DENINO’S PIZZERIA & TAVERN (Port Richmond, 524 Port Richmond Ave, Staten Island) — Italian / Pizza. Case study #26. Prices compared between Denino’s own first-party online-ordering menu and the same 524 Port Richmond Ave kitchen’s Uber Eats storefront, both captured the same day. This is the first Staten Island restaurant in the series.
Order a plain Cheese Pie — the thin-crust round that has come out of the same Port Richmond corner since Carlo Denino added pizza to the family tavern in 1951 — from Denino’s own ordering page and it is $19.50. Order the same pie, from the same oven, on Uber Eats and it is $21.45. That is not a delivery fee; it is the menu price itself, and it is exactly 10% higher. Order a $3.50 can of soda and Uber lists it at $3.85 — 10% higher. A $28.50 Garbage Pie: $31.35 — 10% higher. We priced 38 of Denino’s items side by side — two dozen pies, plus appetizers, pasta, a hero, a salad, dessert and drinks — and every single one carried the identical markup: the counter price, multiplied by 1.10. Not a range. A dial, set once, to ten per cent, and turned on the whole menu.
The markup
Across the 38 matched items the delivery markup was a flat +10% — mean, median and range all landing on the same number (the only wobble is a fraction of a cent where Uber rounds $6.95 × 1.10 down to $7.64). A basket of all 38 items costs $708.90 on Denino’s own menu and $779.75 on Uber Eats, a straight 10% more. There is no gentler treatment for the cheap can of soda and no steeper one for the marquee pies; the surcharge is uniform from the $3.50 drink to the $28.50 pie. Denino’s is the third restaurant in this series to run a single flat markup dial — after Sweet Chick’s 15% and junzi kitchen’s 30% — and its dial is set to the lowest number of the three. Because the same 38 prices appear on Uber whether you choose delivery or pickup (we checked both in the app: a Cheese Pie is $21.45 either way), the 10% is not a charge for driving the food to you. It is a markup on the food itself.
What the restaurant nets
Here is the twist a 10% markup hides. When a customer orders through Uber Eats, the platform keeps a commission on the sale. To come out level with a walk-in, a restaurant would need to mark its delivery menu up by about +42.9% at a 30% commission — or about +17.6% even at New York’s capped 15%. Denino’s marks up 10%. That is enough to make the delivery customer pay more, but not enough to cover the platform’s cut — so the shortfall comes out of the kitchen. Apply a 30% commission to the $779.75 delivery basket and Denino’s keeps about $545.82, roughly $163 less than the $708.90 the same food brings in at the counter. Even at New York’s capped 15% rate it nets about $662.79, still about $46 less than a walk-in. On all 38 of the 38 items — every one — the restaurant nets less selling through the app than selling the same dish across its own counter. Denino’s 10% is what this series calls a partial pass-through (Type A edging to B): the customer pays a premium, and the restaurant still absorbs the rest of the commission out of its own margin. The two of them split Uber’s cut; Uber keeps all of it.
Why it still lands on the platform
Denino’s sets its own menu prices; Uber Eats does not. But Uber sets the commission, and a flat 10% dial is a decision about how to share it: raise the delivery menu by a tenth, and split the difference between the customer and the kitchen rather than passing the whole commission to one side. It is a more customer-friendly choice than the shops that mark up 30% or more — and it still does not make the fees disappear. On top of these menu prices, Uber Eats charges the customer a delivery fee, a service fee and a tip at checkout, none of which are in the prices above, because a logged-in order is required to see them. Because the food price is set once by the restaurant and appears identically across delivery apps, the same pies list at these same 10%-higher prices wherever Denino’s is sold; what differs between platforms is the fee stack at checkout, not the food. Uber reports a gap like this one back to the restaurant as a metric it calls “Menu Markup.” It does not show that number to the customer paying it.
