Salisbury-based delivery service brings restaurant meals to customers

Now a meal from your favorite restaurant can arrive right at your door thanks to a third-party delivery business.

Salisbury To Go, owned and operated by Richard McNeal, started about two months ago. Through its website, customers send in orders for Salisbury To Go to order and deliver right to their door.  

The company focuses on local restaurants, partnering up to place the menu items directly on its website. However, customers can also order convenience store and grocery store items. Non-partnered restaurants are also available for delivery, but include an additional charge.

McNeal has plenty of experience in the restaurant industry, counting about 20 years  in different positions, from management to working in the kitchen. The idea for a delivery business came a few years ago when he and a friend were watching football and couldn't get any food delivered, he said. 

Before opening Salisbury To Go, he operated a delivery business in North Carolina. When the opportunity came around to sell the business, he and his family decided on Salisbury as their new home. McNeal has Baltimore and Eastern Shore ties, so Salisbury was a good middle ground and offered business opportunity with its proximity to Salisbury University.   

Currently, Salisbury To Go is partnered with Bagel Bakery Café, The Irish Penny Pub & Grill, Lombardi’s Pizza, Manna Korean Cuisine, Roadie Joe’s Bar & Grill, Rosita’s Taqueria Y Restaurant, Sakura Japan Restaurant and Sunny’s Chinese. McNeal said on Monday, June 12, Jake's Wayback Burgers and Fratelli’s Italian Restaurant will be added to the list. Dayton’s Restaurant will also be available on the website soon.  

“Most of what we do is geared toward the locally owned and operated restaurants. It helps the small business owners grow their business and get their word out,” said McNeal.

Van Glaman, Lombardi’s Pizza owner, said while his shop offers delivery, its distance and hours are limited, so Salisbury To Go is helping the restaurant reach a wider customer base.

Irish Penny Pub & Grill owner Jeff Trivits said the restaurant wouldn’t have delivery without Salisbury To Go. The website offered Irish Penny a way to increase business without all the added costs of offering delivery themselves, he said.

Keith Brittingham, owner of Jake's Wayback Burgers in The Centre of Salisbury, said they partnered with the company to be able to offer delivery. The Jake's menu will be available on Salisbury To Go on Monday.

"I'm hoping (delivery) will give the people that don't have time, where we make everything fresh to order for lunch, an opportunity to get lunch," he said. 

Salisbury To Go takes pride in making sure the food is delivered the way the restaurant intended it to be served. The five delivery drivers the company currently staffs keep hot and cold bags in the car to keep the food at the proper temperature. McNeal said the goal is to deliver the food within 10 to 15 minutes of picking it up, so Salisbury To Go assigns the closest driver to the restaurant and customer.

Depending on how busy the restaurant is during the time of order, McNeal said the average wait time is between 35 to 45 minutes from start to finish.    

Salisbury To Go currently delivers to Salisbury, Fruitland and Hebron, but McNeal said he’s seeing a demand for the service to be offered further out on the outskirts of Salisbury.

“The more and more the word gets out, the demand is definitely there,” he said.

The company is working on increasing the area it serves. It’s looking at bringing the service to Delmar soon, and possibly Pocomoke City and Princess Anne in the future.

Customers can order from Salisbury To Go from Mondays through Fridays from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Cash and credit cards are accepted at time of delivery. For partnered restaurants, the delivery fee is $3.95 plus the cost of food. For non-partnered restaurants, customers must pay an additional $3.00 for orders less than $40, or $5.00 for orders more than $40.

Visit Salisburytogo.com for more information.