Apps For Food On The Go

I'm so happy to find this helpful Starbucks ordering app so I can keep up with my snobby friends when they order their $9 coffee! We've all heard the "I'm a coffee elitist with more money than sense" lady in front of us order her "Skinny Quad Venti Breve Dark Chocolate Cherry Mocha" and thought, "That makes my 'I'll have a big cup of your black coffee' order sound way too simple". The Expresso Pro App is intentionally spelled to imply that it will make the difficult task of ordering a custom cup of joe (excuse me, "Joseph") a snap. Just launch the app, wade through the zillions of options from size, syrups, dairy choices, extra hot, toppings... financing options (seriously, some of these drink combinations might require you to take out a second mortgage to pay for them). Then, just show your iPhone to the Barista (which is Latin for "minimum wage coffee brewer"). Though your order might look like a mixed up element table, your 18 year old "Barista" has been trained to read this new elitist language and deliver you the best, most marked up drink in the history of mankind!

I could just stop after this one! I mean, we're talking the greatest food ever invented...Pizza! It's got it all. Every food group, bread, veggies, dairy, protein of your choice, even fruit if you love pineapple on your canadian bacon like I do! This Pizza Hut Ordering App allows you to walk right into a virtual kitchen and build your own pizza with all your favorite toppings. If you put the wrong item on your pizza, just tilt your iPhone and watch the topping slide off! It also allows you to order Pizza Hut's pasta dishes and customize your own wings... bone in or bone out (I suggest bone in is the only way to eat wings. There's a kind of "caveman" feeling to ripping meat right off the bone!). Anyway, this Pizza Hut App also has a fun little game to play while you're waiting for your pizza. In the game, you become a delivery driver and see how fast you can get the orders out. It's quite an extensive app so make sure you're connected to wifi since it's over 20mb! You'll also need to register online at pizzahut.com to use this app.

I think we all know what to expect from Chipotle... burritos the size of a new born baby! These things are HUGE! And with this handy app, you'll be able to go straight to the front of the line to pick up your order. Chipotle's App is streamlined and easy to use offering all the major items from burritos to their tasty bowls of mixed Mexican munchies, nacho chips, and salsas. As with other food ordering apps, you'll need to register an account to use it. You'll have the option of storing your credit card on file for faster checkout, or just pay when you arrive. Either way, it beats standing in those long lines like new fathers at a hospital nursery window waiting for your new born burrito to arrive!

If you're tastes are a bit more refined, then how about ordering some "Shrimp on the Barbie" from Outback? Actually, you might want to add a few things to the shrimp. Outback's App has all their major menu items and delivers a simple UI to guide you through the take out ordering experience. It even reminded me that I might want to add a drink and silverware to my order. As of now, the only option for payment is at the restaurant which works best for me anyway since I want to make sure everything I ordered is there. The app itself was a bit cumbersome because of a few items that had to be ordered separately. For example, when ordering a steak you get two side items. Rather than being able to select both items at the same time, I had to go through the "add item" for each. Small inconvenience though and the taste of that 8 oz. tenderloin melting in my mouth made me almost forget about it.

Created by the same developer of the Outback App, this Subway App works exactly the same, with one HUGE exception... finding a Subway that participates with this App is ridiculously frustrating! I searched for participating Subways in Ft. Worth, Texas and the App found only one! Then when I began the ordering process, the app told me that Subway couldn't process my order so it gave me the phone number! If I wanted to call the Subway, I wouldn't need this stupid app! Again, I did a search while traveling through East Texas. I had just passed two Subways and could still see one of them from my rear view mirror and it told me the nearest subway was 10.67 miles from where I was! Sorry Jared, I would lose more weight than you ever did if this app was the only way I could order from Subway! Oh well, the app's free so you could always download it to see if your neighborhood Subway is listed. If not, stay away from this one!

Quick note: If I ever woke up and saw that creepy Burger King guy standing over my bed, I'd have to change my sheets! Now, with that out of the way, this app does what it advertises... in Queens, NY!!! Developers promise that they will be adding new locations near me soon. But, as far as I'm concerned... the further that creepy Burger King guy stays away from me the better.

Love this one. While you can't order online, you can find any and every burger joint near you along with their contact number and map. Quick search in a po'dunk little town in West Texas queued up over 20 locations from McDonald's, Burger King, Sonic, Whataburger, to little Mom & Pop Burger Joints. If your blood type is "grease positive" and you're craving a fix, Burger Spot Lite will show the way!

Driving and searching on your iPad is never a good idea unless you're using Speak4It. This free App is extremely handy for searching up nearby restaurants, retailers, theaters, even municipal offices. The UI reacts much like the maps app and one touch of the little microphone in either corner of your iPad brings up a voice recognition device that is in my experience, very accurate (except when I searched for IHOP and it brought up a pogo stick manufacturer... "wink wink"). The great thing about this app is how it integrates the Maps App on your iDevice to provide accurate directions from where you are to where you want to be!

If you're lucky enough (or unlucky enough... depending on your view) to live in N.Y. or San Francisco, City Mint is the go to App for ordering food for delivery. I certainly hope City Mint expands it's service area because it offers delivery from almost any restaurant with no extra charge. Until then, I'll have to wait on this "Coast OR Coast" app to become a "Coast TO Coast" one!

As you may have expected, I had to add one more Pizza Delivery App because after all, you can never eat too much pizza! Order Pizza is a superior little free app that locates every pizzeria that delivers around you. All the big chains to the small pizza pie kitchens are there. After setting up your pin, you'll be able to order pizza for breakfast, lunch and dinner (that's normal, right?) all from different pizza places. Great free app for the pizza lover. You do love pizza... right? I mean, who doesn't? Did I mention it has all the major food groups?