I tried MealPal, the monthly lunch subscription service - here's what it was like
I was instructed to log on between 7 pm and 9:30 am before each lunchtime to reserve my food and select a pick-up time.
The Sunday night before the first day, I filtered by location, which narrowed my options down to 10 restaurants within a three-block radius of the Business Insider office. I chose pulled pork sliders from The Hog Pit.
On Monday, I ventured outside to pick up my food, which felt strange since I usually bring my lunch.
I soon arrived at The Hog Pit, a dimly lit BBQ bar on 26th Street. Except for a few men at the bar, it was completely empty. Partnering with MealPal, which is guaranteed to bring lunch customers, probably sounds ideal to restaurants that don't usually get big daytime crowds.
The three sliders came with a side of cole slaw and extra BBQ sauce. The bread was a tad soggy from sitting before I arrived, but otherwise, thumbs up.
On my second day, I decided to go with a healthier option: an Asian sesame grain salad from Just Salad. The best thing (besides the food) about MealPal is that I could skip the lines. All I had to do was tell the cashier my name.
My salad came with a chunk of bread and a tub of Asian sesame dressing.
On the third day, I chose pork shoulder tacos from Tres Carnes. Again, when I picked them up, I skipped the long line, grabbed my bag, and was out the door in under a minute. Unfortunately, the portions looked pretty wimpy.
But on the fourth day, my margherita pizza from Waldy's Woodfire was huge. The delicious 10-inch pie was giant compared to my previous meals. I was stuffed.
Two evenings during the week, I forgot to reserve my lunches and scrambled at the last minute to choose a meal. (The most popular ones sell out if you wait too long to reserve). It sometimes felt weird to be constantly planning the next day's lunch. On my last day, I reserved a chicken and roots bowl from Inday.
But the next day around 10 am, MealPal notified me that Inday was 'unable to serve lunch.' No reason was given.
I decided to go with Stinky Bklyn, an artisan cheese shop, instead. I bought a turkey and dry jack cheese sandwich on focaccia and a bag of BBQ chips. This was my favorite lunch of the week.
Overall, my food was great and the service was convenient. MealPal is a sweet deal if you already pay upwards of $10 for lunch in cities like New York. If you usually go out for lunch, want to explore new restaurants, and enjoy avoiding lines, it's perfect. But there is a limited menu, and if you're on a food budget like me, the price still doesn't beat grocery shopping and bringing your own lunch.
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