A screen capture of the Skip the Dishes homepage.

There’s a new way to eat in Saskatoon.

A group of 12 University of Saskatchewan alumni have come together to create a website that gives hungry students an easier way to order food.

Skip the Dishes lists various local restaurants and allows customers to order online for takeout or delivery.

“It’s late at night, we’re in one of the reading rooms on campus, what do we do? Alexander’s is closed, Subway might be open but we’ve had that eight times in the last three days and all the food services are closed. You can try to find something on Google or go to Domino’s or Boston Pizza, who deliver late at night,” Skip the Dishes founder Joshua Simair said.

While most takeout and delivery choices in Saskatoon are limited to large chains like Boston Pizza or Domino’s, Skip the Dishes helps smaller and often healthier local restaurants like Griffin’s Takeaway, EE Burrito’s and Fuzion Sushi deliver.

“We’re definitely doing business together,” Simair said of the relationship between the site and the restaurants it features. Skip the Dishes makes money based on a commission of how many people order from each restaurant online. No extra costs are added to the prices of the food and the restaurants don’t pay to be listed on the site.

“We put their menu online for free and thousands of people see them every month. Only when we get them business do we get paid. That way everyone’s interests are aligned.

“We’re terrible cooks at Skip the Dishes so in a way it’s self-preservation. We let them handle the cooking and delivery, they do everything, we just do the transmission of the order and we’ll do a great job on our end,” Simair said.

There are many options available online of what to order. One of the online features allows a customer to order their meal for a certain time of the day. After the customer places an order the restaurant will receive an automated phone call and e-mail notifying the restaurant to check their order portal on the website.

Griffin’s Takeaway, a small shop located on 8th St. E. specializing in desserts and sandwiches, is one of the restaurants taking advantage of Skip the Dishes’s service.

Small business owners have a rough start, especially if they’re opening up independently and without backgrounds in finance.

“Opening a business in this type of climate is a tough sell at the best of times,” Griffin’s co-owner Derek Barr said. “Every little bit helps, even if it’s just five or six customers a day.”

Barr, who owns the restaurant along with his wife Nicole, believes Skip the Dishes helps new restaurants open on a level playing field with other businesses.

“We get lots of free online marketing and that’s something you’d normally have to pay an arm and a leg for,” he said.

Although Skip the Dishes only launched on Sept. 6, they’re expanding rapidly.

“We’re at 23 or 24 restaurants now and that’s only after 25 days of talking to restaurants,” Simair said.

“It’s all about making sure we do it well… and making sure we’re working with dedicated people.”

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Photo: Supplied