(NEXSTAR) – As with many of my recent online shopping adventures, it started with Instagram targeted advertising. There was a new app that expanded the service to the area where I live in Los Angeles, and I was able to soar the leftovers from restaurants, grocery stores, cafes and bakeries for a small price.
The business has been operating in European cities for some time, but has recently begun to expand to cities around the United States. At the time of publication, Too Good To Go operated in parts of Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, the DC area, New York, and New York. Jersey, San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Portland, Philadelphia, Providence, Seattle, and some parts of the country. The company’s website states that it plans to expand further in the coming months, but does not specify when and where it will expand. (Too Good To Go did not respond to Nexstar’s request for comment.)
The app is pretty easy to use. When you open it, there are offers from restaurants in your area with different pick-up times and prices. Most of the options I’ve seen in my area are so-called “surprise bags”. This is a combination of items that will remain a mystery until you pick it up.
Still, the price was attractive, especially in Los Angeles, which is expensive. Besides, I have no likes and dislikes.
Too Good To Go sounded too good. So I decided to give it a try.
Attempt 1: Epic fails
The first attempt at Too Good To Go, in a nutshell, didn’t work at all. I found a deal for $ 3.99 from a smoothie spot less than a mile away from my apartment. I paid through the app and was given a pickup window in the evening just before the store closed.
I didn’t know what would happen because it was such a “surprise bag”, but I was curious about what kind of goods the luxury smoothie store had left at the end of the day. The answer was, after all, nothing.
The store employees seemed really confused when I came to pick them up. “No, I’m fine,” he told me, not the other way around, as if I were selling something to him. I explained how the app (probably) works, but he still didn’t fully understand it. I left it empty-handed.
If this failure has a silver backing, Too Good To Go seems ready to handle this situation. To get a refund, you only had to tap the app button once.
Attempt 2: Things are looking up
Without hesitation in looking for cheap food, I decided to try Too Good To Go again. I wasn’t ready to risk a broken heart at a smoothie shop (I mistreated me once when I first moved to LA and accidentally bought a $ 16 smoothie, but that’s not the case It’s a story). I decided to try my luck at the pizzeria and scheduled a pickup window from 8pm to 9pm.
When I arrived at the empty pizzeria, I was a little confused again. But this time it was a happy ending. To explain a little, they started putting together my orders. Each of the four large slices of pizza (one slice counts as a meal) has different toppings such as mushrooms, garlic, and ricotta.
I ended up with four meals for $ 4.99. Don’t look too dirty.
Trial 3: Get the hang of it
In the third trial, I confidently went to a French bakery and was ready for the redemption code. The employee who welcomed me also knew what he was doing this time. She wrote down my code from the app, ran behind the store for a short while, then came back and loaded me with a bag of pastries.
I got all of this for $ 4.99. This is not bad in a city where you can easily pay so much money for one croissant.
This was a bag of food that fascinated me. As Too Good To Go advertises, if this were to be thrown away at the end of the day, it would seem to benefit both sides. It’s cheap food for me and less wasteful for business.
But in my experience so far, flexibility is important. You have to be okay with fixed pickup times, a mysterious assortment, and the possibility that you may occasionally end up with nothing. I’m not going to count on it for my weekly meal plan, but I’m not the kind of person who declines discounts. Or pastries.
The app allows you to buy leftover restaurant food. Is it worth it?
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