The New York context
New York City caps the core commission a delivery app can charge a restaurant at 15% for delivery, plus 5% for other listing and marketing services and 3% for card processing — limits the City Council first made permanent in 2021. A 2025 amendment, signed into law after the platforms sued and settled, now lets restaurants opt to pay an additional up to 20% for “enhanced services” such as wider delivery zones and top-of-search placement, which can push the total a restaurant chooses to pay toward roughly 43%. Denino’s flat 10% menu markup sits below even the 15% cap — it does not recover the whole of the capped commission, let alone a higher tier — which is why the pizzeria nets less than the counter on every item at any of these rates. One place New York’s cap does reach the customer is on a rival app: DoorDash layers a consumer “NYC Regulatory Response Fee” onto its checkouts, a surcharge it added to offset the commission cap — a mechanism worth flagging wherever it appears, though it is DoorDash’s and did not figure in this Uber Eats audit. The Mayor’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection continues to review delivery-app fees.
| Item | Counter / first-party | Uber Eats | Markup | Shop nets @30% (vs counter) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pizza (16″ pies) | ||||
| Garbage Pie | $28.50 | $31.35 | +10% | $21.95 (-6.55) |
| Bacon Buffalo Chicken Ranch Pie | $28.00 | $30.80 | +10% | $21.56 (-6.44) |
| A Salute Pie | $26.50 | $29.15 | +10% | $20.40 (-6.10) |
| Clam Pie | $26.50 | $29.15 | +10% | $20.40 (-6.10) |
| Veggie Pie | $26.50 | $29.15 | +10% | $20.40 (-6.10) |
| Denino’s M.O.R. Pie | $26.00 | $28.60 | +10% | $20.02 (-5.98) |
| Shrimp Pie | $25.50 | $28.05 | +10% | $19.63 (-5.87) |
| Buffalo Wing Pie | $25.00 | $27.50 | +10% | $19.25 (-5.75) |
| Vodka Pie | $24.50 | $26.95 | +10% | $18.86 (-5.64) |
| Chicken Pie | $24.00 | $26.40 | +10% | $18.48 (-5.52) |
| Special Pie (Sausage & Mushrooms) | $24.00 | $26.40 | +10% | $18.48 (-5.52) |
| Bacon Pie | $23.50 | $25.85 | +10% | $18.09 (-5.41) |
| Margherita Pie | $23.50 | $25.85 | +10% | $18.09 (-5.41) |
| Eggplant Pie | $23.00 | $25.30 | +10% | $17.71 (-5.29) |
| Spinach Pie | $23.00 | $25.30 | +10% | $17.71 (-5.29) |
| White Pie | $22.50 | $24.75 | +10% | $17.32 (-5.18) |
| Ricotta Pie | $22.50 | $24.75 | +10% | $17.32 (-5.18) |
| Pepperoni Pie | $22.50 | $24.75 | +10% | $17.32 (-5.18) |
| Meatball Pie | $22.50 | $24.75 | +10% | $17.32 (-5.18) |
| Broccoli Pie | $22.50 | $24.75 | +10% | $17.32 (-5.18) |
| Broccoli Rabe Pie | $22.50 | $24.75 | +10% | $17.32 (-5.18) |
| Hot Cherry Pepper Pie | $22.50 | $24.75 | +10% | $17.32 (-5.18) |
| Sausage Pie | $22.00 | $24.20 | +10% | $16.94 (-5.06) |
| Cheese Pie (16″) | $19.50 | $21.45 | +10% | $15.01 (-4.49) |
| Appetizers | ||||
| Fried Calamari | $16.00 | $17.60 | +10% | $12.32 (-3.68) |
| Buffalo Wings | $15.50 | $17.05 | +10% | $11.94 (-3.56) |
| Fried Zucchini Sticks | $10.95 | $12.04 | +10% | $8.43 (-2.52) |
| Mozzarella Sticks (5) | $9.95 | $10.94 | +10% | $7.66 (-2.29) |
| Riceballs (3 Mini) | $9.25 | $10.17 | +10% | $7.12 (-2.13) |
| Pasta | ||||
| Penne Vodka | $17.95 | $19.74 | +10% | $13.82 (-4.13) |
| Heroes & platters | ||||
| Chicken Hero | $12.95 | $14.24 | +10% | $9.97 (-2.98) |
| Salads | ||||
| Caesar Salad | $10.95 | $12.04 | +10% | $8.43 (-2.52) |
| Desserts | ||||
| Bindi Sorbet Lemon | $6.95 | $7.64 | +10% | $5.35 (-1.60) |
| Bindi Sorbet Orange | $6.95 | $7.64 | +10% | $5.35 (-1.60) |
| Non-alcoholic drinks | ||||
| Pellegrino | $4.00 | $4.40 | +10% | $3.08 (-0.92) |
| 1 Liter Soda | $3.50 | $3.85 | +10% | $2.69 (-0.81) |
| Hank’s Root Beer | $3.50 | $3.85 | +10% | $2.69 (-0.81) |
| Apple Juice | $3.50 | $3.85 | +10% | $2.69 (-0.81) |
| All 38 matched items (basket) | $708.90 | $779.75 | +10% | $545.82 (-163.08) |
By the numbers
- Items matched: 38 (same description and portion, same 524 Port Richmond Ave store; the 12″ gluten-free pie and plain dough, alcohol, add-on “extras,” catering trays and items not confirmable to the dollar on both menus were excluded)
