“I want food”: Avenues Food Bot Allows People To Order Their Food Via Telegram

So Telegram is having a breakout year in Zimbabwe this year due to circumstances out of our control but nonetheless, the messaging application is finding a lot of utility among Zimbabweans. From shopping to fuel groups, even food ordering bots are now part of that line-up.

The Avenues Food Bot allows people living in the Avenues area to order food from their phones via Telegram. Your orders will incur a $10 fee for each order you make and the order process starts out with you simply typing “I want food” which will prompt the bot to ask you for your address. After which you’ll be asked for your EcoCash phone number and then the bot will finally ask you for your order before an EcoCash pop up arises with your bill and then after you simply wait for your food to come on your doorstep.

Who can I order from?

At the time of writing, you can only order from Pizza Inn and Chicken Inn and once you consider the ordering process it would be very complicated to order from other food outlets with more complex menus. It will be interesting to see if this is a feature they integrate at some point.

Anything else I should know about this bot?

What are the running hours of the food bot? Well, as long as the food court Pizza/Chicken Food Courts at Five Avenue are open (which is 9 or 10 PM if I’m not mistaken). And how do they get to your door? Well there are delivery guys waiting on orders and those are the guys who get to bring your food to you and from my communication with Harvey Binamu – one of the projects leads- they are adding to the delivery staff which should ensure there are enough people to tend to orders.

Disclaimer: We haven’t tested out this bot yet but we have talked to one the heads behind the project and they gave us a briefing of how it works and it seems pretty cool.