At the time of writing this piece, San Franciscans are not yet being urged to self-isolate due to the novel coronavirus except in specific, high-risk cases. Understanding that this could change, depending on what lies ahead for our city, it's good to know that there are options available to you in terms of grocery delivery during these strange times.
Whether you've decided to self-quarantine as a precaution or you are just too busy to visit your local grocer, there are a great many grocery delivery options that can ease your situation here in San Francisco. These range from on-demand grocery delivery services to scheduled deliveries of specialty goods and even to delivery alcohol, which may or may not be more important than healthy food to you right now. Why is this site free to use?
Good Eggs
Best Featured Grocery Deliverers
★★★★★
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Good Eggs delivers fresh groceries to your home. They think that the most important force for change are healthy and delicious meals. For the sake of your family, our communities, and the environment. They have extensive roots in the Bay Area and adhere to the industry's highest standards. Working with local producers reduces the time and distance between the farm and your refrigerator. The food at Good Eggs is fresher, and your money stays in the community. They know some of the regulars at the farmers market. Their animal welfare standards are unrivaled. They source from farms that rear their animals on pasture and use regenerative practices that benefit the environment. From fresh-baked bread to Napa Valley wine to household cleaning supplies, they stock their Marketplace with the finest of the Bay Area and beyond.
Amazon Fresh
13 Best Grocery Delivery Companies
★★★★★
Amazon Fresh brings you fresh produce, high-quality meat, and of course virtually infinite choice of snacks & pantry items, brought to your doorstep by the world's top on-demand delivery company. Amazon Fresh is a bit different from the rest of the Amazon site, as these grocery items can make it to your house within less than 2 hours, with a Prime account. If you need any of the basics, be it eggs, milk, or Flamin' Hot Cheetos, Amazon brings you the brands you know, as well as Whole Foods' 365 line of products. Fast, safe, and through a trusted service, Amazon Fresh is my personal go-to.
Luke's Local (415) 742 - 4207
13 Best Grocery Delivery Companies
★★★★★
Luke's Local Grocery delivers out of their quaint Cole Valley market. They provide same-day grocery delivery throughout San Francisco via their app which is available on the App Store & Google Play. Luke's carries all of the essentials: milk, eggs, tortillas, steak, and of course, the artisan burrata that every San Francisco household needs. Luke's also provides chef-prepared meals from their deli, cut flowers to brighten up your day, and alcohol delivery to stock the bar in your SF home. Luke's delivery service runs 7 days per week.
DoorDash
13 Top Grocery Delivery Services
★★★★★
DoorDash does not manage any grocery locations itself, but is rather a platform through which you can access the catalog of products from grocers all over SF. DoorDash is better known for their restaurant delivery services, but their service available on virtually any operating system also has at least 40 local grocery stores listed across San Francisco, so you are sure to be able to get what you need from at least one location. DoorDash usually delivers within 20 minutes to 1 hour after you place an order and runs 24/7, though availability of products is based on individual store hours.
Weee!
13 Leading SF Delivery Grocers
★★★★★
Weee! is a specialty grocery delivery service focused on Asian groceries. Whether you are a part of the 34.3 percent of San Francisco who identifies as Asian or you are just a fan of a certain Asian cuisine, you may have visited one of the City's numerous Asian specialty grocers, carrying everything from durian to tiny dried shrimp to frozen dumplings that make those frozen pot stickers at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods look like child's play. Weee! is essentially that store, but online. That's right, you can order multiple flavors of Pocky, some 100+ different sauces and Shanghai Steamed Juicy Pork Bun (10 count) straight to your door. Delivery in SF takes a couple of days as their local delivery location is in the East Bay. Deliveries over $35 tend to get free shipping.
