# MealPal- Best Meals Around You — user reviews > 426 indexed App Store user reviews of MealPal by MealPal, Inc., rated 4.70/5 from 35,458 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mealpal-best-meals-around-you/id1123086545/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mealpal-best-meals-around-you/id1123086545.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 27,390 · 4★ 5,777 · 3★ 1,204 · 2★ 185 · 1★ 902 ## What do users think of MealPal? Overall sentiment: neutral **Pros** - 🚀 Convenient and time-saving - 💰 Good value and affordable - 🌟 Variety of food options - 🔍 Helps discover new restaurants **Cons** - 🤔 Unclear policies and lack of transparency - 🔒 Difficult to cancel subscription - 🍔 Inconsistent meal quality and portion sizes - 🗺️ Limited restaurant options in some areas - 🕰️ Strict time constraints for pickup **Commonly reported bugs** - App crashes and freezes - Incorrect or outdated restaurant information - Issues with automatic subscription renewals **Most requested features** - Ability to roll over unused meals - More flexible subscription options - Improved app performance and stability - Better filtering and sorting of restaurant options - Integration with dietary preferences and restrictions ## Newest reviews (16 of 426) ### 2/5 — Terrible communication on rollover *2026-07-20, version 3.14.16* Says that there is rollover on plan but not on hold list 50$ because of this I am quite sad ### 3/5 — The walk time estimates are wrong *2026-05-22, version 3.14.12* Ive been a customer for years and it’s a pretty great app. There are some things. Three minutes timer has become a kind of an annoying reminder about someone print somewhere. The walking time estimates are almost all wrong in the range of 30-100% the time it will say on Google Maps. Seems like that should be an easy fix. I’ve told them directly but nothing seemed to change. It’s a reasonably priced plan for a big variety of choices depending where in the area you are and how many fast casual restaurants you’re near or willing to walk. Not enough vegetarian options. Menu choice rotation could be a little bigger at a lot of the restaurants. Similarly priced options on the menu and stuff. Some places will allow for minor alterations like leaving out red onions… No warning for when your favorite place goes out of business. Not sure what can be done about that though. Customer service is pretty nice. ### 3/5 — Refund / credits concern *2026-03-30, version 3.14.10* I’ve been a MealPal user for over 6 years. I proactively reached out because I would be out of the country and had over 200 credits. At first, I was offered a ~$120 refund, but later communication led me to believe placing my account on hold would preserve my credits. Now I’m being told I can only keep 120 credits or get a much smaller refund (~$44), which feels unfair given I tried to handle this responsibly. I hope MealPal can improve how they handle situations like this for long-term users. ### 2/5 — Can’t login *2026-03-24, version 3.14.10* Can’t login, system keeps freezing ### 4/5 — Quality and quantity *2026-02-20, version 3.14.08* Very satisfaced of the Quálitas and quantity ### 2/5 — Deceptive app with limited offerings *2026-02-02, version 3.14.04* Can’t see options before subscribing, not great offerings, can’t modify selection. Would not recommend. ### 2/5 — Constantly Nickel & Diming *2026-01-05, version 3.14.00* This company must only be surviving based on all the extra hidden costs and constant changing rules of their credit system. ### 2/5 — I PROMISE it’s not worth it; it’s entirely based on deception *2025-12-10, version 3.13.98* I use meal pal for a few months last year, I tried giving it a second try for a few months this year. The full conclusion is that it is truly not worth it For one, you save around maybe two dollars per meal. You have no choice in what the meal you’re getting is, and can make no modifications or customizations to it. Don’t like tomatoes? Too bad, you’re getting raw tomatoes in it. You have a dietary restriction or an allergy? Too bad, get the predetermined meal or don’t eat. You don’t get to see the locations of what places participate in meal pal until you pay the subscription. And if you’re in an area that doesn’t have a lot of options, too bad. You’re screwed, get ready for some long walks. As someone who lives in an area that has a number of options, it’s still inconvenient, because you have strict time frames that you have to place, cancel, and pick up the order by. There’s a very little room to change your mind. This company relies on swindling people through deception – the meal pal credits that you have do not equate to a dollar. Each credit costs a dollar to two dollars per credit, depending on what plan you select. They purposely do it so that it looks like you’re getting such a better deal, but you really aren’t. I’ve had meal pal tell me I’m saving 20% on a meal (which still comes out to maybe two or three dollars max, if that is to be trusted) and then I’ve gone to the location, gotten the meal, and saw on the menu that it actually would’ve been cheaper without meal pal. They’re also very sneaky with the subscription renewals – if you pause or cancel your subscription, you lose the credits that you have on your account. If you downgrade your plan, and have more credits left over in your current subscription then the new one holds by time the subscription renews, you’ll lose those too. You can’t use meal pals on the weekends, so even if you have “two days left” of your subscription before it automatically renews (whether you used up all the credits or not, it automatically renews at the same time each month, or once you hit 10 credits, to perpetually keep you trapped with them), no you actually don’t. There’s no way for you to use those credits. And