Students can now avoid the long lines at restaurants like Chipotle, Dunkin’ Donuts and Panda Express by having orders delivered right to their doorstep through the new food delivery app, Crunchbutton. 

Crunchbutton allows University students to have orders catered from campus restaurants that do not already have delivery services. 

Currently, the free app has ten restaurants available for students to order from, including Chipotle, Panera, Panda Express, Subway, Starbucks, McDonalds, Dunkin’ Donuts, Cravings, Jersey Mike’s and Wendy’s.

But Jacob Lubben, marketing manager for Crunchbutton and senior in LAS and Business, said Crunchbutton is always looking to expand its list of restaurants.

“Kofusion, Chili’s, restaurants off campus, … We’re open to suggestions,” he said of possible future restaurants for the app. “Students of the University can have as much of a say in what restaurants they want to see on Crunchbutton. For now, we are waiting for everyone to get a sense of it and hear about it.”

Abby Butler, marketing intern for Crunchbutton and junior in LAS, said the process is easy and fast for students to use. She said all students need to do is fill in their address, payment information, click on a restaurant, scroll through the menu and press order. 

Butler also said the idea behind the app is something many University students have talked about. 

“People are always checking Yik Yak to see how long the line at Chipotle is,” Butler said. “Now if you don’t want to wait in line, or you live far away in senior land or you’re too busy studying, you can just have delivery service for restaurants that don’t offer delivery service already.”

Lubben also said the app will be helpful for the upcoming season change.

“Especially with winter coming, we can help you,” he said. “It can be a struggle if you’re far away from Green Street, and we go anywhere on campus. Just put in your address, payment information and click your favorite order. Could be as simple as five seconds to order.”

Lubben explained that the app was originally created at Yale by co-founders Judd Rosenblatt, David Klumpp and Devin Smith. The inspiration for the app came about when students at Yale wanted one of the favorite foods available at the University, the Wenzel, delivered to their residences, but the restaurant didn’t offer delivery services. It was then that Rosenblatt, Klumpp and Smith came up with the initial idea. After Crunchbutton became successful at Yale, it expanded to other campuses. 

Crunchbutton is now available at about 10 to 15 campuses including Ohio State, UCLA, Iowa State and more. The app became available to the University in September and is available to both iPhone and Android users. The app’s website also provides the same services the app does.  

Lubben said it is important for people to remember the service is run all by students. Crunchbutton hires student drivers to cater all orders made through the app.

“It’s your friends that are delivering food to you,” he said. 

Janjay Knowlden, delivery driver for Crunchbutton and sophomore in FAA, said the game day commotion and nightlife presence at the University are what keep the app going.

“People are going to want food even more when it can be brought right to their doorstep,” Knowlden said. “My boss, Jake Lubben, described it as a FedEx for food. That describes it perfectly. We are just the delivery middlemen.”

Knowlden said his first day on the job consisted of 15 Chipotle orders with a line starting from outside the restaurant.

“Now I live out by the Champaign Walmart, which allowed me to know of another Chipotle with literally no line. Makes my day a lot easier,” he said. 

Students can save their credit card information in Crunchbutton for each order or pay in cash. A $3 delivery fee is added to every order placed on Crunchbutton. 

Lubben said the app currently receives anywhere from eight to 20 orders a day.

“Right now we have a small but committed fan base,” Lubben said. “Customers are happy with Crunchbutton. Everyone enjoys the service.”

Christine can be reached at [email protected].