Too Good To Go Food App Review - Save Money

Too Good To Go Food App Review – Save Money and Reduce Food Waste

I love apps that can help me to live a more eco-friendly lifestyle. I also love apps that will help me save money.

From what I could read online, Too Good To Go seems to be the perfect combination.

Due to that, I wanted to give this a real shot. And believe me: this is not one of the sponsored/fake reviews out there. I have not, and will never have, any direct relationship with any “environmental app”. What’s important to me is to figure out if it’s decent or not.

Too Good To Go Food App Review - Save Money

Table of Contents

What is Too Good To Go and why does it help saving money and reduce food waste?

If you already know what Too Good To Go is and have downloaded the app: skip this part. It`s just going to be annoying for you. Go to the next headline.

For you that is interested: Too Good To Go is an app that connects restaurants and hungry customers. Restaurants and bakeries all over the world produce a lot of food every day. Some of it is thrown out. Too Good To Go is a platform that helps restaurants and cafes sell the food that is…. too good to go.

Also read: 5 Smart Eco-Apps to Reduce your Carbon Footprint

This is how a purchase typically works inside the app:

1) Restaurants will, in the end of the day, see how much extra bread/chicken tikka masala/chocolate they have left.

2) In order to get rid of the food, they will open an ad on the app.

3) With the Google Maps function implemented in the app, customers can easily locate restaurants that sell the food.

4) All the food is discounted. It helps people to buy cheap dinner, and it helps restaurants to sell all their food.

5) You get a cheap dinner. The restaurant will be able to sell all their food. The planet will be happy as this is a very sustainable way of pushing “leftovers” to consumers.

Win-Win-Win.

User interface and functionalities

PS! In the end of this section you can see a lot of screenshots that I took with my phone. They help you to understand the system better.

I always have two demands for downloading and using a new app:

1) It has to create some value that I am currently lacking in my life.
2) The UX (user experience) needs to be top notch. I hate apps that do not work properly.

Luckily, Too Good To Go have both. There are loads of easy things on the app. Finding restaurants and good offers is very easy. Signing up = no problem at all. Adding your credit card information = easier done than said. 🙂

Random screenshots from Too Good To Go taken on my phone:

Let`s grab some food – how easy can I order something on Too Good To Go?

Very easy. Open your app, find the restaurants nearby, click on it – and then order. You purchase within the app, and get a confirmation straight away. After that, all you have to do is pick up the food.

Was it difficult to pick up the food?

Nah. Walking into the restaurant, tell them that I came from Too Good To Go and had purchased a veggie dish. Received the food in a nice plastic bag. Simple as that.

When I tried the app, I purchased a vegetarian dish from a nearby canteen in central Oslo. This whole meal costed me 45 NOK (5 USD), which is super cheap in Norway:

What are the negative things about using Too Good To Go?

There are two clear things that stand out to me: amount of time that you can pick up your food & not knowing what to get.

Are you sure that you can reach the restaurant within the time limit…?

Most restaurants in my area told me that I could pick up the food “between 19:30 and 20:00” or “14:00 and 14:30”. As I commute with subway/bus back and forth from the restaurant, I might risk to not getting my food. That is kind of sad.

Two examples are illustrated in the gallery below. One restaurant would only allow me to pick up my food between 18:00 and 18:15. Espresso House allowed me to pick up my food within a ten minutes (!) time frame between 20:55 and 21:05!

“Oooh, so that’s what I bought?!”

In addition to that, 95 % of the nearby restaurants offer what they call a “surprise package“. That gives meaning as they are not sure what type of food they have left in the end of the day. However, this app is not for someone who are very picky.

Let’s say you go to the Too Good To Go app and order something from an Indian restaurant. That means you can get anything from tikka masala to some coriander & fish with nan bread. It’s 100 % random.

Overall rating – how good is Too Good To Go?

After reading several other reviews online, I was expecting a super good product. And that is exactly what I got.

Pros:

– Easy to use.

– Free to use (you only pay for what you order without any hidden fees).

– The user interface was just as good as I hoped.

– The communication part between the app and the restaurant seemed to work fine. My biggest concern was to arrive at the restaurant and get a “who are you?” face. But they did not. They were very friendly and obviously informed about my late-night purchase.

Cons:
– Despite having already purchased the food, it’s a very limited “pick up time”. That can cause stress and difficulties if you pick something up during rush hours.

– You do not (necessarily) know what type of food you purchase.

