A number of local restaurant owners are angry with DoorDash, an on-demand restaurant delivery service operating in Baton Rouge, for what they say is use of their business logos without permission.
DoorDash is a food delivery service founded in 2013, operating in 850 cities throughout the United States and competing with firms like Waitr and UberEats. One notable difference: DoorDash will deliver from restaurants that have not entered into partnership agreements.
Particularly irked is Mitch Rotolo, owner of the Baton Rouge-based Rotolo’s Pizzeria concept, who says he considering legal action against DoorDash after discovering last week that the company lists his business as one of 104 local restaurants on its site.
“They are not consulting with us, but they are using our brand,” Rotolo says, adding the national company is difficult to get on the phone. “I have a registered trademark that they do not have permission to use.”
Here’s how it works: The company solicits restaurants for partnerships, offering to deliver meals through a group of “Dashers” and charging customers a fee for the service. While many companies do enter into partnership agreements, others simply end up on the platform without the owner’s knowledge or approval.
Ozzie Fernandez—who owns Izzo’s, Lit Pizza and Rocca Pizzeria—is not a partner with DoorDash, yet all three of his restaurants’ names and logos are on the site. It’s the same story with Neal Hendrick, owner of Zippy’s in the Perkins Road overpass area.
“When a customer visits the DoorDash website, there is no way for them to distinguish which restaurants have partnered with DoorDash and which have not,” says Stan Harris, president and CEO of the Louisiana Restaurant Association, in an emailed statement. “This could negatively impact the restaurant’s reputation with its potential customer due to this identity or relationship confusion.”
Rotolo says he’s “looking at options” as to how he’ll respond, declining to disclose more information about the potential lawsuit.
He wouldn’t be the first restaurant owner to take the company to court. In-N-Out Burger, the California-based regional chain, sued DoorDash for trademark infringement in 2015 after more than a year of demanding its logo and menu be removed from its site. And earlier this year, Burger Antics, a suburban Chicago restaurant, filed a lawsuit after receiving complaints from customers that their food was too cold or too late.
However, some chains, like Chipotle Mexican Grill and Wendy’s, have been quick to partner with the app. Locally, Reginelli’s Pizzeria owner Darryl Reginelli has been a partner with the service through his New Orleans locations and says his Baton Rouge restaurant has seen an early surge in business.
“It allows us to service customers outside our normal delivery area,” says Reginelli, who is happy with the service.
Still, Rotolo says he isn’t going to partner with a brand he knows nothing about, especially one that charges his customers more than he does. According to a company blog post, customers pay for the price of their food plus any local taxes, as well as a delivery fee, an optional Dasher tip and a service fee.
Though Hendrick isn’t planning to take legal action, he understands where Rotolo is coming from and says he agrees the DoorDash model is “problematic.”
“They want you to raise your prices,” Hendrick says. “It turns a $20 meal into a $30 meal, and you might get our food 45 minutes later.”
It’s still unclear when DoorDash entered the Baton Rouge market, but restaurant owners estimate sometime within the past few weeks. Company officials could not be reached for comment prior to publication.
