Sinatra’s 1524 Main Street building has landed a tenant. Restaurateur Paul Tsouflidis (Acropolis/Expo Market/Newbury Street) has signed a lease for the space, where he will be running his umbrella business, Crush Hospitality. Along with Crush, Tsouflidis will be operating an entirely new concept from the space – a restaurant delivery program called Delivery 716.
The concept behind Delivery 716 is new to Buffalo, though others have attempted to fulfill the service. Delivery 716 will handle take-out orders for a number of restaurants within a certain radius to the Main Street headquarters. The front 1524 Main Street will essentially become a dispatch center, with receptionists and drivers who will take care of the entire delivery operation for myriad restaurants, including, to start (Phase 1), Taste of Siam, Newbury Street, Acropolis, and all of the restaurants at Expo Market. Tsouflidis is also talking to a number of restaurants that have expressed interest in joining the program when Phase 2 gets underway. At that point, Tsouflidis believes that Delivery 716 will be servicing 25 restaurants, which don’t presently offer delivery.
“I want Delivery 716 to accommodate restaurant owners who don’t want to deal with the hassles of delivery,” said Tsouflidis. “We will take care of the drivers, the insurance, the ordering, and everything else that goes along with it. We will have a website set up featuring all of the menus. We will take the orders, place the orders, and GPS will allow the customers to track their deliveries right to their front doors. I’ve seen this delivery model work on the West Coast and in Florida. We will be different from those models in a number of ways, including the way we pay the restaurants. Our drivers will pay the restaurants (via credit card) on the spot, so they won’t have to wait a certain time period to get their money. In return, the restaurants will pay a nominal fee to sign up with Delivery 716, and the customer will pay a service charge of $2.50 per order. Delivery 716 opens up a world of food options for people who are at home, or at their offices, while making it practical and economical for restaurants to add the delivery option to their offerings.”
Delivery 716 is expected to launch on April 1. At that time, BRO will test out the service and give a detailed account regarding the experience. Restaurants interested in learning more about the delivery program can email matt@crushhospitality.com.