Imperfect Foods
13 Top-Notch Online Grocery Stores in SF
★★★★★
Another specialty grocery delivery company, Imperfect Foods, brings you produce that might not be the 'perfect' shape that you expect. (SFist covered their launch as Imperfect Produce back in 2015.) Whether it's an apple that grew oblong or a carrot that merged with another carrot and now looks like a tiny orange person, Imperfect Foods' fruits and veggies are just as good for you as the ones you get from that giant health-food chain down the street. One difference is that these misunderstood treats would otherwise be going to waste piles, so you are doing the planet a favor, but also your pocketbook. Imperfect Foods boasts up to 30 percent discounts compared to national supermarket chains. As the son of a woman who drove across the country in a converted postal truck so that she could later move into a houseboat on the Bay at the height of the tie-dye era, I somehow feel that this company satisfies my inner hippie. Imperfect Foods mainly delivers grocery basics on a recurring system, based on your customize grocery lists.
HelloFresh
13 Top Grocery Delivery Companies
★★★★★
HelloFresh delivers groceries, but with a bit of a different approach. Including both the recipes and prepped ingredients, HelloFresh allows you to make a full, healthy meal in a lot less time. Delivered on a weekly basis, HelloFresh meals are great for busy people who still want to eat homemade meals. HelloFresh can be set up for one-time orders or on a recurring basis and is crafted for you through a mini survey about your lifestyle and eating habits.
Thrive Market
13 Leading Grocery Delivery Services
★★★★☆
Thrive Market is a membership grocery delivery service that begins with an in-depth questionnaire about your eating habits, from broad choices like whether you tend to buy for only yourself or a larger family to which more specific decisions like the types of snacks that you generally buy. Thrive then curates a product list that it thinks you might like, similar to that of Pandora for music. Thrive also claims 25- to 50-percent reduced prices on over 6,000 organic, non-GMO, and sustainable products. Orders tend to arrive within 2 to 3 business days
Postmates
13 Top-Notch SF Delivery Grocers
★★★★☆
Much like DoorDash, Postmates is a platform that allows you to peruse about 15 different grocery stores in San Francisco. Their app is very well-made and though there are only about 12 grocery stores in the platform, they include a nice variety, meaning you will likely be able to get the products you want from at least one of them. Postmates is also able to deliver faster than many of the other options on this list, as their delivery service is on-demand and can be at your door in as short as 30 minutes, in some cases. Note that Postmates charges a delivery fee.
Google Express
13 Best Online Grocery Stores in SF
★★★★☆
Google Shopping is another platform that gives you access to products from the likes of Target, Super Market Italy, and a number of other local grocers. Google Shopping carries fresh produce via their network of grocery partners, but their dry goods and prepackaged items seem to be of greater quantity on this platform. Google Shopping often comes with free delivery to San Francisco with orders over of a certain dollar amount, so if you are one of those people stocking up on toilet paper, water bottles and canned beans, this may be a good place to start.
Mercato
13 Leading Grocery Delivery Companies
★★★★☆
Mercato has partnered with a number of San Francisco's grocery stores. I even found my local childhood grocer in the list of locations. Mercato essentially brings their offerings online and helps them with delivery. As a result, you can find very cool, specialty items from places like Lucca Deli on Chestnut which has been serving up Italian groceries since 1929, a time before the Marina became a top bro-y hot spot and was actually an Italian community. Mercato charges a $5.99 delivery fee.
Shipt
13 Top-Notch Grocery Delivery Services
★★★★☆
Shipt delivers both groceries and the uncountable number of household goods that parent company Target carries. But Shipt isn't only a delivery service for Target, it also works with companies like Mollie Stone's, Smart & Final, Safeway, Sur La Table, CVS, and Cheers on Demand, one of SFist's picks for alcohol delivery in San Francisco. Shipt has a recurring membership fee, much like Amazon, and provides free delivery on orders over $35, with drop-off same day, as soon as 1 hour.
WHY THIS LIST IS FREE TO READ
The above list includes Grocery Delivery SF that SFist believes actively provides superior services. In some cases, they are among the most successful teams in San Francisco. In certain cases, sponsorship listing fees or other considerations have effected their appearance on this ranking, but each one has a history of providing great services. To learn more about SFist's classifieds listings read more here.
SFist / Best of San Francisco / 13 Best Grocery Delivery SF / 11 Best Alcohol Delivery SF