To help returning office workers tap back into their daily routine with some pizza, subs and all the fusions of New York’s lunch scene, Zuul has opened a virtual food hall.
Zuul, a New York-based ghost kitchen operator, announced that the project dubbed Zuul Market does a lot of novel delivery operations, but the key point for office buildings is the order batching. Orders from the facility can be batched and delivered to specific drop points in an office or residential building.
That reduced the number of delivery drivers out on the road and means everyone who ordered lunch gets it at the same time—nobody wants to be the person waiting on their food while everyone else eats.
The market features some New York hotspots like Junzi Kitchen, Naya Express, Sarge’s Deli and Stone Bridge Pizza & Salad. Each bring a curated menu to the marketplace with food that can be executed in a small kitchen and travels well for delivery orders. It also features some menu items that Zuul helped dream up. For instance, Stone Bridge created Revival Sandwich Co. to boost the many sandwich options that can get overlooked in a delivery experience.
“As a restaurant owner, time is in short supply to handle just our existing brand, so creating a new one for our sandwiches seemed like a monumental undertaking,” said Enrique Mendez, owner of Stone Bridge Pizza. “With Zuul Market and the support of Zuul’s team, we were able go from concept to launch very quickly with immediate results.”
The market also caters to shoulder and snacking hours with an internally operated brand Zuul is calling Snack Committee. In essence, it replaces that bodega snack run with snacks, sweet pick-me-ups and beverages with a delivery.
Certainly, with offices still navigating the pandemic and how to return to pre-pandemic levels (if they ever do) it’s going to be an interesting test of the market. Even if orders remain low, an outlet like this might let restaurants locate and serve into big business districts without having their own real estate in the shadow of corporate America.
