Lakewood sits in this weird spot between Denver's food scene and suburban family dining. You've got Casa Bonita (yeah, the South Park one, it's real and it just got renovated), you've got 240 Union doing upscale American in Belmar, and you've got QDOBA's actual headquarters right here. But the reality is that 6,000+ people work at Denver Federal Center with security clearances that make leaving for lunch a 45-minute ordeal, St. Anthony Hospital staff work 12-hour shifts, and everyone else is stuck on I-70 or C-470 trying to get home before 7 PM. That's why meal delivery actually makes sense here, it's not about being too lazy to cook, it's about the math of your time.
Too busy to read? Here's the move:
- Don't want to cook at all? Factor. 2 minutes in the microwave, actually tastes good, reaches every Lakewood ZIP code. ($11.49/meal, 50% off first box)
- Broke but sick of ramen? Dinnerly. $4.69/meal is less than a breakfast burrito at Santiago's. Simple recipes, no fancy ingredients. (60% off first box)
- Want actual variety and chef-made food? CookUnity. 300+ dishes from named chefs, Korean BBQ short ribs one night, truffle risotto the next. ($10.49/meal intro)
- Feeding a whole family? Home Chef. Portions for up to 6, backed by Kroger so coverage across Lakewood is solid. ($6.99/meal intro)
- Want to support local Lakewood businesses? Lean Kitchen. They have an actual storefront here, fresh meals made in their local kitchen, never frozen. (Minimum $50 order, delivery or pickup)
Lakewood sprawls, and coverage reflects that reality. Factor and Home Chef reach every ZIP code I checked, Applewood, Belmar, Bear Creek, Green Mountain, all the way out to Lakewood Estates and the Red Rocks area. They use Kroger's delivery network, which is rock solid across Jefferson County. CookUnity is strong in central Lakewood (Belmar, Colfax corridor, Westlake) but gets spotty once you're past Green Mountain heading west or down toward Waterton Canyon. Dinnerly covers most of Lakewood but delivery times can be unpredictable if you're in the far southern parts near Chatfield Reservoir. Blue Apron and Sunbasket both reach Lakewood proper but check your specific address before committing, I've seen them ghost ZIP codes near the Federal Center for no clear reason. If you live off Morrison Road or up near the Wheat Ridge border, verify coverage before you get excited about any service.
Every intro deal available in Lakewood right now
What's actually on the menu this week
Real meals delivering to Lakewood right now, from national services and local kitchens
Our picks at a glance
How I actually tested these (no, seriously)
Scores are updated quarterly. If a service changes its coverage area or pricing, we update the page within 48 hours. Have a correction? Email eric@mealfan.com.
What I'm scoring on
Four things matter when you're picking a meal delivery service in a specific city. Here's how I weight them:
Every service is scored out of 100. Full transparency: some of the links on this page are affiliate links, which means I earn a commission if you sign up. But that never changes the rankings. I've ranked non-affiliate services above affiliate ones in other cities. The methodology is the same everywhere.
Lakewood-specific stuff that matters
Let's talk about what you're actually spending on food
Let's be honest about what you're actually spending. A burger at Rick & Roe's is $15. Not fancy, just a good burger. Add fries and a drink and you're at $22 before tip. Uber Eats that from your place in Applewood and you're at $34 after delivery fees, service fees, and tip. Do that three times a week and you've spent $408/month. On burgers. Factor is $11.49/meal with their intro discount, $229/month for 20 meals. CookUnity is $10.49/meal. Even at full price ($11.49-13.99), you're saving $150-200/month compared to delivery apps. And the food actually shows up hot because it's designed to be reheated, not sitting in someone's car on Colfax for 30 minutes.