don’t even dream about picking up two meals in one day to try to use up those credits, they don’t allow that This has been such a regret subscription of mine - save your money, pay the extra two dollars for a meal that you’d actually choose and enjoy eating, that won’t take up your entire lunch break to get to. Don’t fall into the cycle of being trapped with them like I have, I’ve been wanting to get out but have been unable to because of the pileup of credits, I regret ever giving it a second try. ### 3/5 — Scared of redesigns *2025-11-27, version 3.13.94* Ive been a customer for years. I still don’t know who sees the meal reviews and now they’re not even written by the user with the new AI assistant. I’d rather answer a few multiple choices than get you to write a review based on words I don’t really use. ### 2/5 — App support horrible *2025-11-13, version 3.13.92* The app very frequently has issues connecting to the camera, so whenever I go pick up, the QR code scanner within the app does not work. Since the restaurants don’t get compensated if I can’t get it scanned, I have been refused to be served. I sent multiple emails for getting my credits back, but radio silence from the company. ### 2/5 — Limited Options *2025-10-01, version 3.13.82* Wish you had the ability to customize the order. Like the ability to order brown rice instead of white. Given the limited options and customization I’ll rather pay the few extra bucks to get exactly what I want. ### 1/5 — Don’t download *2025-09-26, version 3.13.82* Be aware of the hidden fees. Plus, it doesn’t honor any promotion. the app promoted an Amazon gift card offer but failed to deliver it by the promised date and has not provided any updated delivery timeline. ### 1/5 — SCAMMERS *2025-09-22, version 3.13.82* Scammers. Paid for a 30-day cycle but didn’t even get the full 30 days. They cut access early and then tell you to pay again to use the unused credits you already purchased. Completely misleading and unfair. Stay away. ### 1/5 — Scam app that doesn’t care for its customers *2025-09-22, version 3.13.82* This is a predatory business that preys on the good faith of its customers for offering cheaper ways to have lunch at certain restaurants. -You are unable to even see the restaurants that are available to you until AFTER you give them money -They will upgrade you to a more expensive plan with the only notification being in fine print -Points cannot be rolled over into the next month even if you put your account on hold -There is NO WAY in the app to cancel your subscription beyond reaching out to their customer support email inbox -There is a “reactivation fee” if you cancel your subscription, just because they can -It seems they are flooding this app with fake positive reviews because there are endless highly critical one star reviews that are also rated most helpful but the app still has a 4.7 star rating ### 1/5 — Gross company when you cancel *2025-09-09, version 3.13.78* When you cancel your account, this company says you have to pay to access your account again, but then they beg you with promo and promo to rejoin for free with multiple discounts. The promos are especially predatory and they use very annoying messaging such as “account alert! $70 was just added to your mealpal account, claim here” eww ### 4/5 — Good but could be great *2025-08-14, version 3.13.74* I love the idea but the app is clunky, you can’t look up things very easily and just generally feels outdated. If they were to get this app into modern times it would be an amazing product. But with that said I still get most of my lunches from here! ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Customer service is not helpful *2026-08-31* The customer service provided is not adequate to resolve the issue. The restaurant was sold out of my meal so I should get the refund of credits PLUS an additional day to use my credits. That is common sense since there is a time limit on using credits and you can only reserve 1 meal per day. I wasted the day on that meal and they won’t do anything to resolve it as simple as extending my subscription 1 day because of an issue. I’ve had friends also in the past who had issues reserving or picking up meals and customer service didn’t help at all. I tried it to give it a chance since the issues they encountered was years ago but the customer service is still just as bad. I wouldn’t recommend this service. They also never responded to my friends who had to waste all their credits in the past because restaurants were closed during the holidays and you can’t get an extension for your meal credits. I also wish we could order more than 1 meal a day if I want to take out family, friends, or coworkers to eat, especially when my credits are expiring. ### 1/5 — Poor app *2026-08-19, version 3.14.24* Aggressive in-app prompts and rigid feedback loops before unlocking functionality. ### 1/5 — Have to pay first before knowing what I can get *2026-07-27, version 3.14.20* I wanted to give it a try and see what is available in my area. But I have to pay first before? ### 1/5 — Awful application - they steal your money *2026-06-01, version 3.14.12* So I started using this app as it was recommend by a few friends. At first, it was great. Getting good food at a discounted price. Then, I begin to realize that if you don’t use all the credits you purchase, you loose them every month and they don’t roll over. Also, after being frustrated with this, I decide I want to contact customer service, well, that is non-existent. So I freeze the account and continue contacting their customer service which merely says feedback. Awful, awful, awful. After freezing the account because I didn’t know what else to do. They wait two months and charge me again. These people just want to steal your money. Don’t bother!! ### 