Platform role & liability — key clauses
Platform role. ChefxDoor is a community platform where people share cooking stories, discover local home cooks, and independently arrange food purchases. ChefxDoor is not a restaurant, food ordering service, delivery platform, or transaction intermediary.
No liability for food. ChefxDoor is not responsible for the quality, safety, legality, or suitability of any food prepared or provided by users. All food-related interactions occur solely between users at their own risk.
Independent users. All cooks and users operate independently and are not employees, partners, or agents of ChefxDoor.
Transactions. ChefxDoor does not collect, hold, or process payments and is not a party to any transaction between users. All money moves directly between users outside the App.
Assumption of risk. By using ChefxDoor, you acknowledge and accept the risks associated with interacting with individuals and consuming food prepared outside of regulated commercial environments.
By accessing or using the ChefxDoor mobile application and related services (the “App” or “Service”), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service (“Terms”). If you do not agree, do not use the Service. We may update these Terms from time to time; if we make material changes, we will require you to affirmatively re-accept the updated Terms in the app before you can continue using the Service. Non-material changes take effect upon posting and your continued use indicates acceptance.
You must be at least 18 years old, capable of forming a binding contract, and not prohibited from using the App under applicable law to create an account or use ChefxDoor. By using the App you represent and warrant that you are 18 years of age or older. If you use the Service on behalf of a business, you represent that you have authority to bind that business to these Terms.
The App is not intended for, and may not be used by, anyone under 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you believe a person under 18 has created an account, contact us at support@chefxdoor.com and we will remove the account.
ChefxDoor is a community platform where people share cooking stories, discover local home cooks, follow creators, and independently arrange food purchases. ChefxDoor is not a restaurant, food delivery service, or ordering platform. Cooks publish stories and announce their availability; users discover cooks they choose to connect with and support. ChefxDoor does not fulfill orders, intermediate transactions, inspect kitchens, or certify any food or cook.
Features such as “Known For” reflect engagement-based community signals — popularity indicators derived from user interactions such as views, follows, and demand signals. They are not quality certifications, safety endorsements, professional verifications, or ratings by ChefxDoor. Do not interpret community recognition features as an endorsement by ChefxDoor of any cook or food.
You must register with a working phone number and verify it with an SMS code. You agree to provide accurate, current, and complete information during registration and to update it to keep it accurate. You are responsible for safeguarding your password and for all activities that occur under your account, and for keeping your device secure. You must notify ChefxDoor immediately of any unauthorized use of your account. You may not transfer your account to anyone else.
If you offer food on the Service, you represent and agree that: (a) you have independently verified and will comply with all applicable food-safety, cottage-food, licensing, tax, and other laws and regulations in your jurisdiction before listing any food; (b) you understand that certain foods may not be legally sold from home kitchens in your jurisdiction and that appearing on ChefxDoor does not constitute regulatory approval or any form of legal clearance; (c) your listings accurately describe the food you offer, including ingredients, allergens, portion sizes, prices, and pickup terms; (d) you honor your commitments, communicate promptly with customers, and resolve issues in good faith; (e) you are solely responsible for the food you prepare and any liability arising from it; and (f) you are responsible for reporting and paying any applicable taxes on income earned through the Service. Cooks are independent operators, not employees or agents of ChefxDoor.
You agree to read ingredient and allergen information before purchasing — if you have a serious allergy, do not rely solely on a listing; confirm directly with the Cook. You agree to show up within the Cook’s stated pickup window and to communicate respectfully. You understand that ChefxDoor is not a party to your arrangement with a Cook and does not guarantee fulfillment, food quality, or refunds. You are responsible for independently verifying any information that is important to your health or safety.
All arrangements — including cancellations, pickup windows, no-shows, and any exchange of money — are the sole responsibility of the Cook and Customer involved. Cooks should notify customers promptly if a planned availability or arrangement must be cancelled. Customers should arrive within the agreed pickup window; if a customer does not appear, the Cook is not obligated to hold food or issue a refund. ChefxDoor is not a party to any transaction, does not mediate or adjudicate food disputes, and does not process refunds. Users are encouraged to resolve disagreements directly and in good faith. Persistent patterns of cancellation or bad-faith conduct may result in account suspension.
