Uber Brought Us This Sandwich in 7 Minutes

Their next step in total world domination.

Today marks Uber’s newest venture into complete world domination: UberEats. Now, instead of simply chauffeuring on command, the black car magnates will also bring you a carefully curated array of eats via bicycle. From 11 AM to 2 PM. Only on weekdays. And available in Chicago, LA, or New York from 40th to 14th Street.

Okay, so there are stipulations, but the boldest claim uttered is that they’ll bring you the goods in ten minutes or less. Relying on speed rather than a wide selection, Uber sends its intrepid bike messengers peddling around the city with coolers already filled with the items, so they can reach their eager eaters in a hurry.

Hungry to test the theory (and mostly hungry for sandwiches), we placed our order at 11 am sharp for the sliced pastrami spiced ribeye from Marc Forgione’s American Cut.

And then we waited, timer at the ready. Just seven minutes later, a friendly messenger named Alim arrived curbside, opened his temperature controlled bags, and confirmed the order. We were his very first clients of the day, naturally.

While they came through without question on their promise, you probably shouldn’t make this your daily lunch routine, as it comes with a healthy dose of standing awkwardly on a street corner. And at $15, the sandwich isn’t cheap. Still, the novelty is compelling, and, quite frankly, so is the pastrami.

Photos by Maxim