Uber Eats Roulette is the new TikTok trend turning the chore of deciding on food for a group hangout into a fun game.
What is Uber Eats roulette?
The trend is being touted as a modern spin on potluck dinners—one that handily takes into account the prevalence of delivery apps and their numerous options.
It works like this: A group of friends gathers. Each person picks a restaurant from Uber Eats and orders $30-40 worth of food, with the idea that it’s enough to feed 2-3 people. They all keep quiet about what they ordered and where they got it from until the deliveries begin to arrive.
The TikToks recording the trend tend to show people sitting around on their phones in separate parts of the room before switching to the gradual reveals of each cuisine that shows up at their door.
@thelistbyanita Make the Uber Eats roulette trend your next idea for girls night. . . . . . . #girlsnight #dctiktok #dmvtiktokers #dcfoodie #dcfood #dmvfoodie #uber #trend #fyp ♬ Pennies From Heaven – Remastered – Louis Prima
Since most of the fun is wrapped up in the idea of everything being a surprise, that means there’s zero coordination between friends while ordering.
“We tried this and it was a HUGE fail, we did it without telling each other and we ALL ordered Mexican,” TikToker @benitojures commented on one recent video. “Which I mean I guess it was a success after all.”
Where did the trend originate?
Although Uber Eats roulette is gaining traction this holiday season, it isn’t exactly new.
In October 2020, Tricia Bramley (@solsticeandsun) posted a TikTok featuring her and her friends ordering different deliveries from the app and keeping them a secret. She also referred to it as “UberEats Roulette,” writing, “Because we’re grown. And we can.”
“If you’ve ever tried to arrange dinner for a group of people, you know what a cumbersome task that can be,” she told the Daily Dot. “I suggested that we should all order something from Uber Eats, and share. From there, the idea spiraled into not discussing our orders and being surprised at what was delivered.”
Other TikTokers have occasionally posted their versions in subsequent years, but even this recent uptick seems to have begun with a follow-up from Bramley posted in late November that has racked up over 883,000 views.
@solsticeandsun UberEats Roulette: 2024. Everyone spends $30-40 and orders enough food for 2-3 people. We all order at the same time and put our phones down. We don’t discuss or disclose what we order. Could we wind up with 8 pizzas? Sure we could. But that’s part of the fun. #food #eat #party #thanksgiving #holiday #holidaytiktok #thanksgiving2024 #ubereats #family #doordash #fyp #fyppppppppppppppppppppppp @Uber Eats @DoorDash ♬ Oh Yeah – Ferris Bueller
“Everyone sticks to an agreed-upon budget, we all put our order in at the same time, and we try not to look at our phones unless the delivery driver needs information, so that way we don’t know who’s order is showing up at what time,” Bramley said, outlining the rules she and her friends set up. “We also don’t unbox the food until all the food has been delivered, in a grand reveal.”
The Uber Eats roulette TikTok trend takes off
In December, singer Lily Rose (@lilyrosemusicofficial) brought wider attention to the idea of Uber Eats roulette when she posted a TikTok about it that pulled in over 9.3 million views in less than a week. Showing off their haul, she listed their cuisine results as Taco Bell, Chinese, Mexican, wings, and tacos.
“And 5 bottles of wine,” she added.
@lilyrosemusicofficial And 5 bottles of wine LOL #fyp #funny #ubereats #food ♬ Pennies From Heaven – Remastered – Louis Prima
“This is the type of potluck I want to participate in,” wrote @yubee.na.
“See this is a party i would go to after 8pm,” @momoftwins_plusone joked, while several others wished that they had friend groups who would gather just to partake in Uber Eats roulette.
“$30 worth of food on uber eats is like 1 thing,” said @carob7717, with others pointing out that likely accounts for the fast food options showing up in several of these videos.
Still, an easy and fun way to feed a group of people is clearly catching on amongst TikTokers. Some have switched things up a bit, changing the amount of money each person is supposed to spend, placing a limit on the time everyone has to order, or coming up with other spins of their own.
Bramley herself shared that she and her friends have found ways to adapt the trend for various situations like brunch or multi-course meals in the years since they first began “playing” Uber Eats roulette.
But at the end of the day, the core of it stays the same.
@kelscastonguay8 Ultimate girl dinner ✨ #ubereatsroulette #ubereats #fooddelivery #nashville #nashvilletennessee #girlsnight #girldinner ♬ Just A Girl – No Doubt
@chelseaintal played #ubereatsroulette for our secret santa party. we maybe ordered too much and drank too many espresso martinis 😜 #ubereats #doordash #potluck ♬ Pennies From Heaven – Remastered – Louis Prima
@stephanie.arielle who ordered best? 😋 share this with the person you want to do this with #ubereatsroulette #dinnerparty ♬ Underneath the Tree (Christmas Songs – One day, everything changed. You’re all I need) – Kelly Clarkson
“I really love the fact that we created something that makes everyone who tries it happy,” Bramley said. “Everyone should try it once—and definitely tip their drivers!”
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