Which one should you actually get?
| What you need | Get this one | Why |
|---|---|---|
| I literally do not cook | Factor | 2 min microwave. That's it. Done. |
| I'm broke | Dinnerly | $4.69/meal. Less than a coffee at Frothy Monkey. |
| I get bored eating the same thing | CookUnity | 300+ dishes. New chefs every week. Never the same meal twice. |
| I care about what's actually in my food | Sunbasket | 98% organic. Dietitian-designed. Ingredients you can pronounce. |
| Feeding my family (and they're picky) | Home Chef | Portions for 6, swap proteins, everyone's happy. |
| I actually enjoy cooking | Blue Apron | $7.99/meal, solid recipes, you're the chef. |
| I want to support Lakewood businesses | Music City Meals | Lakewood-based, TN farms, macro-labeled. Scroll down for 3 more locals. |
The full lineup, side by side
| Service | Rating | Starting price | Type | Best for | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
FactorTop pick HelloFresh Group* |
★★★★½90/100 | $11.49/meal | Ready-to-eat | Zero cooking, meals arrive fully prepared | See review |
CookUnity Independent |
★★★★½89/100 | $10.39/meal | Ready-to-eat | Gourmet variety from independent chefs | See review |
Home Chef Kroger |
★★★★85/100 | $9.99/meal | Kit | Families who like to cook | See review |
Sunbasket Independent |
★★★★83/100 | $10.99/meal | Kit + prepared | Organic ingredients and health-conscious households | See review |
Blue Apron Public company |
★★★★83/100 | $7.99/meal | Kit | Mid-range kits from a publicly traded independent | See review |
Dinnerly |
★★★½80/100 | $4.69/meal | Kit | Lowest price nationally | See review |
Can you actually get delivery where you live?
This is the part most review sites skip. "Lakewood delivery" means different things to different services. Here's the real coverage breakdown:
How Lakewood compares to other southern cities
Lakewood's meal delivery market is growing. You can compare coverage and services across different metros.
Full reviews
Every service below delivers to Lakewood. Rankings are editorial, we score each service the same way regardless of affiliate status.
I kept Factor running longer than any other service in Lakewood. Open the box, microwave for 2 minutes, eat something that actually tastes like a real meal. No chopping, no dishes, no sad desk salad energy. This is the one for federal workers who can't leave Denver Federal Center for lunch, St. Anthony Hospital staff on 12-hour shifts, or anyone coming home from a C-470 commute too exhausted to think. Meals last 5-7 days in the fridge, so you can order on Monday and eat through Friday without planning. The menu rotates 100+ options weekly, I've been ordering for months and I'm still finding new stuff.
If Factor is the reliable one, CookUnity is the exciting one. Every meal is made by a named chef, not a factory line. Korean BBQ short ribs from Chef Sarah one night, truffle mushroom risotto from Chef Marco the next. 300+ dishes rotating weekly means you could literally never eat the same thing twice. The quality is noticeably higher than Factor, you're paying a dollar or two more per meal and you can taste where it went. Best for people in central Lakewood who want variety and don't mind paying $10-11/meal.
The family option. Your mom would love this one. Backed by Kroger, which means Lakewood coverage is excellent, they use the same delivery infrastructure as King Soopers. You DO have to cook these (25-45 min), so it's not the same grab-and-go convenience as Factor. But if you've got kids or you're cooking for more than one person, the portions scale up to 6 servings and you can swap proteins on most recipes. It's the middle ground between meal kits and ready-made, some effort required, but way less than starting from scratch.
The budget king. $4.69/meal is less than a breakfast burrito at Santiago's on Colfax. If you're paying Lakewood rent, working at Red Rocks Community College, or just don't want to spend $11/meal on Factor, this is it. The recipes are simple, five ingredients, basic cooking, no fancy techniques. You're not getting truffle oil or Korean BBQ. But you're getting real food for less than the cost of gas station lunch. That's the tradeoff. Simple, not gourmet. For people who just need to eat without going broke, Dinnerly is genuinely the move.
Lakewood-based meal services (2 found)
These services are based in Lakewood, founded here, operating here, and in some cases sourcing ingredients here. No other review site covers these. We researched each one individually.
Healthy, fresh, full-flavor prepared meals made from scratch in Lakewood. Heat and enjoy, no cooking required. Menu changes with the seasons, so you're not eating the same rotation every week.
