My $5.99 Too Good To Go (TGTG) special from Yummy BBQ Kitchen.
Too Good To Go (TGTG) is an app that matches up restaurants looking to get rid of leftover food at the end of the day and consumers looking to score a bargain. You pay in advance for a mystery box—the most common price seems to be $5.99 including tax—and pick it up in a narrow window of time.
The Bay Area Eats group on Facebook has lots of posts from happy people who ordered through TGTG. I will join them with the box I picked up at Yummy BBQ Kitchen in Chinatown, a place I’ve visited previously with good smoked duck and friendly service. My box had no duck but it did include generous amounts of sweet and sour chicken and a chicken/mushroom/tofu combo over fried rice. It’s easily enough for two meals.
Larger restaurants may have arrangements with food banks, but that requires a team of dedicated people to collect the food and then distribute it while it’s still viable. TGTG eliminates this hurdle by making the consumer do the legwork. Some restaurants have been criticized on the FB group for measly portions, but most seem to realize this is a smart way to attract new customers who will come back at regular prices if they like the food.
I had assumed TGTG was a Bay Area phenomenon—another version of creative takeout that emerged during the pandemic—but in fact it is an international movement based in Denmark. The website has quite a bit of information and some lofty goals for 2020; in other words it hasn’t been updated in a while. But that’s okay because the basic concept seems to run on its own. TGTG was incorporated as a B Corp in the US in 2020 and is now available in New York, Boston, Jersey City and Washington DC as well as San Francisco with more cities planned.
If you are in one of the target cities, or if you want to get on the list so you are notified when TGTG comes to your area, you should download the app (it’s free, for iOS and Google Play) and set up an account. Good food for cheap while you fight food waste… what’s not to like?
That is a great idea. I would order from that service. I like a surprise. This is not something for picky eaters.
I have little patience for picky eaters.