By Achir Kalra, Executive Editor, and the USA Times Data Desk
The Flatiron bakery adds a flat one dollar to every item we checked on Uber Eats. On a $3.50 espresso that is a 29% markup; on an $18 sandwich it is barely 6%. The dollar is the same — what changes is how big it looks.
Maman (3 West 18th Street, Flatiron, Manhattan) — Bakery / Café. Case study #6. Compared: the restaurant’s own 18th Street pickup menu against the same store’s Uber Eats storefront.
The finding: a flat dollar, every time
We compared Maman’s own pickup prices at its 18th Street flagship with the same store’s Uber Eats listing on 15 July 2026. Across all 36 items that matched exactly — same dish, same size — the pattern was unusually clean: every single one cost exactly one dollar more on Uber Eats. A $4.00 croissant is $5.00. A $3.50 espresso is $4.50. A $17.00 turkey sandwich is $18.00. The same one-dollar step held at every price point, from the cheapest drink to the priciest sandwich.
Because it is a flat surcharge and not a percentage, the markup a shopper actually feels depends entirely on how cheap the item is. The same extra dollar is a 30.8% markup on a $3.25 bottle of Spindrift and a 5.9% markup on a $17 chicken sandwich.
The markup
Across the 36 matched items the mean markup was 16.7% and the median 19.1%, ranging from 5.9% on the largest sandwiches to 30.8% on the cheapest bottled drink. Order one of everything and the basket climbs from $297.75 at the counter to $333.75 on Uber Eats — $36.00 more, or +12.1%, which is simply the one-dollar surcharge repeated 36 times.
What the restaurant nets
The dollar is not a windfall for Maman. At a platform take of about 30% — the top of Uber’s typical commission band — a restaurant has to mark up roughly 43% just to match what it earns on a walk-in sale. Maman’s markups top out at 31% and average 17%, so the extra dollar barely offsets Uber’s cut on the cheapest items and falls well short on the priciest. On our numbers Maman takes home the same as or less than its counter price on all 36 dishes; on an $18 sandwich it nets roughly $4.40 less than if you had bought it in the shop.
This is a pass-through. The surcharge exists to recover the platform’s commission, and it is the platform — not the bakery — that sets the economics. Uber does not set Maman’s prices; Maman does. But Uber’s commission is what makes a surcharge rational in the first place, Uber measures the in-store-versus-in-app gap as a metric it calls “Menu Markup” without disclosing it to diners, and Uber then charges the diner a second time at checkout through delivery and service fees.
It is not a delivery cost
We also checked Uber’s own pickup option at the same store. The prices are identical to delivery: a croissant is $5.00 whether Uber delivers it or you walk in and collect it yourself. So the extra dollar is not paying for a courier. It is a charge on the food itself.
Every item, ranked by markup
| Dish | Section | Counter | Uber Eats | Difference | Markup | Restaurant nets @30% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spindrift Sparkling Water | Drink | $3.25 | $4.25 | +$1.00 | +31% | $2.97 (-0.28) |
| Chocolate Sandwich Cookie | Cookie | $3.50 | $4.50 | +$1.00 | +29% | $3.15 (-0.35) |
| Espresso | Hot Drink | $3.50 | $4.50 | +$1.00 | +29% | $3.15 (-0.35) |
| Croissant | Pastry | $4.00 | $5.00 | +$1.00 | +25% | $3.50 (-0.50) |
| Pain au Chocolat | Pastry | $4.00 | $5.00 | +$1.00 | +25% | $3.50 (-0.50) |
| Cortado | Hot Drink | $4.00 | $5.00 | +$1.00 | +25% | $3.50 (-0.50) |
| Macchiato | Hot Drink | $4.00 | $5.00 | +$1.00 | +25% | $3.50 (-0.50) |
| Iced Cortado | Iced Drink | $4.00 | $5.00 | +$1.00 | +25% | $3.50 (-0.50) |
| Coke | Drink | $4.00 | $5.00 | +$1.00 | +25% | $3.50 (-0.50) |
| Hot Tea | Hot Drink | $4.25 | $5.25 | +$1.00 | +24% | $3.67 (-0.58) |
