Grubwithus (YC W11) Brings Strangers Together Over Social Meals

I'm sure you've thought of this, but fwiw: you should do this for big corporations. I thought of something like this as a tool for bigcos and large companies, where on my experience people tend to have lunch with the same small click, and not having particularly fun. If they could have lunch with a random group of colleagues from different parts of the company say once a week to start with, I think that would really spark new ideas and improve any company.

What a neat idea! Having food together is the best way to socialize anyway, time flies and you have something to do, no awkward silences :)<p>Maybe this is something to market to the airbnb userbase?<p>Serving food to strangers for a fee is bound to raise some eyebrows though, this time not from jealous hotel operators but from the people that lord over food safety and cleanliness in commercial settings, especially if you also serve alcohol.

We're hosting a bunch of grubwithus dinners in the Bay Area with YC alumni for women interested in learning more about startups: <a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2144852" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2144852</a>

I just wanted to say thanks for not demanding permission to post to my wall when I linked my facebook account.

I tried this a few weeks ago in Chicago and it was great. One of my favorite parts is that we didn't have to worry about splitting up the bill. I'd love to set up grubwith.us's open only to my friends. Paying in advance also eliminates the flake factor.<p>This will probably change as I say this: but women outnumbered men 2 to 1 in the dinner I attended (8 &#38; 4). What other social startup has an early adopter profile like that?

Met the Grubwithus guys at the last HN Chicago meetup and they impressed the heck out of me as guys who enjoy and have experience running businesses. Best of luck to them!

Am I the only one here that finds the use of the term "Social" as it refers to "Social Media" to describe a social activity that is possibly the most ancient form of socialising, disconcerting?

<a href="https://www.grubwith.us/signup" rel="nofollow">https://www.grubwith.us/signup</a><p>The "What city will you be eating in" lists S.F. after "other" -- straight alphabetization? Struck me as rather odd.

Out of the box it seems very speedatingesque. While amazingly fun if you have a good group, one bad guest might ruin the night for the rest of the group. If this takes off, then awesome - a new way to meet people. However I think that the grubwithus guys are going to hit quite a few social hurdles along the way.

Great idea. Suggestion: for me location matters more than date so maybe add a map view?

Great idea in itself, but also because services that give implicit dating opportunities always win.

We are building a similar site with a bit different approach, ours is a free site which encourages people to create their events at their homes or public places, also bring together communities and create a framework for small businesses, a bit like farmers markets or the like. Check us out at: <a href="http://eatwithme.net/" rel="nofollow">http://eatwithme.net/</a>

Also, FWIW, the new home page is LIGHT YEARS better than the old one. Great job. Got a designer referral?

For those browsing, it's well worth the read. Their positioning as an alternative to the groupon model is very interesting. I wonder if they think they can match the same scale though, even if it's just for restaurants. Overall, great idea! I'm going to give the Chicago version a try.

Commendable. Really well executed.<p>How about linking up with online communities.<p>I'm sure a lot of people on reddit would love this for no-fuss IRL meet ups. Likewise forums/ online games etc.<p>Well done

I'm not even a very social person, but I think this is a great idea. If I'm bored sometime, I might just try it.

Someone needs to build this for dating.

How are people grouped together? Are people able to screen the other people that they'll be eating with? Maybe that would take some of the serendipity out of it, but it could also help curb some of the superficial conversation that occurs upon meeting someone for the first time.

Love their 404: <a href="http://www.grubwith.us/oops" rel="nofollow">http://www.grubwith.us/oops</a>

love this idea. groupon+eventbrite+opentable of sorts so i hope they clarify on the checkout that tax + tip aren't included. I would have loved to have had something like this in Miami, as we used to organize geek dinners every so often and it was ALWAYS a pain.

Does the site actually check gender? Saw several female only meals with reservations from guys.

This reminds me of Rirkrit Tiravanijas work, a contemporary artist who uses the experience of a shared meal and its underlying mechanisms to create a space where strangers can connect (usually it takes place in a gallery) and form new communities.

Congratulations. I am looking forward to the dinner.

Awesome job Eddy and Dashin! Love what you guys are doing :)

Congrats, looks great!

Nice. Rock on, guys!

Looking forward to a Denver/Boulder addition. Cool idea.

Goodness, I can't wait until this hits LA and SD!

Excellent idea guys. Congrats on launching.

Great idea! I'm already signed up :-)

great idea. i will definitely try it out when it comes to boston!

very cool - looking forward to a berkeley dinner!

Great idea.

Every single one that I want to go is Females only. Dont you think that men would also like the opportunity to lern from YC founders?