Amidst hunger pangs and wiping away drool, we’ve hunted down everything you need to know about ordering food in the Netherlands.
How do you order food in the Netherlands? It’s a very urgent question. There are more and more evenings where the thought of crossing the street to the nearest Albert Heijn seems like all too much.
Getting food delivered is definitely a treat: it doesn’t help with the plastic problem in the Netherlands, nor does it lower the food bill — but some evenings, there’s just nothing else that will make you feel quite as cosy and luxurious as having the perfect meal delivered right to your doorstep.
READ MORE | Online grocery shopping: a guide to Dutch grocery delivery services
An app, or direct?
There are two main ways of ordering food in the Netherlands: using one of the three main apps (Deliveroo, Thuisbezorgd, or UberEats), or getting a restaurant to deliver to you directly.
If you’re highly partial to one place in particular maybe check if they have their own delivery system. Usually, this will ensure the delivery person gets reasonably paid.
Deliveroo
Our score: 5/5
It’s blue, it’s Deliveroo! In my opinion, Deliveroo is the best all-around service for ordering food in the Netherlands. It has its fair share of junk food, but it also has the healthier and fresher-tasting options that UberEats specialises in. So whatever you’re craving, Deliveroo will probably be able to offer you something.
Furthermore, the app is clean, the tracking system is easy to use and very clear, and there are enough filters to be able to find exactly what you want.
At the top of the app, there are about six basic cuisine options: pizza, sushi, burgers — you get the idea. But that’s not the only filtering system: there’s also the search option at the top, which allows you to add dietary preferences and suchlike.
It reminds you what your last order was near the top of the page — which is helpful if, like me, you’re a creature of habit. There are also featured restaurants and daily deals, with free delivery or a percentage discount on your order.
You also have the option to tip your deliverer before they arrive at your address (in case you want to give them a bit of extra oomph on the way!)
Thuisbezorgd
Our score: 3.5/5
Thuisbezord is honestly my least favourite app, but on the plus side, it is orange, so you can feel very patriotic as you order your takeaway. 🇳🇱 It does generally have good food options, about equivalent to those that Deliveroo has.
If you’re craving good, old-fashioned comfort food like burgers, pizza, Chinese food or Surinamese, then this is a good app: that seems to be what is mainly available (at least in my area).
There are a couple of flaws with the app layout: you have to scroll sideways for a long time to find the dietary preference or food-type choice, and the font doesn’t help the general clunkiness of the app. But, it does have a wide offering of restaurants, and the general features are there: you can order food and track it till it arrives at your door.
Ordering food in the Netherlands: UberEats
Our score: 4/5
In contrast to Deliveroo and Thuisbezorgd, UberEats often has slightly more expensive restaurants available for you to choose from. It also often has exclusive agreements with some restaurants: for example SLA, the salad cafe, and Maoz, the falafel bar, only deliver through UberEats.
It has a great tracking system, like the other two apps, so you can watch your food approach and get suitably excited. In contrast to Deliveroo, you tip the person who delivers your food after they have done so, which is more in line with how tipping works in other countries.
The app also has a clean design and is very easy to navigate. I love that it quickly figures out your diet preferences and suggests new restaurants based on that, so it’s a great app if you want to discover new food in your area.
An individual restaurant’s food delivery system
Some well known, or perhaps just fiercely independent restaurants will decide to deliver themselves. This means that they’ll pay their own staff to do the delivery. You can order from them via their website, or just by calling.
Another option is that they will advertise their food on Deliveroo/UberEats/Thuisbezorgd alongside restaurants that don’t deliver their own food. When you choose this independent restaurant’s food in one of the apps, it will be the restaurant staff delivering it to your door, not a freelancer for one of the apps.
Papa John’s, for example, works like this. We can’t really rate this one, as it’s totally variable per restaurant, but it is a nice way to support some more independent businesses.
What’s your go-to choice for getting food delivered in the Netherlands? Tell us in the comments below!
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in October 2019 and was fully updated in May 2022 for your reading pleasure.
Hello, Ailish.
Awesome article!! I really enjoy your article.
All apps for ordering food mentioned by you in this post are marvelous.
This article helped me a lot. Keep writing, and keep sharing.
Thanks for this knowledgeable article.
Let’s order directly from the restaurant in these hard times. Apps take 30% or even more from the order value..give your fav restaurant a call, they might be able to give you a discount if you buy directly from them.
Over the last month, twice I’ve never received my Deliverooo order ( as in the driver took it) and it took a total of 5hr each time to solve it and get my food again 🙂
So I give deliveroo a 1/5
How can i order food to my house
How can i order food