The social dining network is launching an iOS app on Wednesday that can be used to browse and book its dining experiences. It's the startup's first mobile app.
Grubwithus hosts dining experiences in seven cities. Its employees name the theme (i.e. "New to New York") and negotiate a fixed menu with the restaurant, and anybody who wants to attend can sign up and pay through the website (or now the mobile app). Everyone who signs on simply shows up and eats without worrying about splitting the check. Grubwithus also has a "create your own meal" feature that lets users name a location, theme and price-point, but it isn't yet available for mobile.
So why does making Grubwithus mobile make it better?
"You can pull up your reservation on the go," co-founder Daishin Sugano says. "You can also chat with fellow diners, something that is kind of hidden on the website."
The app also introduces a new Grubwithus feature for keeping track of favorite diners' meal plans. When users star a profile, they'll get an alert when that person signs up for a meal. It might sound slightly creepy, but it doesn't reveal any more information than is already publicly visible on the Grubwithus website -- it's just making it more convenient to access. Sugano says he sees the feature being used to connect with people who share mutual friends, interests or alma maters.
"You can find someone who you want to eat with," he says, "and you can actually eat with them."
