DoorDash restaurant delivery service comes to Marin County

On Nov. 9, a San Francisco-based on-demand food home delivery service expanded into Marin County.

DoorDash now serves Sausalito, Marin City, Mill Valley, Larkspur, Corte Madera, San Rafael, Kentfield, Strawberry, Tiburon and Fairfax. Users of its website or mobile app can order food from numerous restaurants and grocery stores for a $3.99 delivery fee.

DoorDash is launching delivery from more than 400 restaurants in the area, including The Cheesecake Factory, P.F. Chang’s, Corte Madera-based Il Fornaio and Pacific Catch.

DoorDash operates in 250 U.S. cities, including Northern and Southern California, Seattle, Minneapolis, New York City and Chicago. The startup was founded in 2013 in a dorm room at Stanford University.

One of the company’s goals is to increase sales for local restaurants, said Kristen Webster, DoorDash spokesperson. The company hires its delivery people as independent contractors and charges a percentage commission to each restaurant it partners with.

Due to questionable pricing tactics in the past, DoorDash has revised its policies within the past year, Webster said.

Last year, the company was sued by In-N-Out last fall for using its logo and delivering its food without permission. The company was also sued by Legal Sea Foods, a Boston-based restaurant chain with 33 locations, claiming the startup artificially increased prices, misled customers and used the company’s trademarks without permission.

“We work closely with restaurants and everything is very transparent,” Webster said.

The service will be available from 9 a.m.–11 p.m. For the first two weeks of service in Marin, DoorDash will be offering discounted deliveries for $1 in the new neighborhoods. New users also get $5 off an order with promotional code DDNORTHBAY.

Cynthia Sweeney covers health care, hospitality, residential real estate, education, employment and business insurance. Reach her at Cynthia.Sweeney@busjrnl.com or call 707-521-4259.