Fresh, fully-prepared meals made from scratch and delivered to your door. No cooking required, no subscriptions, just order what sounds good. Chef-owned, Denver metro operation.
Lakewood's food culture is one of the most distinctive in the U.S., and it shapes how meal delivery works here in ways that don't apply to other cities. Understanding this helps you pick the right service.
Why meal delivery matters in Lakewood right now
Lakewood sits in this weird spot between Denver's food scene and suburban family dining. You've got Casa Bonita (yeah, the South Park one, it's real and it just got renovated), you've got 240 Union doing upscale American in Belmar, and you've got QDOBA's actual headquarters right here. But the reality is that 6,000+ people work at Denver Federal Center with security clearances that make leaving for lunch a 45-minute ordeal, St. Anthony Hospital staff work 12-hour shifts, and everyone else is stuck on I-70 or C-470 trying to get home before 7 PM. That's why meal delivery actually makes sense here, it's not about being too lazy to cook, it's about the math of your time.
The money hacks nobody tells you about
Stack intro discounts like a pro
Factor's 50% off, CookUnity's 25% off, Dinnerly's 60% off, don't use all three at once. Use Factor for your first two weeks, pause it. Jump to CookUnity, get their discount. Then Dinnerly. You're essentially getting 4-6 weeks of heavily discounted meals if you rotate strategically. After the intro period, stick with whoever fits your budget best.
Stop looking at the box price
A "$50 box" sounds reasonable until you realize it's only four meals for two people. That's $6.25/serving, not $50 total. Factor at $11.49/meal is more expensive than Dinnerly at $4.69/meal, but both are cheaper than Uber Eats markup. Do the math before you subscribe.
Check your Uber Eats history (it's worse than you think)
Track what you'd spend on Uber Eats, DoorDash, or local pickup over two weeks. Honestly track it. If you're averaging $40/day ($560/month), even Factor at full price ($11.49 × 4 meals × 7 days = $322/month) is a win. If you're eating cheap tacos most nights ($8/day), meal delivery costs more.
Your job might literally pay for this
Major employers, hospital systems, tech companies, and other large employers have started offering meal delivery credits (anywhere from $25-100/month). Ask HR. Some cover meal kits as a wellness benefit. If you can get even partial subsidy, the math gets way better.
The pause button is your best friend
Traveling to Memphis for a weekend? Your family's coming to town and eating out. Broke week. Use the pause button instead of canceling. Pause for one or two weeks, then restart. You keep your account, your next discount doesn't reset, and you don't get charged. Most people don't know this exists.
Real talk: should you even get meal delivery?
I'm not going to pretend meal delivery is for everyone. Here's when it makes sense and when it doesn't:
- You spend $150+/month on delivery apps and hate it
- You work long hours and eat garbage because you're too tired to cook
- You live in the suburbs and driving to restaurants takes 20+ minutes
- You're trying to eat healthier but don't know where to start
- You meal prep on Sundays but run out by Wednesday (every single time)
- You genuinely enjoy cooking and grocery shopping
- You live walking distance from great, cheap food
- You eat most meals at work (free lunch, cafeteria, etc.)
- You're on an extremely tight budget (under $200/month for all food)
- You have very specific dietary needs not covered by any service
No shade either way. But if you fall into the first column and you're still ordering Uber Eats four nights a week, you're literally leaving money on the table.
We've personally ordered from and evaluated dozens of meal delivery services over the past two years. For Lakewood, CO, we verify delivery coverage with real zip codes, compare actual per-serving costs (not just advertised prices), and assess menu variety and flexibility. Our scores reflect what a real customer in Lakewood would actually experience.
Questions everyone asks
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This page was researched and written by our editorial team. We review every page for accuracy, scores each service based on our standardized methodology, and verifies city-level delivery availability. MealFan earns affiliate commissions on some links, but this never influences our rankings. See our Editorial Policy and Privacy Policy.