A year after opening their delivery bags to Little Rock, food delivery service Chef Shuttle has never stopped growing.
If you haven’t heard of or used Chef Shuttle, you are in for a treat. You can get your favorite food from almost any restaurant in central Arkansas delivered straight to your home, office, or party. In about an hour you can eat some tacos and street corn from The Fold without changing into real pants. The true American dream.
Little Rock native, 24-year-old Ryan Herget, bought the company last January and business has been thriving ever since.
“We noticed the need for this type of delivery service in our area, so we purchased it in 2014, and it’s been a whirlwind ever since,” said Herget. “On the first night we were open for business, we made three deliveries, and now we do anywhere from 500 to 600 orders per night.”
In the past year, the company has gone from working with only seven restaurants in central Arkansas to over 200.
The menus range from upscale establishments such as Graffiti’s, 1620 Savoy, YaYa’s, and Cache to casual burger joints, sandwich shops, and bars like The Tavern, Another Round Pub & Grill, and Big Whiskey’s.
Herget said that with business expanding so rapidly, things have gotten crazy at times. When the Razorbacks played Georgia in Little Rock back in October, Herget didn’t anticipate the amount of business they would pull in.
60 drivers ended up stuck all over town in traffic, while muddled tailgaters even had food delivered straight to the War Memorial golf course. For the next Razorback home game, Herget said with the help of a newly formed business development team, they will definitely be prepared.
The next moves will include expanding regions to include Northwest Arkansas, Hot Springs, and eventually other regional metro areas like Dallas, Tulsa, and Springfield.
Growth in central Arkansas is in areas beyond the reach of just food, and are now partnering with Kroger for a floral delivery service complete with chocolates. Eventually Herget wants to get into grocery, dry cleaning, and potential alcohol delivery.
Growth has also brought jobs to Little Rock. The company has also recently moved into a spacious new office in the Riverdale area to keep up with expanding business needs. On a Monday, the dispatch room was buzzing with activity before the noon lunch hour rush. The company is always looking for quality drivers, paying highly competitive wages.
Chef Shuttle has changed the idea of take-out and delivery services in central Arkansas, and it doesn’t look like they’ll be slowing down anytime soon.
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