# Shef: Local Chef Meal Delivery — user reviews > 106 indexed App Store user reviews of Shef by Shef, Inc, rated 4.80/5 from 4,538 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shef-local-chef-meal-delivery/id1598007796/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shef-local-chef-meal-delivery/id1598007796.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 4,094 · 4★ 261 · 3★ 69 · 2★ 33 · 1★ 81 ## What do users think of Shef? Overall sentiment: negative **Pros** - 🍔 Variety of homemade regional cuisines - 🍲 Authentic and high-quality home-cooked meals - 🚚 Reliable and convenient delivery - 💪 Support for local home chefs and immigrant communities **Cons** - 🐛 Buggy and poorly designed app - 🕰️ Inconsistent delivery times and order issues - 🤖 Lack of responsive customer support - 💳 Questionable billing and subscription practices - 🗑️ Excessive use of single-use plastics **Commonly reported bugs** - App crashes and freezes on launch - Issues with payment processing and order confirmation - Inconsistent data and information across the app **Most requested features** - Ability to save and reorder favorite dishes - Improved search and filtering options for chefs and cuisines - Better order tracking and communication - Streamlined subscription management ## Newest reviews (12 of 106) ### 4/5 — Shifting delivery dates *2026-07-23, version 1.22* I picked one date for delivery, but during my ordering, the delivery date changed back and forth. In the end, I submitted the order without knowing when my food would be delivered until I submitted the order. ### 4/5 — Solid Food. App can be improved. Works *2026-02-14, version 1.22* Solid Food. App can be improved. Works ### 2/5 — Delivery fail *2025-11-04, version 1.21* First time using. I picked delivery time between 2-5:30 and the eta keeps moving later and now is 9:18. No email or txt informing me that it will be late. I had to spend 20 minutes trying to get in touch with a person. Maybe the food is good but by the time it gets here probably have to throw it away. To their credit I did get full refund but I am now starving without dinner and would have much preferred to get the delivery in time. Guess have to go back to factor or cook unity. ### 3/5 — Crashed on 1st open *2025-09-04, version 1.20* Every time I open the app, it always crashes on the first open and opens correctly on the second. Once it’s open, the design and functionality is good enough. ### 2/5 — App is broken service is great *2025-05-06, version 1.18* The app is broken. It’s a shame because the concept is great and the food is amazing. I’ve managed to do 3 orders but I’ve given up so many times after freezing and unresponsive states of the app have rendered it unusable. It’s very frustrating because the times it has worked, I’ve gotten some truly unique and amazing food. Two stars since it has worked on occasion. Fix the freezing and it’d get 5 stars. Incidentally the website has the exact same issue. ### 2/5 — App needs a lot of work. *2025-02-15, version 1.18* I like Shef. Perfect for people like me that enjoy homemade meals but do not like to shop, cook, or clean. The app needs work. I would like to be able to keep lists similar to streaming apps: (1) this is what I want to try next, (2) this is what I love and I want a place to keep my own list, not the app trying to push it whenever I log in, (3) this is what I did not like, and no, I don’t want to give it a bad rating, and I don’t want to have to think about whether that’s indeed the shef or the dish that I don’t want again, (4) don’t show me your subscription service each time I log in, I already said no 5 times , etc. I want to order from a specific Shef from a while ago, and it tells me they are not available but it doesn’t say when they will be available, so I don’t know if they left Shef and it makes me feel like a stalker. (5) Shef asks me to rate the food each time I get it, even if I’ve ordered the same thing before. I gave thumbs up to an item I like without eating it first, except that this time it was not good. The app does not let me change the rating. ### 3/5 — App needs a lot of work. *2025-02-05* I like Shef. Perfect for people like me that enjoy homemade meals but do not like to shop, cook, or clean. The app needs work. I would like to be able to keep lists similar to streaming apps: (1) this is what I want to try next, (2) this is what I love and I want a place to keep my own list, not the app trying to push it whenever I log in, (3) this is what I did not like, and no, I don’t want to give it a bad rating, and I don’t want to have to think about whether that’s indeed the shef or the dish that I don’t want again, (4) don’t show me your subscription service each time I log in, I already said no 5 times , etc. I want to order from a specific Shef from a while ago, and it tells me they are not available but it doesn’t say when they will be available, so I don’t know if they left Shef and it makes me feel like a stalker. ### 2/5 — Great concept, poorly designed app *2024-11-10, version 1.18* Shef has tapped into a market with tremendous potential. You will find a good variety of Indian/Asian sub cuisines and while the food is not stellar, the