Facebook Gets Hungry, Lets Users Order Food

Giving people one less reason to leave its platform, Facebook added a food-ordering feature on Friday.

To do so, the tech titan has partnered with a number of takeout services -- includingEatStreet, Delivery.com, DoorDash, and ChowNow -- along with a slew of restaurants, such as Jack in the Box, Five Guys, Papa John’s and Panera.

Alex Himel, vice president, local at Facebook, said the move was a logical next step for the social network.

“People already go to Facebook to figure out what to eat by reading about nearby restaurants, and seeing what their friends say about them,” he notes in a new blog post.

Along with their desktop computers, U.S. Facebook users can now find the feature on their iOS and Android mobile devices.

Within the Explore menu, they will now find an “Order Food” section featuring lists of local restaurants. There, they can browse food options and then select “Start Order” when they’re ready.

People will still need to sign up with those delivery services that have existing relationships with their restaurants of choice.   

Leading up to Friday’s launch, Himel said he and his team had been testing the food-delivery feature since last year.

Additional restaurant partners include Wingstop, TGI Friday’s, Denny’s, El Pollo Loco, Chipotle and Jimmy John’s.

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