Toronto restaurant is now delivering to parts of the city where app orders won't go
Food delivery apps are coming in clutch right now, but what happens when your favourite restaurant is out of your delivery zone?
For fans of the combos at Wilson's Haus of Lechon, good news: you don't have to live anywhere near Toronto's Little Manila neighbourhood to grab a combo from this family-run Filipino joint.
The restaurant on Wilson Avenue specializing in roasted pig and BBQ is now doing its own delivery, travelling as far as Brampton, Mississauga, and Durham as coronavirus-induced quarantine keeps global mobility at a standstill.
"A lot of our customers are from out of the city," says Jaeybee Martinito, whose parents run the restaurant. "They used to drive to us."
While Wilson's Haus of Lechon is already available on Uber Eats and Foodora, Martinito says the apps' ranges don't cover all their customer base, especially in neighbourhoods to the east like Scarborough and Markham.
Since last week, Martinito has been delivering to areas across the GTA herself, announcing which neighbourhoods exactly over social media.
Obviously no one's ordering a full suckling pig these days, given there's nothing celebratory about legally-enforced social isolation.
But those who want to order some lechon baboy or roasted belly can text Jaeybee's personal cell directly, and she'll personally do a contactless drop-off at their homes when she's in the area.
There's a delivery minimum of $50, and payments can be done over e-transfer, or if necessary, cash in exact change handed over in a ziplock bag.
The result is Martinito driving around from morning until night, which is especially tough since it's mostly a one-person show.
Wilson's Haus of Lechon is one of the only Filipino restaurants that's remained open at Bathurst and Wilson, and Martinito's parents have stayed behind in the kitchen to handle the food delivery app orders. That being said, the extra orders have helped.
"Little Manila is quiet now," she says. "But Filipinos get hungry."
Hector Vasquez
