USA Times Data Desk
The USA Times Data Desk is the newsroom’s data and investigations unit. It collects prices, fees and public records directly from the source, verifies them item by item, and builds the charts and tables behind USA Times investigations. Every figure it publishes is traceable to a named, dated source.
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This Flatiron Tapas Bar Doesn’t Mark Up Uber Eats at All — So It Pays the Commission Itself
USA Times priced 34 items at Boqueria’s Flatiron tapas restaurant against the same store’s Uber Eats storefront and found a flat 0% markup: every dish, from a $35.50 skirt steak to a $8.50 bottle of water, costs exactly the same on Uber as at the counter. Uber pickup equals delivery equals counter, so there is…
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This East Village Ice Cream Shop Doesn’t Mark Up Uber Eats at All — So It Pays the Commission Itself
USA Times priced 48 items at Van Leeuwen’s East Village scoop shop against the same store’s Uber Eats storefront and found a flat 0% markup: every item, from a $12.15 pint to a $3.95 bottle of water, costs exactly the same on Uber as at the counter. Uber pickup equals delivery equals counter, so there…
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At Sweetgreen, the Same Salad Costs More on Uber Eats — and the Markup Tracks New York’s Delivery Fee Cap
USA Times priced 48 items at sweetgreen’s Union Square store against the same store’s Uber Eats storefront. Everything is marked up about 20% — a Kale Caesar from $13.75 to $16.95, even a bottle of water from $2.85 to $3.50. Uber pickup costs the same as delivery, so it isn’t a delivery charge; and the…
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A Brooklyn Roast-Beef Institution Is on Uber Eats — and Every Item Costs More Than at the Counter
USA Times priced all 34 menu items at Roll-N-Roaster, the 50-year-old Sheepshead Bay roast-beef institution, against the same restaurant’s Uber Eats storefront. Every item — down to the bottle of water — costs more in the app, by an average of 20%. Yet even that markup falls short of Uber’s commission, so the restaurant nets…
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Sophie’s Cuban Sells the Same Food on Uber Eats — at One Flat Markup Across the Entire Menu
USA Times priced 43 items at Sophie’s Cuban Cuisine on Fulton Street against the same restaurant’s Uber Eats storefront. Every one is marked up almost exactly 12% — from a 50-cent side of sauce to a $19 oxtail stew. Uber pickup costs the same as delivery, so it isn’t a delivery charge; and even at…
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At This Koreatown Tofu House, the Same Soup Costs More on Uber Eats — and the Restaurant Still Takes Home Less
USA Times priced 20 dishes at BCD Tofu House in Koreatown against the same restaurant’s Uber Eats storefront. The food runs 3–11% dearer in the app, drinks and sides are identical, and pickup costs the same as delivery — yet after Uber’s commission the restaurant nets about $6 less per dish than a walk-in.
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The Same Target Groceries Cost Nearly Twice as Much on DoorDash. Here’s Where Every Dollar Goes.
USA Times priced an identical five-item basket at a Chelsea Target and on that same store’s DoorDash page, then checked out to a NYC address. $23.75 at the shelf became $46.51 at the door.
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Katz’s Barely Marks Up on Uber Eats. It Still Loses Money on Every Pastrami Sandwich.
Katz’s Delicatessen marks up its Uber Eats menu less than 6% — near-parity — and as a result loses about $7 a sandwich to Uber’s commission. Two miles away a Mamoun’s marked up 21%. Same city, same app, no rule, no disclosure. KATZ’S (Lower East Side): case study #5.
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Why Uber Eats Won’t Put It in One Number
You pay three charges on every Uber Eats order — a delivery fee, a service fee, and a markup on the food you never see. Two of the three are Uber’s cut for the same thing: being the middleman. Here’s why Uber won’t just put it in one honest number.
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New York Capped Uber’s Commission at 15%. The Menu Markup Is 21%.
At a Mamoun’s Falafel on the Upper East Side, all 32 menu items are marked up on Uber Eats by exactly 21% — a single uniform multiplier, not dish-by-dish pricing. New York caps the delivery commission at 15%, but the menu markup is larger and outside what the law regulates. MAMOUN’S FALAFEL (UES): case study…