JOE & PAT’S PIZZERIA (East Village, 168 1st Avenue) — Italian / Pizza. Case study #27. Prices compared between Joe & Pat’s own first-party online-ordering menu and the same 168 1st Avenue kitchen’s Uber Eats storefront, both captured the same day.
For most of this series the pattern has been the same: order a dish on a restaurant’s own site, order it again on Uber Eats, and the app costs more. At Joe & Pat’s — the thin-crust Neapolitan room that Staten Island exported to the East Village in 2018, an offshoot of the 1st-Avenue-and-Staten-Island institution the Ronga family has run since 1960 — it does not. We priced 57 items side by side, two menus captured within minutes of each other, and the Uber Eats price was the same or lower on 52 of them. A plain 16-inch 1960 Original is $31 either way. A 16-inch Margherita is $34 either way. And where the two menus disagree, Uber is usually the cheaper one: a plate of Spaghetti is $21 on Uber against $24 on the pizzeria’s own site; a Bruschetta is $12 against $14; a House Salad $15 against $17. Add up the whole 57-item basket and it comes to $1,387.00 on Joe & Pat’s own ordering page and $1,361.00 on Uber Eats — about $26 less on the app.
The markup
There isn’t one. Across the 57 matched items the Uber Eats food price averaged about 2% below Joe & Pat’s own menu; the median difference is zero. Of the 57 items, 27 were priced identically, 25 were cheaper on Uber, and only 5 were dearer — and even the dearest gap is small (a Chicken Parmigiano main is $34 on Uber against $31 on the site, a $3 difference the other way). The individual item differences run from −14% to +10%, but they scatter in both directions rather than pointing one way, which is the tell: this is two separately keyed-in menus that happen to be close, not a delivery dial turned up. Joe & Pat’s is the first restaurant in this series whose Uber Eats food is, on balance, a touch cheaper than its own online ordering — the opposite of the padded delivery menus we have documented elsewhere, from Denino’s flat 10% to junzi kitchen’s flat 30%.
What the restaurant nets
Charging the same price is not the same as coming out even. When a customer orders through Uber Eats, the platform keeps a commission on the sale. To match what it makes on a walk-in, a restaurant would need to mark its delivery menu up by about +42.9% at a 30% commission — or roughly +17.6% even at New York’s capped 15%. Joe & Pat’s marks up nothing. So the entire commission comes out of the kitchen. Apply a 30% cut to the $1,361.00 Uber basket and the pizzeria keeps about $952.70 — roughly $434 less than the $1,387.00 the same food brings in across its own counter. Even at New York’s capped 15% it nets about $1,156.85, still about $230 less. On all 57 of the 57 items, the restaurant nets less selling through the app than selling the same dish to a walk-in. In the language of this series that makes Joe & Pat’s a clear Type B (absorbing) case: rather than raise its delivery prices, it eats the platform’s cut itself. The customer pays no food markup; the restaurant pays the commission.
Why the customer still pays more — and where it goes
None of this means an Uber order is free of a premium. It means the premium is not on the food. 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 appear in the figures above, because a logged-in order is required to see them. Those charges, not the pizza, are what make a delivered order cost more than a counter pickup here. Behind the scenes there is a second charge the customer never sees: the commission Uber takes from the restaurant, which at Joe & Pat’s is absorbed rather than passed on. Uber does not set a restaurant’s menu prices; restaurants do, and Joe & Pat’s has chosen not to raise them for delivery. Uber reports the gap between a restaurant’s in-store and in-app prices back to the merchant as a metric it calls “Menu Markup” — at this store that number is essentially zero, and it is not shown to the consumer either way.
