MealPal, the subscription lunch startup from the founder of ClassPass, has expanded to Chicago to help you skip long lunch lines, and maybe even save a few bucks.
MealPal, which just rebranded from MealPass, gives people lunch options from restaurants across the city for $119 a month. The startup launched eight months ago and is also in New York, San Francisco, Boston, DC and Miami.
Using the MealPal website or app, users reserve their meal by 9:30am, select a time to pick up their lunch, and they can skip the line when they arrive to get their food. MealPal offers subscription plans for up to 20 meals a week, which--at $119 per month--works out to just under $6 a meal.
“We’re thrilled to be launching MealPal today in Chicago, a city with a distinct and vibrant food culture,” MealPal Co-Founder Mary Biggins said in a statement. “No longer will Chicagoans find themselves stuck in long lines or spending beyond their means. They can now actually experience and enjoy their city’s wide selection of culinary options.” Biggins is also the co-founder of ClassPass, a subscription workout service that let's you attend multiple gyms and fitness studios for one flat rate per month.
Along with the news of the rebrand and expansion into Chicago, MealPal also announced a new Tinder-like feature that lets you swipe "love it" or "hate it" on different ingredients to see recommended meal options you're more likely to enjoy. By selecting the ingredients a user likes, MealPal can "make reserving lunch easier and more personalized," the company says.
MealPal says it currently works with more than 50 restaurants in Chicago, and over 1,000 across the US. Its users have ordered over 500,000 meals in its six cities.
MealPal isn't for the person who only occasionally eats out for lunch, obviously. But for those who make a daily habit of ordering lunch at a restaurant, $6/per day for lunch could be a serious cost saver.
MealPal also announced Monday it has expanded to Washington DC.
