Take Out Today Inc. dispatcher Josiah Porter calls a restaurant to place an order from the company’s office in Bend. (Andy Tullis/Bulletin photo)

When Phillip Geiger took over a failing restaurant delivery service in Bend in 2003, he communicated with his drivers by walkie-talkie because not everyone had a cell phone. Geiger added an app-based ordering system more than a year ago, but his business, Take Out Today Inc. still uses live dispatchers.

He hopes that personal touch will help him survive competition from Uber Eats, which launched in Bend on June 14.

“We will fix orders,” Geiger said. “We’ll lose money on someone today to try to make ’em happy.”

Uber’s arrival in Central Oregon in May 2017 sparked protests from established taxi companies, but the field of food delivery couriers is much smaller. Geiger said he’s had several competitors over the years, but Uber is the most formidable. Uber said it had 30 restaurants signed up for its launch, and some of Geiger’s clients were among them.

Both services argue that they help restaurants generate orders they wouldn’t get otherwise. In exchange, restaurants give the delivery services a cut of each order. Take Out Today takes 25 percent. Uber Eats would not disclose its cut, but one local restaurant owner said it’s 30 percent.

Customers pay an additional fee for the delivery. Take Out Today charges $5.95. Uber Eats’ “booking fee” is $4.99. Geiger said he gives the entire delivery fee to drivers. Uber Eats pays drivers primarily based on time and distance of the trip, spokesman Nathan Hambley said.

He pointed to a company web page for further explanation but did not disclose the mileage rate that drivers are paid in Bend.

Jeff Parshall, co-owner of the Longboard Louie’s in east Bend, has used Take Out Today for the east location since 2007, and when Uber Eats came around offering to waive its up-front fees, he decided to add that service, as well.

“It’s mostly just trying to evolve with the times,” he said.

Customers using Take Out Today tend to place larger orders, Parshall said, but Uber Eats is a more streamlined service. Through the app, Longboard Louie’s can limit its menu, remove items that have run out, or delay delivery service when the restaurant is busy, he said.

A lot of restaurant managers prefer a phone call, Geiger said, but he’s trying to keep up with the times. He’d started trying to create his own online ordering system when he came across DeliverLogic, software used by dozens of food couriers and restaurant chains across the country. Online ordering boosted Take Out Today’s business from about 80 orders per day to 150 orders per day, Geiger said, and he’s having trouble finding enough drivers to keep up with demand.

“I can’t imagine a business model that depends on people just showing up,” he said, referring to Uber’s driver pool.

Uber Eats delayed starting service in Bend because of a lack of available drivers, Parshall said. By the week of the launch, however, Hambley said Uber Eats expected to have 100 couriers available. The prerequisites to driving for Uber Eats are different than for carrying passengers. The minimum age is 18, and older, two-door vehicles can be used, Hambley said.

Not every restaurant in Bend took on Uber Eats. Noi Thai Cuisine General Manager Wendi Kissler said the restaurant decided to pass because it receives so much delivery business through Take Out Today. And adding Uber Eats would’ve required another touchscreen terminal in the kitchen for receiving orders, where Eat24, which is owned by Grubhub, already has one, she said.

Eat24 isn’t offering delivery in Bend, but it aggregates restaurants taking orders that customers can pick up.

Kissler and Parshall said delivery service brings them additional business without taking on the cost of insurance or personnel.

But there is a downside, Parshall said, and that is the freshness of the food is in the hands of the delivery service.

— Reporter: kmclaughlin@bendbulletin.com, 541-617-7860