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This is exactly Ritual's (Toronto, Canada) schtick. Order ahead, start walking. Food will be ready when you arrive. There's no reason why you need to stick to c

This is exactly Ritual's (Toronto, Canada) schtick. Order ahead, start walking. Food will be ready when you arrive. There's no reason why you need to stick to coffee. I use Ritual to order from my favourite restaurant in the middle of a tourist attraction. The tourists wait 30+ minutes, and I can stroll up to the counter and grab my lunch and skip the line. Ritual even tracks your location with GPS (if opt-in) and delays your order until the appropriate time. The first time I used it, it was for a cappuccino. I walked into the store just as the barista was doing the art with the milk foam. 10/10 timing.

iamunr 7y ago
Confirmed - at this point if it's not on Ritual (coffee, food, etc) I'm likely not getting it.
timgriffin77 7y ago
You're right, there definitely isn't a need to stick to coffee - but the more we speak to owners, the more we realize how many coffee-specific features we could build to help them. We believe there's a big business supporting coffee specifically, but we'll never rule out expanding into other verticals.
kitcar 7y ago
I believe Ritual actually currently operates in a number of US markets, like Chicago https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/ritual-3 https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/ritual-3
- bb88 7y ago
  It looks like NYC, SF, and Chicago are the big places on their maps. Those seem to be walking cities, though. Not sure how their business would translate to the midwest, where many of the cities are driving cities.
  - strig 7y ago
    Depending on the location, it should probably just tell you driving duration instead of walking.
agentdrtran 7y ago
Ritual is one of the few apps that I really love.
alphast0rm 7y ago
Square's now shuttered Order app [1] also used to offer just in time order preparation [2]: > With the newest version of the app, Square will flip the model so that food will be prepared just in time for the customer arrive, thanks to a new arrival prediction feature. The technology is designed to track users as they approach a store they’ve ordered from and alert it when they’re nearby so an order can be made just in time. > For the technology to work, sellers need to set preparation times for different items on their menu. The app then creates a sort of geofence around the business, and recognizes when a customer is nearby and someone should start on an order. This worked particularly well for me every morning when I'd order a latte, it's great to see more businesses offer similar functionality. [1] https://www.vox.com/2015/3/13/11560210/square-kills-square-order-the-food-pickup-app-that-was-square-wallet https://www.vox.com/2015/3/13/11560210/square-kills-square-o... [2] https://techcrunch.com/2014/10/08/squares-order-app-arrival-prediction/ https://techcrunch.com/2014/10/08/squares-order-app-arrival-...
username444 7y ago
+1 for Ritual. The interface is a little clunky, but the service as a whole works really well. Order ahead, walk in to pick up.

iamunr 7y ago

Confirmed - at this point if it's not on Ritual (coffee, food, etc) I'm likely not getting it.

timgriffin77 7y ago

You're right, there definitely isn't a need to stick to coffee - but the more we speak to owners, the more we realize how many coffee-specific features we could build to help them. We believe there's a big business supporting coffee specifically, but we'll never rule out expanding into other verticals.

kitcar 7y ago

I believe Ritual actually currently operates in a number of US markets, like Chicago https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/ritual-3 https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/ritual-3

bb88 7y ago
It looks like NYC, SF, and Chicago are the big places on their maps. Those seem to be walking cities, though. Not sure how their business would translate to the midwest, where many of the cities are driving cities.
- strig 7y ago
  Depending on the location, it should probably just tell you driving duration instead of walking.

agentdrtran 7y ago

Ritual is one of the few apps that I really love.

alphast0rm 7y ago

Square's now shuttered Order app [1] also used to offer just in time order preparation [2]: > With the newest version of the app, Square will flip the model so that food will be prepared just in time for the customer arrive, thanks to a new arrival prediction feature. The technology is designed to track users as they approach a store they’ve ordered from and alert it when they’re nearby so an order can be made just in time. > For the technology to work, sellers need to set preparation times for different items on their menu. The app then creates a sort of geofence around the business, and recognizes when a customer is nearby and someone should start on an order. This worked particularly well for me every morning when I'd order a latte, it's great to see more businesses offer similar functionality. [1] https://www.vox.com/2015/3/13/11560210/square-kills-square-order-the-food-pickup-app-that-was-square-wallet https://www.vox.com/2015/3/13/11560210/square-kills-square-o... [2] https://techcrunch.com/2014/10/08/squares-order-app-arrival-prediction/ https://techcrunch.com/2014/10/08/squares-order-app-arrival-...

username444 7y ago

+1 for Ritual. The interface is a little clunky, but the service as a whole works really well. Order ahead, walk in to pick up.