Your content. You retain all ownership rights in the photos, videos, descriptions, menu items, messages, reviews, and other content you submit to the Service (“Your Content”). You grant ChefxDoor a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable, transferable license to host, store, cache, reproduce, modify (including resize, crop, transcode, and thumbnail), publish, publicly display, distribute, and create derivative works of Your Content, solely as necessary to operate, provide, secure, promote, and improve the Service.
License duration. This license ends when you delete Your Content or close your account, except (a) for backup or archival copies retained for a reasonable period, (b) to the extent Your Content has been shared with others who have not deleted it, and (c) where retention is required by law.
Analytics & recommendations. Engagement signals associated with your stories and listings — such as views, follows, comments, and demand indicators — may be used to power discovery feeds, ranking, and recommendation systems. Stories that expire from public view may be retained in internal analytics systems for service improvement. Aggregated engagement data is not shared with third parties in personally identifiable form.
Your warranties. You represent and warrant that you have all rights necessary to grant this license and that Your Content does not violate any third-party right or any law. You may not submit photos, videos, or recipes that you do not own or have not licensed.
Copyright complaints (DMCA). If you believe content on the Service infringes your copyright, see our Copyright Policy at chefxdoor.com/legal/dmca for the procedure to send a notice to our Designated Copyright Agent and the counter-notice procedure available to you.
ChefxDoor IP. The ChefxDoor name, logo, software, and platform are owned by ChefxDoor or its licensors and are protected by intellectual-property laws. Nothing in these Terms grants you any right in those materials except as needed to use the Service in accordance with these Terms.
You agree not to: (a) post or transmit anything illegal, misleading, defamatory, hateful, harassing, sexually explicit, or that infringes anyone’s rights; (b) sell or list alcohol, controlled substances, or any item prohibited by law or that is not legally saleable in your jurisdiction; (c) impersonate any person or business, or misrepresent your affiliation; (d) reverse engineer, scrape, or interfere with the Service or its systems; (e) use the Service to send unsolicited messages or to circumvent the Service’s payment, fee, or messaging mechanisms; (f) attempt to gain unauthorized access to other accounts or to ChefxDoor systems; (g) post content depicting visibly unsafe food handling, unsanitary preparation conditions, or misleading representations of food; (h) submit photos, videos, or recipes that you do not own or that misrepresent the origin or nature of your food; or (i) use the Service to facilitate food sales that are illegal in your jurisdiction.
The Service is in active development and currently available in limited geographic areas, beginning in Chicago, Illinois. Features may change, be discontinued, or be available only on an invite-only or early-access basis without prior notice. Availability of specific features varies by region and may not be equal across all locations. Some functionality is experimental. ChefxDoor does not guarantee that any particular feature will be available in your area or that the Service will be uninterrupted. Your continued use of the Service constitutes acceptance of these evolving conditions.
THE SERVICE AND ALL CONTENT ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. CHEFXDOOR DISCLAIMS ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. CHEFXDOOR DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, OR SECURE, OR THAT ANY FOOD OFFERED THROUGH THE SERVICE IS SAFE, ACCURATELY DESCRIBED, OR FREE OF ALLERGENS.
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, CHEFXDOOR WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUES, DATA, OR GOODWILL, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO FOODBORNE ILLNESS, ALLERGIC REACTIONS, OR FOOD QUALITY ISSUES, EVEN IF CHEFXDOOR HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
SUBJECT TO THE EXCEPTIONS BELOW, CHEFXDOOR’S TOTAL CUMULATIVE LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ALL CLAIMS RELATED TO THE SERVICE WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (a) THE TOTAL AMOUNTS YOU PAID OR WERE PAID THROUGH CHEFXDOOR IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM, OR (b) ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS (US $100). THIS FLOOR APPLIES EVEN IF YOU HAVE NOT PAID OR BEEN PAID ANY AMOUNT THROUGH THE SERVICE, SO THAT THE CAP IS NEVER ZERO.
Exceptions. Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes liability that cannot be limited or excluded under applicable law, including liability for: (i) death or personal injury caused by ChefxDoor’s gross negligence or willful misconduct; (ii) fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation by ChefxDoor; (iii) ChefxDoor’s intentional misconduct; or (iv) any other liability that, by law, cannot be limited or excluded. The limitations in this section apply to the fullest extent permitted by law in your jurisdiction; if any portion is held unenforceable, the remaining portions remain in effect to the maximum extent permitted.