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%. Because Joe & Pat’s adds no menu markup at all, it recovers none of whatever commission it pays — which is why it nets below the counter on every item at any of these rates. On a rival app the cap does reach the customer directly: 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 | Own site / counter | Uber Eats | Difference | Shop nets @30% (vs counter) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pizza | ||||
| Vodka Pizza (16″) | $35.00 | $34.00 | -3% | $23.80 (-11.20) |
| Tri-Pie Pizza (16″) | $35.00 | $35.00 | +0% | $24.50 (-10.50) |
| Margherita Pizza (16″) | $34.00 | $34.00 | +0% | $23.80 (-10.20) |
| 1960 Original Pizza (16″) | $31.00 | $31.00 | +0% | $21.70 (-9.30) |
| Gluten Free Pizza (12″) | $25.00 | $26.00 | +4% | $18.20 (-6.80) |
| Vodka Pizza (10″) | $23.00 | $22.00 | -4% | $15.40 (-7.60) |
| Tri-Pie Pizza (10″) | $23.00 | $22.00 | -4% | $15.40 (-7.60) |
| Margherita Pizza (10″) | $22.00 | $22.00 | +0% | $15.40 (-6.60) |
| Cauliflower Crust Pizza (10″) | $22.00 | $22.00 | +0% | $15.40 (-6.60) |
| Pasta | ||||
| Frutti Di Mare Pasta | $38.00 | $36.00 | -5% | $25.20 (-12.80) |
| Shrimp Scampi Pasta | $32.00 | $32.00 | +0% | $22.40 (-9.60) |
| Linguini and Clams Pasta | $32.00 | $32.00 | +0% | $22.40 (-9.60) |
| Tortellini Alfredo Pasta | $28.00 | $27.00 | -4% | $18.90 (-9.10) |
| Rigatoni with Sausage Pasta | $28.00 | $28.00 | +0% | $19.60 (-8.40) |
| Broccoli Rabe and Sausage Pasta | $28.00 | $27.00 | -4% | $18.90 (-9.10) |
| Spicy Rigatoni | $28.00 | $27.00 | -4% | $18.90 (-9.10) |
| Rigatoni with Meat Sauce | $28.00 | $28.00 | +0% | $19.60 (-8.40) |
| Penne Vodka Pasta | $27.00 | $27.00 | +0% | $18.90 (-8.10) |
| Pesto Pasta | $26.00 | $26.00 | +0% | $18.20 (-7.80) |
| Baked Ziti Parmigiano Pasta | $26.00 | $24.00 | -8% | $16.80 (-9.20) |
| Nonna’s Lasagna Pasta | $26.00 | $26.00 | +0% | $18.20 (-7.80) |
| Gnocchi Pasta | $24.00 | $26.00 | +8% | $18.20 (-5.80) |
| Spaghetti Pasta | $24.00 | $21.00 | -12% | $14.70 (-9.30) |
| Fusilli with Peas and Onion Pasta | $23.00 | $22.00 | -4% | $15.40 (-7.60) |
| Cheese Ravioli Pasta | $23.00 | $22.00 | -4% | $15.40 (-7.60) |
| Mains | ||||
| Skirt Steak | $36.00 | $34.00 | -6% | $23.80 (-12.20) |
| Baked Breaded Flounder | $34.00 | $34.00 | +0% | $23.80 (-10.20) |
| Chicken Francese (Main) | $32.00 | $32.00 | +0% | $22.40 (-9.60) |
| Eggplant Parmigiano (Main) | $32.00 | $30.00 | -6% | $21.00 (-11.00) |
| Grilled Salmon | $32.00 | $34.00 | +6% | $23.80 (-8.20) |
| Flounder Oreganata | $32.00 | $32.00 | +0% | $22.40 (-9.60) |
| Chicken Marsala | $32.00 | $32.00 | +0% | $22.40 (-9.60) |
| Chicken Parmigiano (Main) | $31.00 | $34.00 | +10% | $23.80 (-7.20) |
| Eggplant Rollatini | $26.00 | $26.00 | +0% | $18.20 (-7.80) |
| Heroes & panini | ||||
| Chicken Parmigiano (Sandwich) | $17.00 | $16.00 | -6% | $11.20 (-5.80) |
| Sausage and Broccoli Rabe (Hero) | $17.00 | $16.00 | -6% | $11.20 (-5.80) |
| Chicken Francese (Sandwich) | $17.00 | $16.00 | -6% | $11.20 (-5.80) |
| Sausage and Peppers (Hero) | $17.00 | $16.00 | -6% | $11.20 (-5.80) |
| Appetizers | ||||
| Zuppa Di Clams | $22.00 | $22.00 | +0% | $15.40 (-6.60) |
| Calamari Marinara | $22.00 | $22.00 | +0% | $15.40 (-6.60) |
| Fried Ravioli | $20.00 | $20.00 | +0% | $14.00 (-6.00) |
| Meatballs | $19.00 | $18.00 | -5% | $12.60 (-6.40) |
| Mini Rice Balls | $17.00 | $16.00 | -6% | $11.20 (-5.80) |
| Mozzarella Sticks | $16.00 | $16.00 | +0% | $11.20 (-4.80) |
| Buffalo Wings | $16.00 | $16.00 | +0% | $11.20 (-4.80) |
