Cunningham Restaurant Group opens Delivery Kitchen featuring Livery, BRU Burger and more
You can now get food from several of Indianapolis' best-known restaurants delivered straight to your door — though you won't see a DoorDash or Uber Eats sticker on the car.
Cunningham Restaurant Group opened its new CRG Delivery Kitchen at 433 N. Capitol Ave. on Monday. The kitchen, which is open every day from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., features food from CRG eateries like Livery, BRU Burger Bar and Union 50, plus a handful of new dishes designed just for takeout.
“We recognize our guests enjoy the convenience of delivery and are excited to bring this offering to the Indianapolis downtown area,” CRG CEO Mike Cunningham said in a news release.
While CRG partnered with DoorDash during part of the COVID-19 pandemic, its food has not been available for delivery otherwise.
The concept behind CRG Delivery Kitchen mirrors the idea behind ClusterTruck, a meal delivery service that started eight years ago, when UberEats and Door Dash were in their infancy. ClusterTruck, which bills itself as America's First Delivery Only kitchen, has now expanded to Columbus, Ohio and Kansas City.ClusterTruck president and CEO Janet Monroe said the delivery-only restaurant welcomes competition from CRG.
"We view the entrance of CRG Delivery Kitchen as a testament to the vibrant and growing demand for high-quality, delivery-only food services," Monroe said in a statement. "There is ample room for growth and plenty of opportunities for multiple operators to succeed in meeting the diverse needs of our community."
While ClusterTruck and CRG will be operating on much of the same turf, the two have worked together before. Mike Cunningham is a partner and investor in ClusterTruck, which currently features food from Stone Creek Dining on its menu.
What's on the menu at CRG Delivery Kitchen?
There are plenty of familiar names on Delivery Kitchen's menu. Tavern at the Point, BRU Burger Bar and Livery feature the most dishes, with a handful of items from Modita, Union 50, Mesh and others.
The menu also includes new options like the Livery-inspired chicken tinga burrito and a line of pizzas. There is a kids' menu featuring burgers, chicken tenders and grilled cheese from Stone Creek Dining Company.For now, fans of Nesso, Vida, Boulder Creek Dining Company, Charbonos, Provision and Commission Row will have to make the trip to these restaurants, as none of their dishes appears on Delivery Kitchen's menu.
Where can I get CRG Delivery?
Delivery Kitchen is servicing a section of downtown Indianapolis loosely bordered by 30th Street, Interstate-70 West, State Avenue and the White River. You can refer to the website's map to see if your location is eligible for delivery. Those outside the delivery range can pick up orders at Delivery Kitchen's Capitol Avenue location, which has limited seating for dining in.
Orders come with a typical restaurant sales tax of around 9%, plus a $2.00 fee for delivery. Depending on the size of your order, the $2 fee can be substantially less than the fees incurred by third-party food delivery services, which generally add a 10-15% markup.
CRG Delivery Kitchen uses software from Indianapolis-based Empower Delivery, which allows diners in a group to order and pay individually for meals that arrive at the same time to the desired location. Empower Delivery was developed in 2022 in part by Chris Baggott and Dan McFadden, co-founders of Indianapolis ghost kitchen and delivery service ClusterTruck. The software allows vendors like ClusterTruck and Delivery Kitchen to prepare food so it finishes cooking just before a driver collects it, maximizing freshness for the customer.
Contact dining reporter Bradley Hohulin at bhohulin@gannett.com. You can follow him on Twitter/X @BradleyHohulin.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: CRG Delivery Kitchen to bring Livery, BRU Burger and more to your door
