A Deal: Too Good to Go Restaurant App

I recently read about Too Good to Go in The Times and gave it a try the last two Sundays at Roman Gourmet. Thumbs up.

Through the app, participating restaurants offer cut-price “surprise” bags or boxes, for pickup at the end of their day, of food that would otherwise go to waste. You don’t get to choose the selections, which can be an obstacle for anyone with dietary restrictions (although I think some requests can be accommodated), but I doubted that Roman could give my wife and me anything we wouldn’t like.

Roman charges $5. Last Sunday, that got us two large slices of ziti stuffed pizza, two gourmet slices (buffalo chicken, eggplant) and four garlic knots. Tonight, when I wanted to test the variety — like, was it going to be ziti stuffed slices and garlic knots every time? — it was a cheesesteak stuffed slice, three gourmet slices different from last week (one artichoke, two spinach), one sausage slice and one plain slice.

Last Sunday, the app listed Roman as sold out by pickup time (8:45-9). Tonight the guy behind the counter said they had extras.

The nearest participants are heavy on pizza, bread and bagels (Roman, Gian Marco, Master Pizza, NYC Bagels); two others, Baker Street Market and Millburn Deli, seem to sell out their surprise bags quickly. I think I saw Yellow Rose Cafe on there, too, last week.

As a way to reduce waste, Too Good to Go is a good way to go, even if my waist can’t afford to make it too much a habit. Hopefully, more nearby restaurants catch on and sign up.

I could never wait until that late at night to eat dinner, that’s just me, but what a great idea for quick lunches for the next day.

Yup, their leftovers became our leftovers.

It's amazing.  Super cheap and helps prevent the wasting of food. 

DaveSchmidt said:

I recently read about Too Good to Go in The Times and gave it a try the last two Sundays at Roman Gourmet. Thumbs up.

Through the app, participating restaurants offer cut-price “surprise” bags or boxes, for pickup at the end of their day, of food that would otherwise go to waste. 

This is what Danny Meyer has been doing through "Second Harvest" (aka, "City Harvest") for decades.  Guess someone figured out how to make this work online.

20 years ago, when my son was living "on the road" for a few years, he was traveling with lots of kids who had been wait staff or bussed tables, and they'd been sickened by how much food they had to throw away every day.  They kept themselves fed in those days by hanging around restaurants at closing time -- and eat like royalty.  In their minds, they were helping to save food from going into the trash.

Not a new idea, but a great one.  Any saved food is a blessing to many.