Facebook Lets Users Order Food

Sick of politics on Facebook? Wouldn’t you rather have pizza? Now, with Facebook’s new “Order Food” button, you can.

The hamburger icon will roll out to a few select users first, enabling them to place orders for pickup or delivery through Delivery.com and Slice.

The option builds on Facebook’s previously announced deal with the online ordering hubs, which allowed users to place orders with supported restaurants using their Facebook Page’s “Start Order” button.

Facebook initially announced its collaboration with Delivery.com and Slice in October 2016, along with features that would allow users to discover local events, get recommendations from friends or from locals while traveling, request an appointment at participating salons and spas, get a quote from a local business or get tickets to movies and events via Fandango.

The new “Order Food” button aggregates all those supported options into one place, lets users browse menus, add or revise items in the cart and add a tip. It then completes the full order through the Facebook site, including secure payment, powered by Delivery.com or Slice.

Facebook is still ironing out the quirks, but once the feature rolls out fully, hungry timeline scrollers are sure to appreciate the convenience. Users will no longer have to leave the app to order food or search for individual Facebook Pages to find out whether a certain restaurant offers online ordering — they can simply tap the burger icon to find out and then place the order in one streamlined process.

“Order Food” is just one more brick in the new strategy Facebook has been building to keep users on the platform. By duplicating the functionality of other sites with offerings like weather, discover people, city guides, town hall (displaying government information), online jobs board, fundraisers and games, Facebook is doing everything it can to keep distracted eyes from straying.

The option is still being tested, so don’t get hangry if you don’t see the burger button yet — it’s only a matter of time.