Uber launches stand-alone app for food delivery

Uber launched a stand-alone app for its food-delivery service, UberEATS, as it plans to expand the program to several more cities.

In a statement published Tuesday, Uber says the service will be available in five cities: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Toronto and Chicago. Additional cities, including Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Melbourne, New York, Paris, Seattle, and Washington, D.C., will get access soon.

Users have been able to get food delivered via Uber using the ride-hailing service's primary app. "We learned quickly that requesting a ride and ordering a meal are two very different experiences," said Chetan Narain, product manager for UberEATS. "They each deserve their own home."

The app is available for iOS and Android devices.

UberEATS joins a growing list of popular food-delivery service apps, including Eat24 and GrubHub. Shares of GrubHub were down more than 4% in morning trading.

Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.