There's nothing new about contacting a restaurant and placing an order for takeout, but an established quick-serve Vancouver restaurant chain is taking the notion of "grab-and-go" to the next level with their "all-digital" location.
Picking up at Tractor Digital. Photo by Marquardt Photography/courtesy Tractor Everyday Healthy Foods
Tractor Everyday Healthy Foods, which launched in Vancouver in 2013 with their first counter-service cafeteria-line style restaurant focused on salads, soups, sandwiches, and bowls, has opened their seventh location, and it's solely for picking up orders placed ahead online. Called Tractor Digital, their Grab & Go Kitchen is located within Park Place at 666 Burrard Street in downtown Vancouver.
Using an app, customers place their order ahead of time and pay for it online, selecting a desired pick-up time. At Tractor Digital, the kitchen prepares the food to order, and has it labelled and available for the customer to simply grab-and go.
Photo by Marquardt Photography/courtesy Tractor Everyday Healthy Foods
The Digital concept is aimed at cutting out the waiting in line factor, and also at having a cash-less storefront where the focus is on cooking and serving the food, rather than ringing people up. Ideal for anyone in a rush, the restaurant hopes this shortcut to getting good food fast will up Vancouverites' chances to get seasonally-driven and locally-sourced fresh food in their bellies without lack of time getting in the way.
The new Tractor Digital also uses their 1,800-square-feet exclusively for cooking and pick-up - there is no seating.
Tractor is joining an increasing number of Metro Vancouver restaurants focused on app-based ordering, though it differs from the legions of eateries (and "ghost" restaurants) whose business model is based on delivery in that they are all about pick-up.
Photo by Marquardt Photography/courtesy Tractor Everyday Healthy Foods
"We believe that eating healthy should be an easy decision, so we're making it even more accessible through leading-edge technology that will allow us to provide exceptional convenience and high-quality to Tractor customers. We're thrilled to be able to bring this new concept to Vancouver diners," said Steve Clarke, co-founder of Tractor Everyday Healthy Foods.
The new Tractor Digital launched on June 10 and is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Friday for lunch and dinner.