- Delivery markup: mean +10%, median +10%, range +10% to +10% — a flat 10% on every item
- Basket: $708.90 at the counter, $779.75 on Uber Eats (+10%)
- Break-even markup at a 30% commission: +42.9%; at New York’s capped 15%, about +17.6% — Denino’s 10% clears neither
- What the restaurant nets: about $545.82 on the basket at a 30% commission (~$163 less than counter); about $662.79 even at the capped 15% (~$46 less)
- Items on which the restaurant nets less than dine-in: 38 of 38 at 30%; 38 of 38 at the capped 15%
- Uber pickup price = Uber delivery price (checked in-app), so the 10% is not a delivery cost
- Not captured here: Uber Eats’ delivery fee, service fee, tax and tip, which a logged-in checkout adds on top
- Story type: A edging to B (partial pass-through) — the customer pays a 10% premium; the restaurant absorbs the rest of the platform’s commission
Method
On 16 July 2026, USA Times captured Denino’s own prices from its first-party online-ordering menu (the restaurant’s direct Revel Systems storefront for the 524 Port Richmond Ave location), set to Pickup — the price a pickup customer pays at that counter, taken live from the ordering page on the day of capture rather than from any undatable PDF. The same day, we captured Uber Eats list prices for the same 524 Port Richmond Ave store from the rendered storefront and matched them item by item against the first-party menu; every one of the 38 matched items came to the counter price times 1.10. We checked both the delivery and pickup toggles on Uber and the food prices were identical, confirming the 10% is a menu markup rather than a delivery charge. We matched only items with the same description and portion, used list prices rather than promotional prices, and excluded the gluten-free pie and plain dough (different portion), alcohol, add-on options, catering trays and gift cards. Because a logged-in checkout is required to see them, this automated audit did not capture the delivery fee, service fee, tax or tip a customer pays on top; the Uber Eats figures reported are the storefront’s list prices for the food. Denino’s delivery was marked “currently unavailable” at the moment of capture, but its menu and list prices were fully displayed. The “shop nets” figures are an analytical estimate that applies a 30% (and, separately, New York’s capped 15%) commission to the Uber Eats price; they are our interpretation of the economics, not figures disclosed by Uber, and the true commission tier for this store is a private contract term that is not public. Prices can change and can vary by address; figures reflect the moment of capture.
Right of reply
USA Times contacted Denino’s and Uber for comment and will update this report with any response. Denino’s was told plainly that it is not the target of this story — and was asked the one question that decides it: after Uber’s commission, does it net more, less or the same as a walk-in, and is the flat 10% Uber Eats markup a deliberate choice. Uber was asked about its commission tiers in New York, whether it tracks the gap between a restaurant’s in-store and in-app menu prices (the metric it reports to merchants as “Menu Markup”), and why that gap is not disclosed to consumers.
Sources
- Denino’s counter / first-party prices — Denino’s Pizzeria & Tavern (524 Port Richmond Ave) online-ordering menu on Revel, Pickup, captured 16 July 2026.
- Denino’s Uber Eats list prices — Denino’s Pizzeria Tavern on Uber Eats, captured 16 July 2026.
- Denino’s history (tavern since 1937; pizza added by Carlo Denino in 1951) — NYC Tourism + Conventions, reviewed July 2026.
- NYC delivery fee caps and the 2025 amendment — NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, delivery fee caps, reviewed July 2026.
This report is part of a USA Times series auditing food-delivery pricing. Prices were collected by USA Times on the date noted, compared item by item against the restaurant’s own current menu, and reviewed by an editor before publication.