overall quality is pretty good for something that is home cooked. The thing I hate about the service, is their app. It is such a poorly designed app that even the basic flows don’t work well. It’s annoying to the point that I often don’t order because it’s hard to navigate. I hope the Shefs on the service take a note of this as it’s directly impacting their business. ### 1/5 — Horrible, charged me even after I canceled *2024-09-23, version 1.18* Do not use — it is a predatory app! The app never sends confirmations on any orders over email, so it’s hard to know if the order went through or not. The food was bad — over spiced and greasy. So I canceled the meal plan. I didn’t get an email confirmation. And then the next week, I got a notification on my phone that another meal was on the way — even though I canceled it 7 days earlier! Clearly a tactic to pull money from dissatisfied customers. ### 1/5 — Very Disappointing Experience *2024-09-14, version 1.18* Was excited to try Shef based on a friend’s recommendation. Unfortunately the driver/delivery partner delivered a single item Uber Eats order instead of the meal I had been waiting for all week and planned a dinner with friends around. Customer support was friendly, but correspondence was only through email and may not be immediate. Reporting a problem through the app takes you to a chatbot on their website. Wish there was a way to contact the driver and rate them like on other food delivery app. Like the idea but not worth the risk for me. ### 1/5 — Dysfunctional service *2024-08-12, version 1.18* The food I ordered the first week of my meal subscription was great but beware of the dysfunctional technology and customer support. I was not able to change the meals I had in my meal plan the second week on the website or app because it kept giving me an error so I decided to cancel my order. However, days later, I was still charged for the subscription despite the order already being cancelled. I tried to reach out to customer service on their website for a refund but they were unreachable. I cannot recommend this service to anyone or be a returning customer if they cannot get their technology or their customer service right. Will be calling my bank to see if they can help because this service is scamming people basically. ### 1/5 — App is constantly broken *2024-07-30, version 1.18* I love Shef and I love ordering food from local home cooks, but the app itself is terrible. It never remembers orders from my cart after like a day, never tells me if anything is sold out (instead giving blank cryptic errors), and bugs out constantly whenever I try to place an order. I would actually order more from Shef if the app/website actually worked and didn’t randomly clear my cart or break during the order flow. The food itself is amazing though but the buggy app makes it a mission to order food every time. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Terrible *2026-06-19, version 1.22* First box I got: 1 chef cancelled with no time to pick something new, then sent me someone else’s box. They promised to give me a new box experience on my next full order and lied. They aren’t honoring anything they promise. Do not use. Expensive scam. ### 1/5 — Payment update *2026-04-20, version 1.22* Unfortunately I had an old card stored for payment and didn’t realize when the order was processed. They confirmed the order and then on the day on delivery for our weekly meals they informed me it was cancelled because of payment failure. I kept tracking the app messages nonstop to figure out where the delivery was and after much searching I finally found a chat with us feature where I was informed that the order didn’t go through. The crazy part it still says order confirmed on the app and arriving today. Seems like an easy feature push notification or just communicate via messages on the app when there is a message feature. ### 1/5 — Dont work here *2025-12-10, version 1.22* Went through the whole hiring process, spent money on food & all day cooking, was sent the wrong address to drop off my taste test & then ghosted. I reached back out to see what was happening and was immediately shooed away with no apology for wasting my time. I think she was embarrassed she messed up and didn’t want to apologize. Very disrespectful company, don’t waste your money trying to apply here they don’t care about you ### 1/5 — Buyer beware. Do not use! *2025-11-12, version 1.21* Lost order, no customer service support. Ordered for the first time to send food to sick parents. No tracking number provided. When 3 hours passed after the delivery window , I tried to call and no number found. Emailed support and it said will get back in 24 hrs. Found the chat option and the rep said it was delivered and sent me tracking info they had the whole time. Ordered was delivered 4 hours ago. At the bottom of the tracking link were proof of photos. They were photos of the wrong house. Not one but two photos of two different house numbers and none of them match the delivery address. Ridiculous! I mention this to the rep and he said he needed to get in touch with the delivery service. What more proof you need?? Then he disconnected me. I