If there is one thing that makes my heart sing, it is having dinner cooked for me, by a real chef, which I can then enjoy without leaving my house. So, when I learned about Pronto, a new meal delivery app in Leeds, I had a feeling it would be the start of a beautiful relationship.
Established in 2020 by husband-and-wife team Mark and Cat Barrett, Pronto originated in Ilkley, but has now expanded to Leeds. The app aims to bring independent eateries together with the West Yorkshire community, whilst keeping more money in the restaurants’ pockets by utilising low commission rates – particularly important after a difficult couple of years. Restaurants are able to change their menus at the click of a button, giving them more control and flexibility than other meal delivery apps.
The app itself is extremely clean and user-friendly. Available restaurants are shown depending on your location, and customers can choose from delivery, collection, or table service. There is a good range of independent businesses on the app, offering everything from alcohol delivery, to desserts, sushi, pasta, and vegan treats.
My partner and I ordered on a Wednesday evening, choosing between restaurants such as Pizza Freak – Burley based NYC style pizza joint, Hoki Poki – sushi, bao buns and poke bowls, and Slap and Pickle – slingers of some of the best burgers and loaded fries in Leeds. After much deliberation we plumped for the latter, ordering a personal cheesus (double cheeseburger) and a vegetarian smokin’ bun (moving mountains burger with vegan bacon lardons, BBQ sauce and onion rings), along with a couple of portions of naked fries. The restaurant didn’t deliver as far as us, so we nipped into town to pick it up, which was easy enough, and after ordering, it was ready in under 15 minutes.
To satiate my wild sweet tooth, we also decided to order dessert to be delivered to us a little later. Our first choice, Dohut, was sadly closed, so we went with Sweet Tooth Bakery. The menu here is huge and everything on it sounded so tempting. We eventually decided on a cookie monster – triple chocolate chunk cookies filled with more chocolate and sauce, a slutty cheesecake bar – cookie dough layered with Oreos, cheesecake, and caramel sauce, and a Freddo caramel flapjack. After ordering, a lovely gent called from the bakery to let us know they were out of the flapjacks, so we swapped that for a surprise treat which ended up being the most insanely decadent cinnamon bun – not a bad alternative at all! Again, delivery was quick and easy, and it was lovely actually speaking to a real person when needed.
Pronto also puts a strong focus on customer service, with assistance available via phone or WhatsApp both for customers and the businesses that use it. I witnessed this first-hand when Mark called me to check we had picked up our Slap and Pickle order successfully – a lovely personal touch.
Overall, Pronto is a great addition to the Leeds meal delivery scene, and really brings something new to the table, from the thoughtfully curated independent businesses available, who are able to hold on to more of their money, to the personal and helpful customer service. We will definitely be using them time and time again.
Pronto is available on Apple and Android now.
Photography by Asli Champion.
