EatWith

EatWith Review:

If you love cooking and entertaining — or ever considered opening your own restaurant, EatWith may offer just the right side hustle for you.

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How it works

The site allows you to register as a host to cook meals or offer experiences.

The application process takes only a few minutes. You tell them a bit about yourself and about the experience or meal that you want to offer. You then upload at least four relevant photos. (However, depending on where you live, you may also need a food service license and to submit to a kitchen inspection.)

A community services team will evaluate your application and notify you when you’re accepted. This process can take up to two weeks.

Creating menus and events

At that point, you are ready to create your new experience on Eatwith. Now you’ll want to upload information about the just-approved experience and decide when, where and how to offer it.

You set the menu, the number of guests you can accommodate, the schedule and the price. You then upload photos of the meal and let the site do your marketing.

Tip for success?

Click around the site as a customer to see what other chefs are making and how they make their listings sing. Consider booking an event or two, as well, to get the customer-side experience. This can help you both understand how to price your meals and present them, as well as how to get great reviews.

Bookings and fees

EatWith will add a 20% service fee on top of the price you set when listing the meal for sale on line. So, you get the pay you set. But, customers will pay more. EatWith expects hosts to include all of their costs — including any expected tip — in the price you set.

Insurance

For their mark-up, you get covered by EatWith’s $2 million liability policy and the use of its platform, where you can offer as many meals as you like, and provide a place where your guests can leave reviews.

Recommendations

This is a great site to market meals you make and offer at home. You can also offer cooking classes here, both to be done in person and online. Other sites you should consider: TasteMade, where you can offer cooking classes and build a following. And CozyMeal.

If cooking for pay appeals to you, but you’re not wild about the idea of hosting strangers in your home, consider Shef and DishDivvy, where you can cook for pick-up.

Want to sign up with Eatwith?

1. Click here to create an account

What their chefs say:

Christina Xenos, a full-time personal chef from Los Angeles, says she got her start hosting EatWith pop-up meals at her Los Angeles apartment. Her apartment accommodates a maximum of eight people, who paid $69 each. EatWith’s take was $9.

After accounting for her cost of materials — about $100 per event — she pockets roughly $350 per night, which she considers well worth her time. “I can’t say enough good things about it. It’s been a really positive experience. I love throwing dinner parties; I love having people over; and this has been really good marketing for my business.”

*Updated 12/20/2020