Amazon Offers Mpls. Prime Members Free Restaurant Delivery

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Online retail giant Amazon is trying to entice foodies in Minneapolis into buying its $99-a-year Prime membership.

The tactic? Free restaurant delivery.

Starting Wednesday, Amazon is offering Prime users in the city deliveries of their favorite meals – without the extra costs associated with other services like Bite Squad and Seamless.

Several local restaurants teamed up with Amazon and appear on the retailer's online menu. They include French Meadow Bakery, Gandhi Mahal, Capitol Café, moto-i, and The Bad Waitress.

Deliveries on Wednesday appear to be available only for a few neighborhoods on the city's south side, such as Uptown, Linden Hills, Calhoun-Isles, and Dinkytown.

The retailer, however, says it plans to expand the service to other neighborhoods in the coming weeks.

The delivery service comes just a month after Amazon began offering beer, wine and liquor deliveries in the Twin Cities through Surdyk's.

Since building a distribution center in Shakopee last year, Amazon has expanded its footprint in the Twin Cities.