Cutting Those Apron Strings
SinDelantal tackles the online food ordering and delivery market
With more than 3,000 restaurants in the capital, one is never left wanting for choice when it comes to eating out in Madrid.
However, when you’re having one of those days when you don’t feel like cooking, haven’t done the grocery shopping, or are just plain suffering from palate fatigue and need to eat something different, your only recourse used to be to sift through the small stack of look-alike delivery menus stuffed into your mailbox by the cartero comercial.
But sift no more! SinDelantal — Spanish for “without an apron” — expands your choices beyond Domino’s Pizza, Foster’s Hollywood and Telepizza by showing you all the restaurants that will deliver to your address in an easy-to-read list.
Upon entering SinDelantal’s home page, you’re asked a simple question: ¿Dónde estás? Type in your address (street, number and postal code) then hit Buscar. In less than two seconds, all the restaurants that can deliver to you will appear.
I live downtown so my search resulted in 89 restaurants. Your mileage may vary.
A typical search result for an address downtown
Don’t feel like Japanese or Italian? Uncheck the boxes under food type to eliminate them from your search results instantly. You can further filter the list by payment type (cash, credit, PayPal, or gift certificate), minimum order, and whether the order is for pickup or delivery.
I’m a purist so I always uncheck Ensaladas y Comida Sana and choose Entrega a domicilio. I mean, really, who wants to order a salad online and go pick it up? Don’t answer that. We don’t need to meet.
After you pick your restaurant, you can choose dishes from their menu and add it to your order. Once you begin to add items, SinDelantal shows you the approximate delivery time for your order.
The next step is to enter your details (if you aren’t already registered) and confirm your order. That gets sent out to the restaurant and they send you back a confirmation with a fixed delivery time.
Apart from the obvious convenience and greater selection, SinDelantal fixes some communication barriers for those of us with less than great Spanish speaking skills. Sure, you’ll still have to know some basic Spanish in order to understand the menus and navigate the website, but you’ll be spared from having to actually relay your order over the phone.
About Anna Bitanga
I've been living in Madrid since 2007, married to a madrileño since 2008, and mom to our son since 2011. Tech is my thing. I love salmorejo, matrimonios and cazón adobado. I don't watch football.
Excellent! I just tried this and got my order delivered in 15 minutes and piping hot! I didn't have as many choices as you had in this article (mine showed 15 takeaways) because I don't live too close to the center, but it was more than enough to satisfy my hunger. Will spread the word – thanks!