Two different tools for the same store
People searching for Restaurant Depot on Instacart usually want one thing: the order at the back door without the trip. Both a grocery app and a Restaurant Depot Delivery Partner can get you there, but they are built for different jobs. BarBak Hospitality does one job. We shop Restaurant Depot for food businesses and deliver it, and we have done that since 2019.
This page is about how the two approaches differ for a restaurant, bar or caterer. We are a party to the comparison, so we keep our side to facts we publish and leave Instacart's side to Instacart.
What BarBak does
- Flat price. $55 per delivery on a $300 minimum order, charged at Restaurant Depot checkout as part of your order. It is the same fee in every town, including Key West.
- Your own account. You build the order on your own Restaurant Depot account by midnight. We shop it from there.
- Checked item by item. The order is handpicked and checked against your list before it leaves the store.
- You choose the morning slot. Delivery is the next morning, 7 days a week, from 7 AM. In the Florida Keys, dispatch sets the window.
- One line, 24/7. Call (866) 248-0118 at any hour. Changes and cancellations are free up to 2 hours before your window.
- Same-day backup. Emergency delivery runs the same day when you order by 3 PM, from $55.
What to check on Instacart
We have not verified Instacart's current terms for this page, so we are not going to describe them. Fees, service charges, tips, whether Restaurant Depot is offered at your address, how large an order can be, how substitutions work and how you reach someone when an order goes wrong can all differ by area and change over time. Look at Instacart's own pages for the current answers. Here is a short list of questions that matter for a kitchen:
- Is Restaurant Depot available for your address, and for business orders?
- What is the total fee on an order your size, including any service charges and tips?
- Is there a limit on the quantity or weight of an order, or on case-size items?
- What happens if an item is out of stock or replaced? Who tells you, and when?
- Can you pick a delivery window that lands before your prep or your dock hours?
- Who can you call, and at what hours, if something is wrong?
Side by side
| Question | BarBak | Instacart |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery fee | $55 flat, $300 minimum order | Check Instacart's current terms |
| Whose account | Your own Restaurant Depot account | Check Instacart's current terms |
| Order check | Handpicked, checked item by item against your list | Check Instacart's current terms |
| Delivery timing | Order by midnight, next morning from 7 AM, slot of your choice | Check Instacart's current terms |
| Support | Phone dispatch, 24/7 | Check Instacart's current terms |
| Same day | Emergency delivery by 3 PM, from $55 | Check Instacart's current terms |
When each one makes sense
A grocery app can make sense when
- You need a handful of items, not a full order, and a $300 minimum is more than you want to spend.
- You are outside the areas we serve.
- You already use the app, it covers your address, and its current terms work for the size of your order.
- You want something delivered in a window that no overnight schedule can match, and the app confirms it can.
BarBak makes sense when
- You buy by the case on a regular schedule and want the same price on the delivery whether the order is $300 or several thousand.
- Missing or wrong items cost you a dish or a shift, so a person checking the order against your list matters.
- You close late and open early. Order after close, then pick a slot that lands before prep.
- You want a phone number that answers at 2 AM, not only during store hours.
- You are in one of our 135 delivery areas, from Washington, DC to Key West.
Plenty of kitchens use both. A quick app order for a one-off item and a scheduled delivery for the weekly order is a reasonable split. See what Restaurant Depot delivery costs to run your own numbers, and every way to get a Restaurant Depot order for the wider picture.
Running short mid-week
If you run out of something before your next scheduled delivery, you do not need to wait. Book emergency delivery by 3 PM and it runs the same day. The full process is in our same-day delivery guide.
Where we shop
We shop five Restaurant Depot stores. Find yours:
- Charlotte: the store on John Crosland Jr Dr in west Charlotte, 22 delivery areas
- Raleigh-Durham: the store on Gateway Centre Blvd in Morrisville, 20 delivery areas
- Richmond: the store on Brook Rd on the north side of Richmond, 19 delivery areas
- DC-Metro: the store on Eisenhower Ave in Alexandria, 48 delivery areas
- Miami: the store on NW 12th Ave in Miami, 26 delivery areas
Ready to try it? Schedule a Restaurant Depot delivery or call (866) 248-0118.