The allocations of liability in this section are an essential basis of the bargain between you and ChefxDoor and apply even if a limited remedy fails of its essential purpose.
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless ChefxDoor and its officers, directors, employees, contractors, and agents from any claim, demand, loss, or expense (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of Your Content, your use of the Service, your violation of these Terms, or your violation of any law or third-party right.
ChefxDoor reserves the right to suspend or terminate your access to the Service at any time, with or without notice, if we reasonably believe you have violated these Terms or pose a risk to other users or to ChefxDoor. You may stop using the Service at any time and request account deletion as described in our Privacy Policy. Provisions of these Terms that by their nature should survive termination — including Sections 8, 12, 13, 15, and 16 — shall survive.
ChefxDoor is not liable for any failure or delay in performance caused by events beyond its reasonable control, including acts of God, natural disasters, pandemics, war, terrorism, civil unrest, government action, labor disputes, power or telecommunications failures, or outages of internet, hosting, SMS, email, or payment providers. If a force majeure event prevents performance for more than thirty (30) days, either party may terminate the affected obligations on written notice without liability.
PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY. IT REQUIRES YOU TO RESOLVE DISPUTES WITH CHEFXDOOR THROUGH BINDING INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION AND WAIVES YOUR RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL AND TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION. YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO OPT OUT, AS DESCRIBED IN SUBSECTION (f).
(a) Informal resolution first. Before filing any claim, you and ChefxDoor agree to try in good faith to resolve the dispute informally for at least sixty (60) days. To start, send written notice describing the dispute and the relief sought to legal@chefxdoor.com (if you are the user) or to the email or address on file (if we are initiating). The 60-day period begins when the notice is received, and any applicable statute of limitations is tolled during this period.
(b) Binding arbitration. If the dispute is not resolved within 60 days, you and ChefxDoor agree that any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service shall be resolved exclusively by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules then in effect (available at adr.org). The arbitration shall be held in Cook County, Illinois, or by video or telephone if both parties agree. The arbitrator’s decision shall be final and binding, and judgment on the award may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction. The Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of this Section.
(c) Class action waiver. YOU AND CHEFXDOOR AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN AN INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS, COLLECTIVE, CONSOLIDATED, OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. The arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person’s claims and may not preside over any form of representative or class proceeding.
(d) Jury trial waiver. YOU AND CHEFXDOOR EACH WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO A TRIAL BY JURY IN ANY PROCEEDING ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICE.
(e) Carve-outs. Notwithstanding the above, either party may: (i) bring an individual claim in a small-claims court located in Cook County, Illinois (or, if applicable, your county of residence) for any matter within that court’s jurisdiction; and (ii) seek injunctive or other equitable relief in a court of competent jurisdiction to prevent actual or threatened infringement, misappropriation, or violation of intellectual property or confidential information.
(f) 30-day right to opt out of arbitration. You may opt out of the arbitration agreement and class action waiver in subsections (b) and (c) by sending written notice to legal@chefxdoor.com within thirty (30) days of first accepting these Terms (or, for existing users, within thirty (30) days of the version date above). Your notice must include your full name, the email and phone number associated with your account, and an unambiguous statement that you wish to opt out of arbitration. Opting out does not affect any other provision of these Terms. If you opt out, disputes will be resolved in the courts identified in subsection (g).
(g) Governing law and forum for non-arbitrable claims. These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Illinois, without regard to conflict-of-law principles. For any claim not subject to arbitration (including claims by users who validly opt out, small-claims matters, and equitable IP relief), you and ChefxDoor agree to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in Cook County, Illinois, and waive any objection based on inconvenient forum.
(h) Severability of this Section. If the class action waiver in subsection (c) is found unenforceable as to a particular claim or remedy, then that claim or remedy (and only that claim or remedy) shall be severed from arbitration and resolved in court under subsection (g); the remainder of this Section, including the individual arbitration agreement for all other claims, shall remain in full force.
(i) Survival. This Section survives termination of your account or these Terms.
Questions about these Terms: legal@chefxdoor.com