Submitted Photo Bite Squad began delivering food in Minot in November and brings fresh food from local restaurants right to your door.

Snow flutters by your window on an icy winter day. You’re craving something from your favorite local restaurant but you don’t feel like braving the cold. Bite Squad, a new delivery service in Minot, is bringing food from local restaurants right your door.

Bite Squad will deliver from over 20 restaurants in Minot including local favorites Mi Mexico, Schatz Crossroads, 10 North Main and many more. They began delivering in Minot in early November.

Founded in 2012 in Minneapolis, Bite Squad partners with more than 10,000 restaurants across more than 300 cities in 18 states to deliver fresh food straight to the customer’s door, quickly and hassle-free. In addition to Minot, Bite Squad has expanded to Bismarck and has already been established in Fargo.

“The response has actually been really good and we’ve been fairly busy,” Matthew Cunningham, lead driver for Bite Squad in Minot, said. “The market is actually very welcoming in that aspect. There’s a lot of smaller businesses and chains that are getting on board.”

Delivery fees in Minot start from $2.99. You can order through the Bite Squad app, available on Android and iOS, or from their website bitesquad.com.

Once in the app or online, selecting around me will show all the restaurants in the area that are within seven miles to be delivered to you.

“You’re basically buying your time back because instead of having to cook and shopping, you’re sitting at home with your kids or your family and it just gets brought right to you so it’s a lot simpler,” Cunningham said.

In their arrival to Minot, some restaurants were concerned that they were added to Bite Squad’s list of restaurants without being contacted. Nite Train Pizza and The Cheesesteak Factory spoke out on their Facebooks pages urging their customers to not use the service.

Nite Train posted on Facebook: “It has come to our attention that there is a food delivery service called Bite Squad taking advantage of our customers by selling our food online at a huge markup… Nite Train Pizza was not contacted by Bite Squad, and they do not have our permission to sell our food, be our representatives, or be a middleman in getting food to you. We provide our own free delivery by drivers trained specifically for our restaurant.”

After Nite Train and Cheesesteak Factory spoke out, they were immediately removed from Bite Squad’s website.

Other restaurants are using Bite Squad to reach a wider audience. El Azteca on North Hill posted on their Facebook page Nov. 20: “In cooperation with Bite Squad, El Azteca will have delivery for food on the go! If you feel like staying in or just don’t have time to leave, just call in for delivery!”

Customers in the Bismarck and Minot areas can order Bite Squad seven days a week from 10:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. For a complete list of restaurants or more information, visit bitesquad.com.