I can also mention that I tried this app in Oslo. Even though it`s the capital of Norway, the city barely has 700,000 inhabitants. In other words: you will be (much) more successful to test Too Good To Go in larger European cities like Berlin, London or Amsterdam.

Reviews from other websites and bloggers

My review might be helpful and important, but it’s also worth mentioning other peoples’ experience with the app. On Trustpilot, more than 3900 people have given Too Good To Go a rating between 1 and 5. Right now, the average rating is 3,5 – which I find to be a bit low.

What I saw right away was that most negative reviews seem to be focused on the restaurants and not the app/system itself. E.g.:

Too Good To Go review on Trustpilot. Photo: Screenshot.

However, I find this next review very helpful. It’s a Danish guy who tried the app in Copenhagen. He shows you how easy you can purchase on the app, what type of food you might expect, and how much food you can get for very little money:

FAQ

Q: Does it work for both Android and Iphone?

Oh yes. I have two different phones and the app works equally good on both systems.

Q: Is the Too Good To Go app free?

It’s free. You only pay for the food you’re buying.

However, please note that you have to purchase the food with your credit card before you’re picking it up. If you somehow are unable to pick up the food you just purchased, that’s your loss.

At least that’s how I interpret the rules.

In other words: do not order something that you’re not 100 % sure you’ll pick up.

Q: Can I use the app in The United States?

Yes, you can. Or you can try.

I cannot guarantee that any restaurants in your area are currently using Too Good To Go. What I can guarantee is that the people behind the app see the US as their next big market. Therefore, I would definitely download it and check once in a while to see if there’s any neighboring restaurants or shops that you can go grab a snack at. 🙂

Have you tried the app yourself?

If you have any experience with Too Good To Go, please let me know in the comment section below. I know for a fact that a lot of my readers tend to use the comment sections to share ideas and their own experiences. Therefore, I would really urge you to write what you think of the company.

PS! Feel free to write a brutually honest review if you aren’t happy with them. Even though I am super happy with the app, I do also want to hear from everyone that got bad experiences. 🙂

8 thoughts on “Too Good To Go Food App Review – Save Money and Reduce Food Waste”

  1. Avatar

    I’ve only tried it once so far – I love in the suburbs of Portland, OR, USA – and it was a poor experience, due solely to the content of the items received. So the app works great but caveat emptor… which is basically impossible if you’re getting a surprise bag!
    Tl;dr: great idea, maybe need some twerking. Not the dance. Lol

  2. Avatar

    My opnion: a cart that serves salmon..fried chicken steak..steak…and then you get the ” SURPRISE BAG”. guess what I got? A chili dog!!!! Talk about surprise…is this a bait & switch?? How are you ” saving the planet”…??? This seems like a scam! By the way..I paid $4.99. It was crap! your organization..I don’t respect you.

  3. Avatar

    I used it in Brooklyn, NY: it’s great, but you have to be careful. Every bakery and grocery will give you bagels/muffins, so you may want to steer clear, even if it appears they have other things (an empanada place gave me 5 muffins, which isn’t even on their menu.)

    But I also got 4 slices of excellent pizza for $4, which retails in NYC for at least $10 (and these had vegetarian toppings.) Another place gave me a pound+ of freshly made pasta and a jar of delicious tiramisu, which could have retailed for $10.

  4. Avatar

    I downloaded “Too Good to Go” here in the US, but can’t seem to find a lot of restaurants nearby. Do you have any idea if there are any other apps similar to this that is more widely popular in the US?

    I love the concept, but can’t really use it as most US-based restaurants owners dont use it

    1. Avatar

      Hi Kylie, to my knowledge Too Good To Go doesn’t have a clear competitor in the US.

      You should ask the restaurant owners to get listed on the app! 😉

  5. Avatar
    Thomas Lækøy

    I am a Danish guy who uses Too Good To Go every week in Copenhagen. I see that the article is mainly pointed towards American consumers. And yes, I was in New York last week for business – and I can confirm that there are restaurants (mainly in downtown Manhattan) who actively use Too Good To Go.

    The selection and quality was nowhere close to being the same as in Denmark. However, I was able to grab some (almost free) food, which was great 😉

  6. Avatar

    Too Good To Go is an excellent app.

    I actually know the people who started it in Oslo. They are brilliant. 🙂 I have not used any other apps to reduce food waste, but I can really recommend.

    1. Avatar

      That might make you biased! 😉

      However, I agree. Too Good To Go is a great app that can save you a lot of money.

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