The white bubble-wrapped package came hurtling down from the sky like manna from heaven. But it wasn’t manna. And it wasn’t from heaven. It was from Lenny’s Casita, a kosher Pico-Robertson restaurant delivering chipotle honey wings and Wagyu boneless spare ribs – by drone.
As so many people have become accustomed to restaurant delivery services such as Uber Eats, Postmates, DoorDash and the like, the Mexican eatery is taking it one step further by also offering drone delivery.
“Our intention is to modernize and be on the cutting edge of the food delivery business,” Lenny Nourafchan, owner of the restaurant, said. “Drone delivery is an option that we are trying out right now.”
Lenny’s doesn’t actually operate the drones. That is left to a startup called Flyby, which is just getting off the ground (pun intended). Orders are placed via the Flyby app and prepared by the restaurant. The restaurant then hoists the packaged order via a pulley system to its rooftop, where Flyby personnel attach it to a drone and operate the software to assure the food lands at its intended destination.
“Lands” is a key word. The Flyby drones are guided to their locations and hover about 30 feet in the air. A Flyby “pilot” then calls the customer and asks them to go outside and make visual contact with the drone. When the coast is clear, the pilot gives a five second countdown and then remotely releases the securely packaged food to its intended recipient. This ensures that a neighbor, passerby or hungry pet doesn’t nab it.
And it all happens in about 15 minutes. Delivery price? Only 99 cents.
If it sounds too good to be true, there’s a catch. In fact, several.
“We’re just starting out and developing the system,” Jason Lu, the cofounder of Flyby, said. “We realize we have a way to go to give people the restaurant food delivery experience they expect.”
Nourafchan and Lu are quick to point out that the Flyby system is – for now – hampered by a maximum weight that each drone can carry. The weight limitations narrow the choices of Lenny’s menu offerings to just six lightweight items. If a customer orders three items, two drone trips might be required.
The items currently available via drone are: Wagyu boneless spare ribs, chipotle honey wings, churro waffle, chicken chorizo sliders, short rib taquitos and the crunchwrap supreme.
In addition, the area Flyby covers is limited to the immediate Pico-Robertson community. Lu said they need to keep the delivery area small, as the drones must remain within the pilot’s eyesight at all times.
Flyby also offers snacks and sweets separate from Lenny’s food. But for the immediate future, Lenny’s is the only kosher restaurant Flyby works with. The two have a temporary exclusive arrangement to develop the system so more menu items can be delivered to a wider area.
A big part of progress consists of finding more efficient methods to release the packages, which may include using cables or other techniques that Lu isn’t prepared to discuss.
“This is a very competitive business, and we need to keep some of our plans under wraps for the time being,” he said.
And there are other challenges.
“We know people are concerned with privacy,” Lu said. “Some believe a drone flying through their neighborhood could be videotaping them through their windows or in their backyards. The concern is understandable, which is why our drone cameras do not have a memory card, so video or pictures can’t be stored. Further, the cameras, which pilots need to safely drop the packages, are low resolution and unable to take sharp video or pictures anyway.”
Because the Lenny’s Casita and Flyby drone partnership is still in its infancy, the two companies are not promoting the service aggressively. In fact, one could say they are keeping the drone service a bit under the radar.
“At this early stage, we are trying it out and gathering as much customer feedback as we can.” – Lenny Nourafchan
“At this early stage, we are trying it out and gathering as much customer feedback as we can,” Nourafchan said. “It is basically a novelty that we want people to try. Our intention is to improve the system so we can deliver the full range of menu choices people expect and to a wider area.”
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