A local food delivery provider, now rebranded as Iowa Eatz, has made a triumphant return to the Story County community.
Iowa Eatz Owner Kevin Mahoney, who is originally from Maryland, has been part of the delivery service industry for 31 years. Mahoney ran a large delivery company in his home state before moving to his wife’s hometown of Ames in 2013.
In 2017, Mahoney purchased MyTown2Go-Ames, a local delivery service that had just opened in Ames a few months prior. At the time, it was the only company providing food delivery services in the area. According to Mahoney, MyTown2Go-Ames saw success in the range of 300 orders per day.
As more national competitors started coming to the area in 2019, a company called EatStreet reached out to purchase MyTown2Go-Ames. During the same time, Mahoney’s daughter was diagnosed with leukemia. With uncertainty looming, including an increase of family medical expenses, the Mahoneys decided to sell the business.
Since then, Mahoney’s daughter has received treatment and is now considered cancer-free, with Mahoney telling StoryCounty.News that she is “doing great in her recovery.”
Mahoney later rebranded his company as Iowa Eatz, opening a location in Mason City in 2021. “Twenty restaurants in Mason City exclusively use IowaEatz for their delivery services,” he said. “We have been very successful up there.”
After fulfilling a non-compete clause with EatStreet, Iowa Eatz was officially able to start up in Ames in May. Mahoney is “thrilled to be back in town and part of the community,” and he believes success will follow, given the brand’s “focus on exceptional service.”
Mahoney says one of the reasons Iowa Eatz is such a unique delivery service is because they are local and focus on individual customers. “We provide services that some other larger companies cannot provide,” he explained. “The service we provide is exemplary.”
“It is going to take us some time to get the order volume and the community’s trust and support back. We will definitely get there, given the relationships we’ve built over the years.”
Mahoney says he plans to focus his time appealing to restaurants and eateries in the area. “COVID has changed this industry tremendously,” he noted. “A lot of the restaurants that did not want to use a national delivery service had no choice once COVID hit, in order to keep their stores afloat. I would never ask a restaurant at this point to give up the orders they’re getting from another company.”
“Most restaurants love us, and as soon as we get the order volume up, they will use us exclusively.”
From a consumer’s standpoint, Mahoney believes Iowa Eatz is a no-brainer for those who prefer to support local and value reliable service. “Basically, we pick up food, and we deliver it to the customer,” he explained. “It seems very simple, but there’s a lot more that goes into it.” Iowa Eatz offers delivery to households across Story County, including those in small towns outside of Ames.
Mahoney says his primary goal is to establish great working relationships with everyone involved in the process. “It’s basically a team,” he acknowledges. “It’s the restaurant doing their part, me doing my part, the driver’s doing their part…all for customer satisfaction. This is what we do. We’re good at it, and we like to keep smiles on people’s faces.”
Iowa Eatz also has a team of local dispatchers. At present they are working remotely but plan to open an office soon so that multiple individuals can coordinate efforts from the same room. Mahoney says the benefit of this method is “local customer service where you can pick up the phone and dial if you need any assistance, and it happens immediately.”
“Customer satisfaction is our utmost importance and priority,” Mahoney continued. “If we deliver 300 orders in a day, I’m not worried about the 298 that are perfect, I’m worried about the two that went wrong and trying to get that fixed.”
Mahoney pointed out that he personally interviews each delivery driver and provides them with the proper equipment. Traditionally, drivers that work with Iowa Eatz are independent contractors, not employees. Anyone interested in working as a driver should visit www.iowaeatz.com for more information.
Mahoney hopes the Ames community embraces Iowa Eatz similar to how it embraced MyTown2Go in 2017. “We have a lot of happy customers ahead,” he concluded. “We love being here in Ames and have a lot of local community support from businesses. We have experience in the industry, and we excel at getting the orders as perfect as possible every time. The customers pay for the convenience, and we want to make sure we give them the best possible order experience from the time it leaves the restaurant until it gets to the door.”
“It’s just about having the passion and doing every little thing right.”
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