Geno’s Steaks now delivered by Uber Eats

You mean people actually wait outside for cheesesteaks at Ninth and Passyunk?

Effective today, Geno’s Steaks has contracted with Uber Eats for delivery, joining its rival across the intersection, Pat’s King of Steaks, which started using the service two years ago.

Geno’s full menu is available for delivery.

If Geno Vento experiences what Pat’s owner Frank Olivieri has seen since October 2016, he will be one happy business owner. “It’s like having a 13th and 14th month every year or an extra day or two a week,” Olivieri told me this morning, wishing Vento well. (They’re friendly.)

“We get the people who don’t want to leave their house -- whether they’re too inebriated or they’re so pinned to the TV, they just want to order in," Olivieri said.

The rub for restaurateurs is the cost. Many pay Uber as much as 30 percent off the top for the service. (Olivieri, for his part, insisted that he had a special deal.)

“It’s not the best in the world, but it fills in the gaps of where I’d be slow anyway,” he said. Drivers show up within minutes of an order.

Of course, home delivery is not new -- whether from a local shop or services such as Goldbelly, which packs up Jim’s, Pat’s, and Tony Luke’s cheesesteaks and sends them to far-flung places.