1/5 — Can’t pay *2026-05-20, version 3.14.12* Is mealpal still in business? I tried to purchase a plan on desktop website and App, but both time were failed due to unknown issue. ### 1/5 — allow us to sign up *2026-05-20, version 3.14.12* i can’t sign up on ios, it won’t let me enter my email address or postal code. iphone 14 ### 1/5 — Worst sign up and sign in process *2026-05-05, version 3.14.12* This app has the worst sign up and sign in procedure. You can’t see the restaurants and meals before you paying. You are literally signing up for surprise. ### 1/5 — Money grab?? *2026-01-09, version 3.14.00* Can’t even take a look at the app to see the quantity/quality of restaurants in my area. I would LOVE to purchase, but I’m not going to blindly do so without even a list to see ### 1/5 — A scam that wipes out your credit with no reason *2026-01-05, version 3.14.00* Do not sign up for MealPal. When you pause the app if you need traveling, the app will just wipe out all of your existing credits and do not agree to restore it. They just hope to get as much money as possible from you. The collaborated restaurants aren’t providing the best share of the meal either ( not fresh or normal size.) ### 1/5 — Scammy *2025-12-10, version 3.13.98* Tried to only to find hidden fees and misleading statements. Can’t customize orders and it’s a bit scammy. Makes more financial sense to buy yourself. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Best App Ever *2026-08-30, version 3.14.26* No app has been more useful to me. Saving money (a lot) is just the start. Before meal pal I would always be in a lunch rut. It diversifies my diet and I eat much healthier. It gets me to explore more of the area providing exercise as a result. It saves time by avoiding have to stand on line. It avoids my having to make hard decisions about lunch and where to go. It avoids me having to make decisions when I get to the restaurant. It greatly simplifies lunch. The key is being in an area where there are a lot of participating restaurants. Where I live it’s a MealPal desert. But Not where I work. ### 5/5 — Cheap and Easy *2026-02-17, version 3.14.08* Cheaper than original pricing and easy to locate as well ### 5/5 — Fun, East & Delicious *2025-10-10, version 3.13.86* I absolutely love how fun and easy it is to use MealPal. I have been using MealPal for about seven or eight years since they started in New York City. The variety has been getting better and better every year and the restaurants which are partners have the most delicious options as well as healthy food to eat! I love being able to go in and quickly get something to eat without having to wait in line. MealPal is my favorite app in the world! ### 5/5 — Actually Amazing *2025-09-08, version 3.13.78* I have 30 apps for different restaurants just so I can order pick up. I love that this app shows me cool meals near me that I wouldn’t have thought to order and that all my favorite restaurants are on it. Very easy to navigate, and I like that I can rate the restaurants directly in the app and it can link to my Google reviews. There aren’t such high fees and it’s overall great ### 5/5 — A cheaper way to eat *2025-05-30, version 3.13.60* Economy’s rough, but having a lunch for less? Priceless. ### 5/5 — Just get it! *2024-10-01, version 3.13.02* You're back at the office and they're making you come in 4 days a week. Just get the MealPal. On your way home, order for the next day. One less thing to do! ### 5/5 — Great app *2024-07-31, version 3.12.92* They improve the interface. Looks like DoorDash now. ### 5/5 — Meal pad *2024-05-16, version 3.12.82* Wonderful opportunity to explore so many hidden stores and meals. Open up New Yorkers’ horizons. ### 5/5 — Must have! *2022-11-11* The good: - incredible number of food choices and restaurants - very responsive and accommodating live customer service - the savings are mind boggling - the roll over plans is super good - a lot of the meals are good size and some are even large - you are given a time window that you can chose to reserve and pick up your food What they need to improve on: - some of the restaurants listed are NOT part of the program actually, so call before deciding what to eat, to confirm - often the photo of the meal will NOT match the actual food (example in the photo it is white rice, but the meal comes with yellow rice, a deal breaker for me) - though you have reserved a meal, if it is later in the day, more OFTEN than not they would have ran out of that meal, and you will have to chose something else (again a deal breaker for me) - sometimes the restaurant will be closed, for one reason or another, but they don’t give you heads up, so when you are on lunch break and have 30-60 min for lunch, and are put in a situation of last minute changes, or having to scramble for lunch, EXTREMELY FRUSTRATING!!! Final verdict: - get this app if you are NOT a foodie, NOT picky with your food and have other lunch alternatives than this app! - DO NOT GET this app if you have limited lunch break, are a foodie, or get easily frustrated! ### 5/5 — Perfect Customer Support Experience, great service *2021-08-18, version 3.10.5* I’ve been using Mealpal on and off for around 2 years now and have found it to be a very good service most of the time. Depending on where you are there may be limited options available but if you’re in a spot with lots of Mealpal shops it’s a great way to discover places you haven’t been to, and also a great way to get a cheap deal. I recently had an issue with charges on my Mealpal account and have to say my customer support experience was perfect. Mealpal support got back to me extremely quickly and completely fixed my issue. Obviously ymmv but my experience was great, big thanks to Thomas! --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-04.*