If you’re reading this, you probably already know most food delivery companies (and restaurants) want you to carry food in some kind of a delivery bag.
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While there are a number of excellent food delivery bags on the market, Uber also sells its own branded bags through UberEatsShop. When I first signed up for Uber Eats, I asked support if they sold any of their own and was directed to this website.
Since then, they’ve expanded the selection to include a number of green Uber-branded bags.
The cost to ship to Canada was about $70 in total, making it the only upfront expense I had to make to start as an Uber walker. It arrived about a week later in a flat box, and it folds out into a square cube shape – assembly time was one minute.
If you are thinking of doing Uber Eats while travelling, the ease you can fold the bag down to a smaller size might be handy to take it with you.
Why the Uber Biker Backpack?
I picked this one because it seemed like a good size. At 16″ x 19″ x 15″ (41 x 48 x38 cm), this is large enough for an adult male to carry two or three bags in.
The outside is black with a velcro-attached lid with a handle. There’s a reflective strip that goes around the top. On the sides, there is some mesh netting that could be used for drink bottles. There is an adjustable padded harness for carrying the bag.
After about a month or two of use, I found the velcro strip started to detach from the bag as the stitching had started to break. I was able to use some Krazy Glue to reattach it mostly.
The other area that wore out was the area where the straps were attached to the bag. Fortunately, this was mostly cosmetic damage.
This bag also comes with a removable divider. This is attached by velcro strips on the middle of the bag and flaps on the side of the divider. Like the inside of the bag, it is covered with foil meant to maintain the temperature of the contents.
I do like that the divider can keep cold and hot foods away from each other. Because it’s detachable and a bit flexible, you can position it so that smaller items are held in place and not moving around too much when traveling.
As far as temperature maintenance goes, it does probably help a bit and also keeps dust out if you’re traveling through a city all day.
My experience in carrying food with it, both in low temperatures (-15 C) or hot days (28 C), is that it does a decent job keeping the food at a normal temperature if the trip is short. I would not want to transport ice cream in summer with this, but it seems to work well for most other foods.
If the size seems large, my experience has been it’s a good size as it seems like fast-food restaurants seem to be packing things in larger bags – or maybe the orders are just bigger, and I’ve had many cases where a single order fits in the bag comfortably.
The Pros
Basically, it’s a pretty durable bag that gets the job done. It has a reflective band around the top which is good for visibility at night, and that’s always good, even if you’re crossing the street.
The main features I liked about it are:
- Thickly padded adjustable shoulder straps are comfortable to wear and take off your back.
- The removable divider helps keep food and drinks stable.
- Mesh side pockets haven’t been used but they are nice to have
- Reflective strips on the top flap of the bag.
- Dimensions: 16″ x 19″ x 15″ are large enough for all but larger pizzas sizes
- Water-resistant – no issues delivering in the rain.
Cons
Overall, I have no major complaints about the bag other than how quickly the velcro started coming off the side.
The construction of the bag is ok. As you can see from the pictures, the velcro strips around the side did start to rip off after a month of use. I was able to reattach it with some Krazy Glue, and it seems to have not pulled off much since then.
The main features I didn’t like about it are:
- The divider can only attach in the middle – it would be nice if there were other points it could be attached to.
- Quality of bag construction.
- No vertical dividers – you have to organize packages yourself.
If you are carrying a lot of drinks, you might want to pick up a drink holder as, other than the divider, the bag doesn’t have any way of holding things in place. I usually request a drink holder (lots of restaurants give these anyways) and brace it against the side with the order bag.
As I’m walking, this isn’t usually a problem, but things might shift around more if cycling with this bag.
Is It Good for Pizza Delivery?
When it comes to pizza, this bag can usually carry up to medium-sized pizzas (12 inches and under).
One trick I found was being able to carry a larger-sized pizza box in it by placing the bag on its side, and the bag will stretch out so that the pizza fits and the top still close so that the pizza stays warm and protected from the elements. Obviously, you can’t strap this on your back, but for short walks, it’s fine to carry like you would a box.
If you do find yourself having to decline a lot of orders because people are ordering pizzas that are too big, you might want to look at a specialized pizza bag.
You might even find that this bag is large enough that you can fold the pizza bag down, so it fits inside the bag when not in use.
Cleaning
If you ever worked at McDonald’s in your younger years, you probably remember how you’d get home and have to shower and wash your uniform to get that smell out – well, that’s what your bag is going to smell like after a few hours of hauling fast food around – and the heat is going to make it that more pungent!
I use Lysol Disinfectant Spray (do this in a ventilated area or outside if you can) and just spray the sides inside (including the divider) of the bag down with it after each shift. This keeps the fast-food odor at bay too.
You can also use a general household cleaner every now and then to get anything off it that sticks to it.
One time I got bombed by a pigeon and had to call it an afternoon to clean off. As well as smelling terrible, their feces is also a bit acidic, and you want to get that off the bad (and anywhere else it landed) as soon as possible. I ended up using some water and cleaner to get most of it off. Then leave it out in the sun for a bit to dry off.
Is This Bag Right for You?
I’d recommend this bag if you’re getting started doing Uber Eats on foot. I do like that the bag doesn’t have any branding, but that’s a personal preference. The size is good for at least one full order, and the quality of the product is fine.
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