CRAVING A BIG, FAT DESI BUFFET?

If like many people you have missed dining out and are dreaming of digging into an all-you-can-buffet, but are worried about the health-related consequences in these times of COVID-19, there’s an app that might be of help.

Andie.work, Canada’s leading, free AI online and mobile app designed to empower consumers to avoid COVID-19 exposure, is expanding its functionality to keep Canadians safe when they dine-in at a restaurant or bar or visit a patio.

The app which has been helping Canadians stay safe during COVID-19 by predicting the shortest wait times at liquor, grocery store, pharmacy, clinic, gas stations, and big box stores has added a comprehensive 8 category ratings protection system to keep Canadians safe at re-opened restaurants.

As part of their plan to further protect consumers, Andie.work recently conducted a survey of 1000 Canadians to uncover and address their greatest concerns while dining out.

Key findings of the survey (Ontario):

Ontario men seem to really be missing buffets: 70.2% of the Ontario respondents that picked buffet as the safest place to eat during COVID were men vs. only 28.2% of women.

Ontario men (65.2%) and women (34.8%) are greatly divided on eating in at a restaurant dining room.

Ontario men (49.7%) and women (50.3%) are surprisingly equal in their choice to “only eat at home”.

Men 60.4% are much more in favour of patio dining than women 39.6%.

Andie.work is now live with a unique Critical COVID ratings system to keep Canadians safe while dining out: Through Andie.work’s Dining Defender update, Canadians that use the app will be able to review ratings from other diners and rate their own experiences in real-time.

Diners will rate the critical COVID touchpoints of utensils, bathrooms, staff cleanliness, food preparation, physical distancing, safety rules enforcement, guest PPE and availability of hand sanitizers and share those ratings in the app.

“We see this active ecosystem of diners on the app during COVID as a big step forward in protecting Canadians who choose to eat out,” said Dan Snow, CMO of Andie.work.

“For the sake of restaurants and patrons alike, we’ve expanded the Andie.work app to make eating out safer for Canadians and with the ratings system, they can dine with confidence.”

Key findings of the Survey (National):

Canadians feel significantly safer eating at independent restaurants (35.5%) vs. fast food (23.0%) or chain restaurants (11.1%.)

Canadians feel safer on patios (21.7%) than indoor dining rooms (10.2%).

Over half of Canadians (56.8%) are still “only eating at home”.

Men really want buffets back! A whopping 73.4% of respondents who said they felt the safest eating at a buffet during COVID were men vs. only 26.6% of women.

Women are considerably more concerned about lineups (56.1%) and utensils (55.8%) as touchpoints when eating out than men are at 43.9% (lineups) and 44.2% (utensils.)

Men are the most concerned about “exposure to other patrons” at 58.3% vs. 41.7% (women).

Canadians have real reservations about restaurants.

Asked to identify their biggest barriers to eating out right now, nearly half (45.7%) said “potentially catching COVID”.

Exposure to other patrons (21.7%), unable to afford eating out now (16.5%), and long lineups with other patrons (12.0%) were their top additional concerns.

Canadians are worried about touchpoints.

Asked what touchpoints while dining out concern them the most, 32.2% said exposure to other patrons, followed by bathrooms (22.0%), lineups (12.6%), exposure to wait staff (10.4%,) the food itself (9.6%) and utensils (9.3%.).

With restaurant density and wait times refreshed every five seconds, the Andie.work app gives Canadians a clear view of how busy prime restaurant and patio destinations are from coast to coast, enabling them to avoid both the busiest customer times and close quarters waiting in line.

The Andie.work app curates an ever-updating list of 1,100 restaurants, patios and bars across the country.

Canadians can simply input a postal code to search any popular restaurant/patio area in the country and get an AI, not crowdsourced, real-time density and line update.

It also gives diners the best times to dine, based on how busy a restaurant is in real time in major Canadian entertainment districts.

Andie is now available free as an IOS app in the Apple Store, an android app on Google Play or, Canadians can sign-up on the Andie website at app.andie.work.