The double charge, in one line. Uber’s commission (hidden in the food price) and its service fee both pay for the same thing — Uber being the middleman. One toll, billed twice. The delivery fee is separate: that one pays the courier. Why Uber Eats won’t put it in one number →
At The Halal Guys on East 14th Street, the Uber Eats markup is not one number. It runs from 7% on a side of olives to 33% on a bottle of water — a different figure on nearly every item, and disclosed nowhere.
THE HALAL GUYS (14th Street) — Middle Eastern. Case study #4 in a USA Times series auditing Uber Eats pricing. Prices compared between the restaurant’s own pickup-ordering menu and its Uber Eats storefront for the same address, 307 East 14th Street, on 14 July 2026.
Our last New York case study, a Mamoun’s Falafel two miles uptown, marked up every single item on Uber Eats by exactly 21 percent — a flat, mechanical multiplier. We expected the next falafel counter to look similar. It does not.
The Halal Guys prices its delivery menu dish by dish. A regular platter is $13.99 at the counter and $15.99 on Uber Eats, a 14 percent bump. Hummus jumps 26 percent. A bottle of Poland Spring goes from $2.00 to $2.65 — 33 percent. A side of olives rises just 7 percent. Across 15 matched items the average markup is 17.5 percent, the median 15.4, and the spread runs from 6.8 to 32.5. There is no single rule a customer could learn.
What the contrast shows
Put the two New York restaurants side by side. Same cuisine. Same price tier. Two miles apart. One marks up every item an identical 21 percent; the other marks up almost every item differently, and less. Neither tells the customer it is happening.
That is the finding the series keeps returning to. The markup is not a standard, not a published rate, not a number a New Yorker can anticipate. It is set restaurant by restaurant, sometimes item by item, and shown to the diner as if it were simply the price.
This restaurant is barely clearing the commission
Unlike a flat 21 percent, a 17.5 percent average markup does not fully cover what Uber takes. New York caps the delivery commission at 15 percent, but platforms can layer additional fees on top. At a 30 percent effective take, The Halal Guys nets slightly less on every delivery item than it does at its own counter. This is not a restaurant profiteering on delivery; it is one holding its prices close and absorbing much of the platform’s cost — while the customer still pays more, and still pays a delivery fee and a service fee at checkout.
The comparison: 15 items
| Item | Counter | Uber Eats | Markup |
|---|---|---|---|
| Poland Spring Water | $2.00 | $2.65 | +32% |
| Hummus | $4.59 | $5.79 | +26% |
| Stacy’s Pita Chips | $2.09 | $2.59 | +24% |
| Baklava Cheesecake | $4.95 | $5.95 | +20% |
| Chocolate Baklava Cheesecake | $4.95 | $5.95 | +20% |
| Seasoned Waffle Fries | $4.99 | $5.99 | +20% |
| Falafel (4 pc) | $4.19 | $4.89 | +17% |
| Small Platter | $12.99 | $14.99 | +15% |
| Falafel (6 pc) | $5.49 | $6.29 | +15% |
| Chocolate Chunk Cookie | $2.09 | $2.39 | +14% |
| Regular Platter | $13.99 | $15.99 | +14% |
| French Fries | $4.29 | $4.89 | +14% |
| Sandwich | $11.29 | $12.75 | +13% |
| Rice | $3.09 | $3.39 | +10% |
| Olives | $4.39 | $4.69 | +7% |
Counter prices from The Halal Guys’ own pickup-ordering system for the 14th Street location; Uber Eats prices for the same address, both captured 14 July 2026. Delivery and service fees are charged on top. Mean markup 17.5%, median 15.4%, range 6.8–32.5%.
The Halal Guys and Uber have both been contacted for comment.
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.
