Order a side of philanthropy with that pizza

The perks of food delivery, philanthropy and student jobs combine in EatStreet, an online Tucson delivery service run by UA students that gives back to the Tucson community.

Launched in January of this year, EatStreet is connected with Tucson restaurants like Mama’s Hawaiian Bar-B-Cue, Blackjack Pizza and Eat-A-Pita. The site advertises that Fuku Sushi is joining soon as well.

Users choose a restaurant they want, browse the online menu and order their meal. Upon payment, they choose which charity they’d like to donate 5 percent of their bill to from The Humane Society, Boys and Girls Club of Tucson and Ben’s Bells. Currently, only 10 restaurants in Tucson are connected with EatStreet, but as more students use the site, more companies are bound to start giving back to the community.

EatStreet also offers exclusive deals that can only be used when ordering through the website. For example, Blackjack Pizza recently offered a deal for $1.99 one topping medium pizzas. Beyond that, every time an order is placed, the user earns points known as “Bonus Bites” that can be used to win a variety of prizes.

Michael Bissonnette, an astrophysics and business management freshman, is one of the UA students involved in EatStreet. As an online manager of the site, Bissonnette “hopes to contribute to EatStreet Tucson and to help make it a bigger part of EatStreet’s growing business so that it can better serve his community at the University of Arizona,” he said.

EatStreet has made its website very simple to navigate, from pre-calculating tips to allowing customizable orders. The efficiency and charitable nature of the website make for a unique substitute to eating on campus, especially with the high cost of campus food.

The Papa John’s on campus offers a deal after 4 p.m. of $7.99 for a large pizza. That might be a bargain compared to the usual $3 a slice, but you can get 30 honey fried wontons from Asian Bistro through EatStreet for about the same price.

UA chemistry freshman Kaelyn Garner said, “I use EatStreet a lot during the weekends when I don’t want to walk all the way from Arbol [de la Vida Residence Hall] to the [Student Union Memorial Center]. It’s sometimes a lot cheaper than school food, and I get to help out the community. It’s a great site my friends and I like to use.”

Admittedly, the options are somewhat limited at this point, but considering the kinds of deals you can get, and the fact that you don’t even have to leave your house to order, EatStreet is still worth your time. Plus, giving back to your community doesn’t get any easier than this. More UA students should take advantage of this effortless way to give back at the same time as ordering food.

— Kimberlie Wang is a physiology freshman. She can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu, or on twitter via @WildcatOpinions