FAQ

What is Eat Boutique?

Founded in 2007, Eat Boutique is an online magazine and market for food enthusiasts to celebrate the best pure, local and comforting handmade foods. We foster connections between food lovers and food makers by sharing handmade purveyor stories, recipes and guides, and hosting tasting trips and local markets. We nurture relationships with seasonal, themed and regional homespun gift boxes.

Who runs Eat Boutique?

Eat Boutique was founded by Maggie Battista in 2007. You can read more about her and the wonderful writing team on our Team page.

Why gift boxes?

Maggie’s always made edible gifts and believes giving food is giving love. We also think there’s an alternative to big business food gift giving. We think handmade food businesses, mom and pop shops, produce amazing food and need a forum for showcasing their passion. We find and review the best stuff and ship it directly to you. We think it’s far more special to receive a hand-packed gift box with a hand-written message, gussied up with love and warmth.

How do I buy a gift box?

Our gift box store is always open. Just go to our gift box page and follow the steps to buy. If you have any questions, please email maggie@eatboutique.com.

Do the products change in your gift box?

There are times when we run out of a specific food item. In those cases, we replace them with an equally delicious food item of the same value. We reserve the right to change out products at anytime in order to ensure you receive the freshest possible food.

How does shipping work?

We choose to ship with UPS or USPS and shipping is free. Payment is accepted by credit card via PayPal, and we ship the box within 5 days from receiving your order. None of the items in the box are immediately perishable, so they arrive fresh, delicious and ready to eat.

To where does Eat Boutique ship?

We ship everywhere, sort of. All the prices on the site reflect shipping to the United States. We’re happy to ship internationally, especially to Canada, but shipping there costs more and is not reflected in the prices on the site. If you’d like to ship internationally, place your order and then email us for the extra fee. We’ll email you with the fee and ask for the additional funds via PayPal or by giving us a credit card on the phone. Should you decide that the shipping is just too much for you, we’re happy to refund your entire order. How’s that?

Can I include a gift message?

Of course! In fact, we’ll hand write a beautiful message for you on a very sweet card. Just let us know what you’d like your card to say when you submit your order. If you do not input a message for your gift and are sending this box to someone other than yourself, we’ll simply say “To: your recipient” and “From: your name”. If you’re sending this box to yourself, we’ll include a blank card and envelop on which you may write your own message. If you submitted an order without a message, but would now like one, please email maggie@eatboutique.com.

How can I check on my order?

You will get notification of your order via our system each step of the way. But if you’d like to check on your order, just email maggie@eatboutique.com.

What’s your return policy?

We strive to send only fresh, heavenly food products to you. However, if you’re unhappy with the food items in your box, just let us know and we’ll be happy to refund you or send out a new box. We’d simply ask that you let us know why you’re unhappy so we can learn from your experience!

What’s your privacy policy?

We take this stuff seriously! If you sign up for the Eat Boutique newsletter or site, you can opt out at any time. When you shop at Eat Boutique, we will add you to our internal mailing list but you can unsubscribe at anytime. Please know that you won’t be emailed by the companies in each gift box and we will not sell your email address to anyone.

Do you have a disclosure policy?

We are enthusiastic members of the food blogging community and are very diligent in regards to disclosure. In many of the cases when an author on this site writes about a certain food product, kitchen equipment or book, they have paid for that item with their hard-earned cash. Occasionally, Eat Boutique receives product samples, kitchen equipment and/or cookbooks free, and if we choose to write about that product or cookbook, we promise to disclose how we received it. Please know that acceptance of your product doesn’t guarantee a review, nor a favorable one.

In regards to the items in the gift box, Eat Boutique generally receives free product samples. In a case where Eat Boutique receives free samples and decides to write about that product, we will disclose how we received it. Eat Boutique pays for all items sold in our gift box.

How do you moderate your comments?

We welcome and really treasure comments. But, please be polite when leaving a comment. We reserve the right to delete any offensive, rude or spam comments. Please do not try to advertise your product in one of your comments because that will be promptly deleted. Sorry!

How do I get involved with Eat Boutique?

We’re flattered you’d like to help the cause! If you’re a blogger or photographer, please check out our contribute page and email  maggie@eatboutique.com. If you’re a food producer who’d like to send samples to Eat Boutique, we accept those too. Just email maggie@eatboutique.com for a mailing address. Please know that we cannot guarantee that we’ll write about your product or include you in one of our gift boxes, but we’d be happy to share feedback directly with you on your sample.

How do I tell others about Eat Boutique?

Well, that’s kind of you! Please follow Eat Boutique on Facebook, and share our page with your friends there. You can also follow Eat Boutique on Twitter, or follow Maggie Battista on Twitter directly.