurant that’s far away from you, but it can be done.
In this post, we’ll give a detailed answer to the question, how far does Uber Eats deliver, looking at it from the point of view of the customer and the driver.
How Far Does Uber Eats Deliver If You’re A Customer?
As mentioned, Uber Eats does not appear to set a hard limit on how far it’ll deliver. If you have a craving for a particular restaurant, you can likely order from it, even if the restaurant isn’t near you.
That being said, whether you can order from a particular restaurant depends on two factors: (1) whether there are drivers in the area willing to travel that far; and (2) whether the restaurant accepts orders from customers that aren’t nearby.
The first factor, of course, is based on the available Uber Eats drivers. If there are no drivers in the area, the app will tell you that there are no drivers available and you won’t be able to order from that restaurant. If there are drivers available, you’ll be able to place an order, but you still may have to wait a while to get your order since whether an order gets delivered on time depends on whether drivers will accept the order.
One thing to remember is that if you’re far away from the restaurant and aren’t giving a large tip, it might not be worthwhile for the driver to take your delivery request. One good thing is that Uber Eats will give you an estimate of how long it’ll take to get your order, so you can make a decision about whether the wait is worth it to you.
Second, while I’m not 100% sure about this, I believe that restaurants can set their distance preferences. This makes sense. Restaurants want to make sure that their food gets delivered on time and is fresh. If the distance is too far, that can impact the food quality and reflect poorly on the restaurant. Accordingly, some restaurants limit their delivery distance to keep more control over their food quality.
For example, here is a restaurant about 15 miles from my house. As you can see, it lists it as too far away for me to order from.
How Far Does Uber Eats Deliver If You’re A Driver?
As with customers ordering with Uber Eats, as a driver, there is no set limit on how far Uber Eats might ask you to deliver an order.
That being said, there is a difference depending on whether you are doing Uber Eats in a car or on a bike. If you’re in a car, then it doesn’t seem that there is a limit on how far your orders could go. On a bike, I’ve found that Uber Eats tends to limit your distances to more manageable amounts – usually within 5 miles or so.
Of course, whether you want to accept an order that’s traveling a long distance is up to you. Your acceptance rate on Uber Eats does not matter and if you want to make the most money you can with Uber Eats, you need to be strategic about the orders you accept.
Fortunately, Uber Eats does show you where the order is going before you accept it, so you can make an educated decision about whether to accept or reject an order. As a biker, I rarely accept orders going more than 2 miles from me, and the majority of the time, I aim for orders that are within a mile or so of the restaurant.
The only time you might have trouble understanding where your order is going if is you get a stacked order. If you’re in the middle of a delivery, Uber Eats will often send you a delivery request. However, you won’t be able to see the map, but you will be able to see the distances and the intersection that the order is going. If you know your city well, you’ll be able to make an educated decision based on this information.
Final Thoughts
I hope you found this information helpful. After reading this, you should now understand that Uber Eats does not have any set delivery distances – so long as there are drivers and the restaurant accepts the order, you can order from any restaurant, even ones that are far away. However, as a customer, I’d recommend sticking to restaurants closer to you. Your food will arrive more quickly and you’ll make drivers happier.
If you’re a driver, be aware of how far the order is going. Even high-paying orders might not be worth it if they take you far from the city center or take a long time to complete. I prefer doing smaller orders that I can complete quickly, rather than long orders that pay a lot.
For information about how far other food delivery apps will deliver, feel free to check out the below:
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