| Chicken Fingers | $16.00 | $16.00 | +0% | $11.20 (-4.80) |
| Mozzarella in Carrozza | $16.00 | $16.00 | +0% | $11.20 (-4.80) |
| Eggplant Fries | $16.00 | $15.00 | -6% | $10.50 (-5.50) |
| Roasted Baby Eggplant | $16.00 | $14.00 | -12% | $9.80 (-6.20) |
| Bruschetta | $14.00 | $12.00 | -14% | $8.40 (-5.60) |
| Salads | ||||
| Cold Seafood Salad | $28.00 | $26.00 | -7% | $18.20 (-9.80) |
| Scungilli Salad | $20.00 | $20.00 | +0% | $14.00 (-6.00) |
| Caesar Salad | $17.00 | $16.00 | -6% | $11.20 (-5.80) |
| Arugula Salad | $17.00 | $17.00 | +0% | $11.90 (-5.10) |
| House Salad | $17.00 | $15.00 | -12% | $10.50 (-6.50) |
| Baby Spinach Salad | $17.00 | $17.00 | +0% | $11.90 (-5.10) |
| Calzone | ||||
| Baked or Fried Calzone | $15.00 | $16.00 | +7% | $11.20 (-3.80) |
| All 57 matched items (basket) | $1387.00 | $1361.00 | -2% | $952.70 (-434.30) |
By the numbers
- Items matched: 57 (same description and portion, same 168 1st Ave store; pizzas, pasta, mains, heroes, appetizers, salads and a calzone)
- Food markup on Uber Eats: mean -2%, median 0%, range −14% to +10% — no systematic markup
- Priced identically on both: 27 of 57; cheaper on Uber: 25; higher on Uber: 5
- Basket: $1,387.00 on Joe & Pat’s own site, $1,361.00 on Uber Eats (-2%, about $26 cheaper on Uber)
- Break-even markup at a 30% commission: +42.9%; at New York’s capped 15%, about +17.6% — Joe & Pat’s clears neither because it marks up nothing
- What the restaurant nets: about $952.70 on the basket at a 30% commission (~$434 less than counter); about $1,156.85 even at the capped 15% (~$230 less)
- Items on which the restaurant nets less than dine-in: 57 of 57 at 30%; 57 of 57 at the capped 15%
- Not captured here: Uber Eats’ delivery fee, service fee, tax and tip, which a logged-in checkout adds on top
- Story type: B (absorbing) — the pizzeria charges no delivery markup and absorbs the platform’s commission itself
Method
On 16 July 2026, USA Times captured Joe & Pat’s own prices from its first-party online-ordering menu for the 168 1st Avenue store, set to Pickup — the price a pickup customer pays, taken live from the ordering page on the day of capture rather than from any undatable PDF. That first-party page is the restaurant’s own ordering site, run on the DoorDash Commerce Platform (order.online) white-label; its Pickup price is the counter price. The same day, we captured Uber Eats list prices for the same 168 1st Avenue store from the rendered storefront and matched them item by item against the first-party menu, comparing only items with the same description and portion. We used list prices rather than promotional prices, and excluded items that did not have a same-name, same-portion match on both platforms at capture (several pizzas and beverages appeared on one menu but were not confirmed on the other this run), configurable or add-on options, and alcohol. 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. We did not separately toggle Uber’s own pickup-versus-delivery view this run. 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 Joe & Pat’s and Uber for comment and will update this report with any response. Joe & Pat’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 holding its Uber Eats prices at (or below) its own menu 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
- Joe & Pat’s counter / first-party prices — Joe & Pat’s Pizzeria (168 1st Avenue) online-ordering menu, Pickup, captured 16 July 2026.
- Joe & Pat’s Uber Eats list prices — Joe and Pat’s Pizza on Uber Eats (168 1st Avenue), captured 16 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.
