Caviar is the Latest Food Delivery App to Hit Dallas

Anyone tech-savvy enough to use a smart phone basically never needs to leave their house again, thanks to the rash of new food delivery apps that have been popping up lately (think Postmates and Favor, not to mention the old standby Eat24). The latest to arrive is Caviar, which launched service in Dallas just this morning.

Caviar was founded in 2012 in San Francisco and has since expanded to serve 16 major cities in the U.S. Six months ago it was acquired by payment processing company Square (AKA the folks responsible for those credit card swipers that attach to phones and tablets). As the name would imply, Caviar attempts to position itself as a "premium" or luxury delivery service, and is partnered with several local restaurants that have never previously offered delivery — think Bob's, Mot Hai Ba, Cane Rosso, Mesa, and Hypnotic Donuts, to name a few.

One thing that sets Caviar apart from the other food delivery services in town is the fact that the app includes professional-grade photos of every single dish that's available, which definitely makes it all too easy to tack on additional items to your order when all you really wanted was a damn breakfast sandwich. The app's interface is also pretty slick and user-friendly. Caviar uses its own fleet of couriers and once an order is placed, the courier's movements can be tracked through the app using GPS (something that fellow delivery apps Postmates and Favor also offer). The app also offers the ability to share a cart between multiple users, making it a viable option for office lunches.

Caviar charges a flat rate of $4.99 for every delivery, which is really a drop in the bucket if you're getting a $50 porterhouse steak from Bob's delivered to your front door. In an attempt to get people hooked on its services, Caviar offers the first hit for free: Each user gets one free delivery to start out. An automatic 18 percent gratuity is tacked on to each order, so there's no need to debate how much you should tip once the courier arrives with your precious pho (or doughnuts, or lobster enchiladas).

It all sounds good in theory, but how will Caviar measure up to the host of delivery services already in town? The app is available now in the iTunes store and the Google Play store if you want to see for yourself.