had to contact them all over again and they finally acknowledged the proof shows wrong house and will refund me and give me a $20 coupon. Really? I guess my parents can eat the coupon for dinner. Buyer beware. ### 1/5 — Good idea, terrible execution *2025-11-03, version 1.21* As a customer on this app, the process is subpar and ultimately very unsatisfactory. It’s very clear that this app which is based off a great idea simply skimped on the development or didn’t have enough funding to begin with. It’s one or the other because the app is frustrating to even use; -discount code format is broken causing pricing to be uneven -terrible unintuitive UI -account sync issues across app & browser -referral links use discount codes as well overriding subscription codes -customer service is outsourced and has zero clue nor ability to do anything ### 1/5 — App doesn’t work *2025-08-16, version 1.20* As a shef, they’ve made this App so complicated and it doesn’t work properly. Everything is slow and can’t even view the comments received from Viewers. When asked customer support for help, they have no knowledge ### 1/5 — Disgusting *2025-08-05, version 1.20* Scammer ### 1/5 — Misleading, really annoying onboarding, bad customer service *2025-04-27, version 1.18* We tried it out. We didn’t like it. We didn’t realize (through the multiple conflicting screens and prompts and messages) that it default locks you into a subscription IMMEDIATELY. So you can’t actually skip weeks, you have to go cancel the previous order or it will reoccur. We emailed, tried to get help, they denied it. Food was mediocre —- we didn’t want to continue, but probably would’ve tried again in the future for alternative chefs. Not worth it ### 1/5 — Disappointed *2025-02-19, version 1.18* I’m a chef on here and was intrigued by the potential. I put a lot of work into getting certified, creating meals, pricing, getting equipment and products, only to find that there’s nobody here. I spent hundreds of dollars and hours trying to make sure I’d stand out on this app and make good money, but it all led to nothing. I got one random customer (probably someone I’d been talking to because I was also marketing myself since there’s no marketing) and nothing else. There was 2 other chefs on the app which told me it was new to my area but I’m also in a big city so it was weird. I tried ordering from them to see what the process would be like, and that was an epic fail. One couldn’t complete the order so we waited weeks for nothing and the other, the menu changed daily which was weird. Neither are on the app anymore, and I’m here all alone feeling like a fool for giving this app a chance. The software is also pretty buggy. ### 1/5 — Worst app and service I have ever had *2024-09-24, version 1.18* I was charged for the food which was never delivered. I emailed support and received no response. I cancelled the service and now have to dispute the charge with my CC company and that is very frustrating! ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Fantastic *2026-08-14, version 1.22* Game changer for us!! First timers and this made our evenings much easier and it was fresh and delicious!! ### 5/5 — Great Meal Service *2026-04-06, version 1.22* Wonderful value ### 5/5 — Easy to use *2026-01-22, version 1.22* One of the best apps I’ve used in awhile, haven’t encountered any bugs or any trouble yet and it’s easy ### 5/5 — Empowering App *2025-12-27, version 1.22* Shef is the medium which is empowering many chefs who otherwise couldn’t have been able to share their talents. ### 5/5 — Like having a personal chef down the street! *2025-09-12, version 1.20* Absolutely a game changer. Like having a team of personal chefs we can rotate every week. The quality and freshness is like cooking at home from scratch. Feels homemade and healthy. We love it. ### 5/5 — Love it *2025-03-20, version 1.18* Makes my life in this crazy city so much more easier and convenient. Customer service is good too. Mostly been a great experience, whenever I ran into an issue, I was given a refund immediately! Thank you Team Chef 🙌🏽 ### 5/5 — Meal prep at it finest *2025-03-12, version 1.18* I love this meal pre app. The Shef’s are incredible. Real home cooking meals ### 5/5 — Ms JBR Gowda New York *2025-02-19, version 1.18* Chef Anand Very tasty food Fresh delicious dishes both veg and non vegetarian Chef Anand has a magic hand Very hygienic packing Service is amazing Love South Indian food Love food from my home town Bengaluru Home food in New York Enjoying ### 5/5 — App won’t work *2024-04-23, version 1.18* Hello I tried to go on the app but for some reason it would not work it would show up in just a white screen plz fix it ### 5/5 — Love homemade authentic regional food *2023-11-23, version 1.18* In my area, not many great India restaurants that provides authentic taste. It’s either Americanized or fusion. Especially when I am busy working, with kids hard to find some food that feels homemade and healthy that I can provide my family. Love Shef as it solved my major problem and I am getting healthy homemade Indian food with various Shef options! --- *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 2026-08-30.*