Popular Brooklyn BBQ restaurant fights back against steep delivery app commissions

Restaurant owners hate 30% commissions that delivery services like DoorDash, Grubhub and Uber Eats charge them for many orders.But now, one very popular New York City spot is fighting back.Morgan’s Brooklyn Barbecue, widely regarded as one of the city’s best places for Texas-style, dry-rub grilling, encourages its customers to put in orders through the restaurant’s own web sites and app – not the big tech services.Morgan’s at 267 Flatbush Ave., a few blocks from the Barclays Center on a corner where Prospect Heights and Park Slope converge, is a pioneer in the trend.

Mathew Glazier, owner of the thriving spot with a cozy rustic interior and bustling sidewalk terrace, said that since he set up a dedicated app six months ago, orders placed directly by customers increased from 5% to 15% of all of Morgan’s deliveries. And he’s shooting for 50% eventually, although he knows that won’t happen overnight.Glazier said delivery app companies wouldn’t budge on the 30% commissions they were charging him.He “tried to negotiate, but I get nowhere even though we are high-volume,” said the restaurateur.Glazier still uses Uber Eats and Grubhub, but recently decided to prioritize taking orders straight from customers.“Although we [previously] took orders on our own site, we doubled down about six months ago to really focus on this,” he said.“We try to increase the percentage of direct orders with e-mail blasts to our customers through a platform we use called owner.com.

We also put messages in bags reminding them they can order from us directly.“When people place orders through our site or the app, the information goes to Uber Eats or DoorDash, which handle deliveries for us,” Glazier explained.“They charge us a $3.99 fee, but it’s much less than 30%.”Asked for comment Tuesday, a Grubhub spokesman said, “Grubhub wants restaurants to succeed no matter what channel they use, because when they win, we win.”Morgan’s is one of the city’s ...