| Nutella Brownie | Pastry | $4.50 | $5.50 | +$1.00 | +22% | $3.85 (-0.65) |
| Banana Walnut Bread | Pastry | $4.50 | $5.50 | +$1.00 | +22% | $3.85 (-0.65) |
| Classic Chocolate Chip Cookie | Cookie | $4.50 | $5.50 | +$1.00 | +22% | $3.85 (-0.65) |
| Nutty Chocolate Chip Cookie | Cookie | $4.50 | $5.50 | +$1.00 | +22% | $3.85 (-0.65) |
| Cappuccino | Hot Drink | $4.75 | $5.75 | +$1.00 | +21% | $4.02 (-0.73) |
| Flat White | Hot Drink | $4.75 | $5.75 | +$1.00 | +21% | $4.02 (-0.73) |
| Iced Cappuccino | Iced Drink | $4.75 | $5.75 | +$1.00 | +21% | $4.02 (-0.73) |
| Pistachio Loaf Cake | Pastry | $5.00 | $6.00 | +$1.00 | +20% | $4.20 (-0.80) |
| Orange Pistachio Olive Oil Tea Cake | Pastry | $5.50 | $6.50 | +$1.00 | +18% | $4.55 (-0.95) |
| Kouign Maman | Pastry | $6.00 | $7.00 | +$1.00 | +17% | $4.90 (-1.10) |
| Grapefruit Juice | Drink | $7.00 | $8.00 | +$1.00 | +14% | $5.60 (-1.40) |
| Orange Juice | Drink | $7.00 | $8.00 | +$1.00 | +14% | $5.60 (-1.40) |
| Kombucha | Drink | $8.00 | $9.00 | +$1.00 | +12% | $6.30 (-1.70) |
| Daily Quiche | Classic | $10.00 | $11.00 | +$1.00 | +10% | $7.70 (-2.30) |
| Maman Cold-Pressed Juice | Drink | $11.00 | $12.00 | +$1.00 | +9% | $8.40 (-2.60) |
| Estee’s Bacon Egg & Cheese | Breakfast | $13.00 | $14.00 | +$1.00 | +8% | $9.80 (-3.20) |
| Smashed Avocado Tartine | Classic | $13.50 | $14.50 | +$1.00 | +7% | $10.15 (-3.35) |
| Maman’s Breakfast Sandwich | Breakfast | $14.00 | $15.00 | +$1.00 | +7% | $10.50 (-3.50) |
| Bella’s Ham & Cheese Croissant Sandwich | Sandwich | $14.00 | $15.00 | +$1.00 | +7% | $10.50 (-3.50) |
| Caitlin’s Breakfast Wrap | Wrap | $15.00 | $16.00 | +$1.00 | +7% | $11.20 (-3.80) |
| Croque Maman | Sandwich | $16.00 | $17.00 | +$1.00 | +6% | $11.90 (-4.10) |
| Marie’s Chicken Caesar Wrap | Wrap | $16.00 | $17.00 | +$1.00 | +6% | $11.90 (-4.10) |
| Papa’s Breakfast Bowl | Bowl | $16.00 | $17.00 | +$1.00 | +6% | $11.90 (-4.10) |
| Elisa’s Hummus Bowl | Bowl | $16.00 | $17.00 | +$1.00 | +6% | $11.90 (-4.10) |
| Katie Chicken Sandwich | Sandwich | $17.00 | $18.00 | +$1.00 | +6% | $12.60 (-4.40) |
| Audrey’s Turkey Sandwich | Sandwich | $17.00 | $18.00 | +$1.00 | +6% | $12.60 (-4.40) |
By the numbers
- Items matched: 36 (identical dish and portion on both menus)
- Surcharge on Uber Eats: exactly +$1.00 on every item
- Mean markup: 16.7% | Median: 19.1%
- Range: 5.9% (largest sandwiches) to 30.8% (Spindrift sparkling water)
- Breakeven markup at a 30% commission: 42.9%
- Dishes where Maman nets the same as or less than dine-in: 36 of 36
- Basket of all 36 items: $297.75 → $333.75 (+12.1%)
- Uber Eats pickup price = Uber Eats delivery price (markup is not a delivery charge)
Method
Counter prices come from Maman’s first-party pickup ordering (order.mamannyc.com) for the 18th Street location, captured 15 July 2026; on a restaurant’s own platform the pickup price equals the counter price. Uber Eats figures are list prices from the same physical store’s storefront, captured the same day — list prices, not promotional prices. We matched only items with an identical name and portion, and excluded build-your-own items (such as the make-your-own omelette), catering platters, gift boxes and retail merchandise. Net-to-restaurant figures assume a 30% platform take, the top of Uber’s typical commission band; we could not independently verify Maman’s specific contract rate. We did not place an order, so checkout fees (delivery, service, tax and tip) are not included in the item comparison. New York City’s prepared-food tax is 8.875%, and the city caps delivery commissions at 15% — below the take assumed here, which is why our net estimates are conservative.
Right of reply
Maman was contacted for comment. Uber was contacted through press@uber.com. Their responses will be added here.
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.
