Bru Burger, Nesso, Livery to your door? Cunningham launching new service for downtown Indy
Those dwelling in downtown Indianapolis and fancying meals from one or two or more Cunningham Restaurant Group concepts will soon be able to order for delivery.
The Indianapolis-based restaurant group is preparing to offer select menu items from across its portfolio via its ghost kitchen called CRG Delivery.
Bru Burger, Nesso Italian and more
That could mean a burger from Bru Burger Bar, pasta from Nesso Italian Kitchen, and/or soups from Cafe 251 with a single order. Even empanadas from the Latin American-inspired Livery, which landed on Yelp’s list of top 100 restaurants in the nation for 2023, might be among the curated items.
There will be no on-premise dining, though.
“We’re looking to pull some of the best recipes from our concepts and use those in this setup,” said Carissa Newton, director of marketing for the restaurant group. “When you go to CRG Delivery, you're basically going to see all these different dishes; but you're going to see, that this one came from Bru; this one's from Union 50; this one's from Mesh.”
CRG Delivery is expected to launch this fall, operating out of the old Gibson Co. Building, 433 N. Capitol St. to provide the taste of Cunningham.
That space had housed Sahm’s Tavern, which failed to reopen after a temporary closure at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Dishes prepared and served from the kitchen will be delivered to downtown homes and offices.
Cunningham Restaurant Group has more than a dozen restaurant concepts in Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, including Boulder Creek, Stone Creek Dining Co.; Provision and the upcoming Theo’s Italian in Plainfield and The Bemberg private club in Indianapolis.
CRG is using the tech of ClusterTruck, a delivery-only restaurant that launched in downtown Indy in 2016 before expanding to other locations in the Indianapolis area and out of state.
ClusterTruck, which delivers, at no additional cost, cooked-to-order pizza, burgers, salads and salmon to addresses within a six-minute radius, recently launched its Empower Delivery business to license the technology to allow restaurants to host their own delivery services.
The system also allows for group orders, with individuals able to add their request from a different device.
ClusterTruck has highlighted some of Cunningham's dishes in the past, including the Chicken White Bean Chili currently on its menu. Bru Burger is the only Cunningham brand that has delivery out of its restaurants, but that's only with three towns – Lafayette, South Bend and Evansville – and through a partnership with DoorDash.
“People are really getting used to that model of being able to take food away and have it at home. I think there is still an attraction for delivery, which is why we're exploring the delivery kitchen concept,” Newton said.
CRG Delivery might also allow for pickup, Newton said.
Unlike the 10%-15% markups found on third-party delivery platforms, the CRG Delivery prices are expected to be not much higher than those at the traditional restaurants. There will be a delivery fee, and customers are expected to tip drivers, who will be contracted with CRG.
“The difference between this and our participation in any third-party marketplace is that we have control over our own brands. And we have control over the drivers and the delivery experience,” Newton said. “One of the reasons why we've been so hesitant to just go gangbusters on jumping into any third-party delivery is that once you partner with a third-party service, you're handing off your customer experience; and that's everything to us.”
Contact IndyStar reporter Cheryl V. Jackson at cheryl.jackson@indystar.com or 317-444-6264. Follow her on Twitter:@cherylvjackson.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indianapolis food delivery gets a boost with new ghost kitchen
