This new app finds meal deals and gives back

D.C.’s TwentyTables is launching an app next month that connects customers with $6 lunches and $12 dinners at dozens of local food trucks, quick- and full-service restaurants. After ordering 20 meals, TwentyTables donates five meals to the Capital Area Food Bank, Martha’s Table and DC Central Kitchen.

“Getting excited about $6 lunch is real, but what’s really exciting is the prospect of a continuous stream of charitable giving,” TwentyTables founder and CEO Alexander Cohen told Technical.ly DC. “It creates a sense of community.”

For $6 you’ll be able to get a medium bowl of soup and a bread roll at Soupergirl, and add a salad for a $12 dinner. Other restaurants include food truck Project Milanesa and Bub and Pop’s. Participating restaurants pick three dishes to include for each meal deal.

“We are giving a significant discount,” Soupergirl founder Sarah Polon told Technical.ly DC. “What would normally cost $8 now costs $6. We love the fact that with every purchase we help a local charity.”

Maria Booker is the head of events for the Capital Area Food Bank, which provides over a half million area residents with their food needs annually.

“We’re testing out a few donation platforms, and this one stood out because it connects to local restaurants and gives back means,” Booker said. “In the end, the user is able to embed giving into their daily life.”

Cohen, a former healthcare attorney who decided to change careers last year, now works with a team of 15 full- and part-time employees. He said he and his team want to expand to other cities once the D.C. model is perfected.

“We want to build corridors so consumers can go to Richmond or Baltimore and still find a $6 lunch in Philly,” he said.