Photo by Sarah Vinci | Hungry Rhody renamed themselves Hungry Button and launched a new app for mobile ordering.
The popular food ordering website “Hungry Rhody” has rebranded itself as “Hungry Button” and launched a new app last week.
The website allows students at the University of Rhode Island to order food from local restaurants for pickup or delivery. The site first launched as Hungry Rhody in 2013 and was created by URI alumnus Devin Sheehan alongside his father Bob Sheehan.
According to Devin Sheehan, the website changed its name in order to expand its business.
“We changed the name to Hungry Button because we had another site at the University of Connecticut,” Sheehan said. “We wanted to take this bigger than just URI and UConn. But in order to grow, it was easier to go under one name.”
Sheehan also launched Hungry Button at Brown University last week and hopes to expand more throughout the Northeast. The Hungry Button app functions similarly to the website, but also includes additional features.
“When you use the app, you actually earn cash back,” Sheehan said. “Every order we give a percentage of that order back to the customer, and then [they] build what we call ‘dough.’”
Sheehan said that the “dough” earned through the app can be used at any participating restaurant. Users can also gift “dough” to friends. This function is exclusive to the app.
Another function unique to the app is its improved GPS function. Sheehan said that in the delivery mode of the app, users can locate their specific dorm room for delivery. If the restaurant is more than a mile away, users will be warned if delivery will take more than an hour and a half. Users can also save credit card information in the app for easy purchases, while not having to worry about privacy since the data is encrypted.
Restaurants in the emporium such as International Pocket Cafe and Caliente offer delivery and takeout through the app. Other participating locations off-campus include Filippou’s, Twisted Pizza – Exeter and Gansett wraps. Not all participating restaurants offer delivery. Although some of the participating restaurants are chains such as Subway. Sheehan believes that the app will benefit local businesses.
“The small mom-and-pop businesses don’t have the money to develop this type of technology, so we’re bringing technology that competes with the Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts and the Dominos’ of the industries as far as the online application,” Sheehan said.
The app is currently only available on iOS, but Sheehan plans to release an Android version in the spring. Sheehan said iOS was prioritized because he believed more college students use Apple products.