The struggle between being hungry and not wanting to leave the comfort of a dorm room has been resolved.
BingoEats is a restaurant delivery service that runs seven days a week from 5 to 10 p.m. and delivers to Vestal, Johnson City, Binghamton and the Binghamton University campus.
Dave Wlostowski, owner of BingoEats and a native of Binghamton, is not new to the business. In 1991, he and some relatives started Gourmet Express, a restaurant delivery service in Binghamton that was discontinued three years later so Wlostowski could pursue another career.
Gourmet Express saw a substantial amount of success among BU students and was mainly the reason for starting up BingoEats. Wlostowski said he hopes to make enough money through this service to put his three kids through college.
“I’m looking to achieve a well-run, unique food delivery service that has repeat customers,” Wlostowski said. “Variety and convenience is what it’s all about.”
BingoEats currently offers delivery service for five restaurants in Binghamton and Vestal: Thai Time, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Zona & Co. Grille, Buffet Star and Moghul. Wolstowski said that he is always looking for opportunities to expand his business and that feedback from students is key.
“The big thing is, let us know what you want. We will try to get it. The students are very important to me,” Wlostowski said.
The service is run largely by students, who serve as both dispatchers and delivery drivers; students make up half of the BingoEats staff. Dispatchers are in charge of taking orders and moving them along to the suppliers and drivers.
“I have found that the BU students are terrific to employ,” Wlostowski said. “They are reliable, hardworking and like to make money. In addition to being honest workers they give me an insight to what the students like and want for food.”
The restaurant delivery service currently has no permanent or even temporary physical base of operations. Wlostowski said that there is no need for a base of operations since his student dispatcher, Kelvin Gutierrez, an accounting major, can manage the service without one.
“All Kelvin has to do to dispatch is log onto my website, and he can run it right out of his dorm,” Wlostowski said.
According to Wlostowski, business has been slow due to poor advertising; he says that the service averages five orders per night.
Although some students are pleased with BingoEats, others have issues they would like to see resolved. Adrian Perry, a sophomore majoring in biology, said that the wait time for the Thai food he ordered was a source of inconvenience.
Students have also expressed a desire for BingoEats to add more restaurants to its roster.
“I’m all for having Thai Time and Zona as options on BingoEats, but I think they could really use more restaurants,” said Aidan Quigley, an undeclared sophomore.
According to Wlostowski, BingoEats is close to striking a deal with Binghamton Hots and is working on adding Grocery Tree.