Getting takeout may be more expensive than cooking, but it's certainly easier, and Seamless helps streamline the process even further. Gone are the days of calling in an order, hoping the employee heard you correctly, collecting enough loose change to pay the deliveryman and patiently waiting for your food to arrive.
Seamless includes a variety of useful features for the hungry foodie. You can pay for your meal by credit card or gift card, tip included, peruse items on an interactive menu and even browse for new locations by type of cuisine or neighborhood â€" all online or from your smartphone.
Whether you're looking to get the most out of your online ordering experience or just want to try out some quirky new ways to use this online service, here are six tips and tricks for your best at-home dining experience with Seamless.
1. Avoid the lines at popular places.
Image: Flickr, Matt Biddulph
Seamless isn't just for delivery â€" you can also use the service for restaurant pickup. Say your favorite lunch time spot is always full just when you start to get hungry. Use Seamless.com or the app to place your order ahead of time. By the time you reach the front of the line, your food should be ready.
2. Use a credit card at a cash-only restaurant.
As online purchases and banking become more prominent, it's no surprise consumers are exchanging less cash. The only problem? Some restaurants still take cash only, which can be the one thing standing between you and delicious tacos. With Seamless you can pay for any meal with a credit card, even if the location is cash only and the order is pickup.
3. Put the special instructions box to good use.
Sometimes people forget restaurant cooks and servers are people, too. They work long hours preparing delicious food for patrons, the same work you're avoiding by ordering from them. Yes, the Seamless "special instructions" field is usually meant for preparation or delivery directions, but sometimes it's nice to leave a little note. It could be something as simple as a thank you, a friendly greeting or a positive review from a previous dining experience. Who knows? The restaurant might show its appreciation by throwing in an extra side of sour cream.
4. Order food before you get home.
Image: Flickr, Mark Turnauckas
The whole reason to order in is to have a warm, delicious plate of food prepared by someone else at the end of a long, hard day. Waiting an hour for your meal to arrive, however, is almost as bad as cooking the food yourself. Save yourself the waiting time by ordering before you get onto the highway or the subway. With the Seamless app you can order on-the-go for both delivery and pickup, plus get a confirmation on your order. You can also schedule a delivery, so if you arrive home at exactly 8 p.m. every night, you can slurp your lo mein promptly at 8:05.
5. Order faster with saved menu selections.
In the mood for your typical spinach-anchovies-BBQ sauce pie from your local pizzeria? Don't waste time scrolling through the toppings or typing everything into the special instructions box. Seamless lets you save your favorite orders for faster ordering. Even if you didn't save an order, go into your order history to re-order a specific meal from there.
6. Forget the flowers; send your friends food.
A bouquet of flowers is a lovely gesture, but it can get pretty expensive. Why not send some delicious food from her favorite corner cafe? As long as you remember to put the right address and phone number, you can use Seamless to feed the important people in your life. Use it if you know somebody who could use a warm meal, is craving some brownies or just needs a surprise treat to brighten his day. (Just make sure he's home for delivery, first.)
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Mashable composite: Flickr, Michael Verhoef; Seamless
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