Students To Deliver Late Eats

Food from two of Harvard students’ favorite late-night restaurants, Pinocchio’s Pizza and Subs and Felipe’s Taqueria, will be available for delivery to the Quad starting Sunday night thanks to the launch of the student-run Crimsonfood.com.

The service will be run initially by President and Business Manager of Crimsonfood.com Alex Arapoglou ’06 and six of his friends who are all Harvard undergraduates. Since the restaurants themselves don’t deliver, Crimsonfood.com will be the sole provider of delivery service for both restaurants.

“This service is something that can really make an impact and substantially improve life on campus,” said Arapoglou, an economics concentrator in Leverett House.

Hungry students must place their orders online. The service does not require a minimum order. It charges a $1.50 delivery fee for all orders under $7.50 and a 20 percent fee for more expensive ones, according to the website. Crimsonfood.com boasts a delivery target between 15 and 40 minutes after the order is placed, although they don’t guarantee it.

With the authorization of the Dean of the College’s office, the company will be allowed to deliver directly to students’ dorm rooms, which makes it unique in comparison to other local order-in restaurants.

Operating Sunday through Wednesday nights from 10 p.m. through each restaurant’s closing, the service aims to meet undergraduates’ needs for late-night food, Arapoglou said.

Arapoglou said the idea came from a simple observation. “We love the food [at these restaurants], everyone else seems to as well,” he said “But countless times during the winter, it was just too cold, or we were too tired.”

This motivated him and his friends to conduct a survey more than a month ago to gauge interest in a delivery service. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, impelling them to move forward with plans.

Arapoglou raised the money for the company from weekly corporate sponsors like Citizens Bank and from the seven friends themselves.

The reason for initially offering delivery only in the Quad stemmed from Arapoglou’s desire to “focus on one market, work out glitches and start out small.” But he stressed that if business proves to be good, the service will expand to the entire campus.

If they were to expand, Arapoglou said he hoped to employ students beyond his friends to act as couriers, adding that offering jobs to undergraduates is part of Crimsonfood.com’s purpose.

In line with similar nationwide services, like campusfood.com and Diningin.com, the entire ordering process is carried out online. But Arapoglou stressed the differences between his service and these nationwide companies. “These other services have a minimum asking price, will never take under an hour and won’t bring the food to your door,” Arapoglou said.

“I think it’s an A+ idea. It’s going to go far,” Elizabeth S. Berylson ’08 said. “It’s totally worth the extra money, especially in the cold.”