Washington, D.C. is full of people who care a lot about their health, but don't always have the time to eat well. Luckily, there are a lot of ways to get healthy food delivered directly to your door. A startup that wants to compete in meal delivery in D.C., beyond just delivering from restaurants, has to offer something extra and claiming to be the healthiest option is a very good way to get that attention. Here's our breakdown of some of the best options.
- How it works: One of the better known, local food startups, Galley offers a varied, seasonal menu for lunch cooked every day. Lunch orders are usually scheduled the night before or the morning of the delivery day/ but dinner can be ordered on the day of their order. And the schedule and map of delivery have both recently expanded, offering more times or delivery and extended coverage in Virginia. Price per meal is $12-$14, delivery included.
- Standout dish: The vegan crabcakes.
- Bonus: Bottles of wine are also available to order.
- How it works: Power Supply uses chefs based out of local communities to make meals. Along with delivery, there is also a network of pickup spots around the area where you can grab the meals, many of which are set at gyms and fitness center. Each meal costs from $9.50 to$15.50, with $4.50 for delivery but free for pickup. The meals aren't sold individually, but as a three or five day recurring subscription.
- Standout dish: The chicken and chorizo paella with brown rice.
- Bonus: Power Supply offers a lot of preference settings, letting you avoid certain ingredients and set up your ideal diet.
- How it works: Plum Relish is built around the idea of bringing healthy food to office workers in particular. Customers, individual or enterprise, pick the days they want lunch delivered. There are three different choices each day, all cold, easy to prepare food. There are gluten-free, vegan and Paleo options. Prices start at $12.
- Standout dish: The teriyaki salmon with roasted peppers and grilled pineapple
- Bonus: If you order for a group you can pick for everybody or set it up for them to pick individually, much easier than trying to figure out everyone's order on your own.
- How it works: PlateJoy describes itself as a "personalized nutrition service." It uses software to design personal menu plans based on individual data. Thanks to a new partnership with Instacart, the ingredients for that menu plan can be delivered on the same day. The point being that the often complex menus it creates based on 50 questions answered by the user can be put together relatively quickly. PlateJoy costs $59 for six months of membership, with the ingredients costing whatever they would in a grocery store plus an average $7 Instacart delivery fee.
- Standout meal: Honey balsamic chicken.
- Bonus: You can hook it up to your FitBit and tie your diet into your exercise plan.
