Uttam Mukherjee and co-founder Tim McConnell, a former Amazon employee, launched Yaku on October 30. The service currently partners with five Ballard restaurants, employs two drivers, and delivers only within Ballard. It charges a flat $9.99 delivery fee for all orders.

Mukherjee said the idea grew out of frustration with the rising costs of delivery in Seattle, which routinely ranks among the most expensive delivery markets in the country. He pointed to the city's PayUp law, which took effect in 2024 and set minimum pay standards for app-based delivery drivers. In response, DoorDash and Uber added a $5 fee to orders in Seattle, which the companies said was necessary to cover the costs of the legislation.

Since then, Mukherjee said he has seen a drop in sales at Spice Waala. "The high delivery prices offer an opportunity for someone else to come in and provide that service at a better business model," he said.

Yaku's model differs from the major apps in two key ways. Its drivers are employees rather than independent contractors, which Mukherjee said makes coordination easier. Restaurants can communicate directly with drivers about which orders need to go out and when, and can help if a driver needs to return for a forgotten item. "You can't talk to the Dashers," Mukherjee said.

The service also uses a flat fee rather than the more complex pricing structures of the major apps. In a comparison, a wrap and two snacks from Spice Waala cost $31.50 on Yaku and $35.36 on DoorDash, even though DoorDash was waiving its $1.99 delivery fee at the time.

Mukherjee said he supports the goal of paying delivery drivers more, but feels policymakers did not consider the impact on restaurants. Since 2024, he has met with multiple city council members. "Every single time, everyone agrees it's a big problem, and every single time they say it's just not something we're going to be working on," he said.

A recent study by the city's Office of Labor Standards found that average wages for drivers increased after PayUp's passage, while overall order volume also ticked up slightly. The app companies dispute the findings.

Yaku is still in its early days. On launch day, it had fulfilled just one order: a breakfast burrito from Rachel's Bagels and Burritos. Over the first weekend, Mukherjee said the service saw "a lot of website visitors, a lot of interest," and "some orders."

The company is still figuring out how to make the model work, which may mean adding more restaurants, changing the delivery radius, or adjusting the fee. Mukherjee is already looking at expanding to Capitol Hill, and said the "ultimate goal" would be an app if Yaku catches on.

Other attempts to break free of the app model have met with mixed results. Fried chicken specialist Bok a Bok ditched DoorDash for in-house delivery in 2024, only to close earlier this year. A driver named Tony Illes launched an independent service called Tony Delivers that now has an app and 1,000 drivers signed up, though it operates only in select neighborhoods and with a handful of restaurants.

For now, Yaku's success may depend on whether Seattleites are willing to pay for delivery at all, given how expensive it has become. But Mukherjee said the service is trying to offer a fairer deal for restaurants, drivers, and customers alike.