Ever gone OUT to eat AT a ghost kitchen?

[kdonnel]

While planning out a road trip in my new EV I was looking to see how close Fazoli’s in Valdosta GA was to a charging station. Sadly not walking distance. I know it’s crappy Italian fast food but we like it.

But the map showed a location at 285 and 85 not too far from my house. We decided to head there to check it out. Google street view didn’t show what looked like a fast food restaurant but maybe a corporate head quarters. Reviews indicated people ate there though.

We went anyway and found a ghost kitchen. There is a large facility with a large shared kitchen and many smaller kitchens.

https://www.prepatl.com/

Some of the ghost kitchens had store fronts for grub hub, Uber eats, walk up, etc pickups. Some did not.

Fazoli’s had a kiosk to place orders. Much like a food truck area they had tables and chairs outside for people to eat their to go food their.

The receipt even says it is a ghost kitchen.

 

[bcla]

Certainly heard of them. But for the most part they don't allow the final customer to enter the building and buy anything. They're supposedly permitted only for delivery pickup without any onsite cash business. The company that owns Fatburger set one up in San Francisco a couple of years ago, although I heard it didn't work out. But the idea is that it maximizes the use of the kitchens, while a single restaurant might have lots of dead periods. It would also allow more efficient use of employees who are trained to cook all sorts of things.

https://www.fastcasual.com/news/fat-brands-opens-ghost-kitchen-in-san-francisco/​

After launching ghost kitchens in Dallas and Chicago earlier this year, FAT Brands Inc., which owns Fatburger, Johnny Rockets, Buffalo's Cafe, Buffalo's Express, Hurricane Grill & Wings, Elevation Burger, Yalla Mediterranean and Ponderosa and Bonanza Steakhouses, has added a delivery-only location in San Francisco.​

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"Through the ghost kitchen model, we can enter new territories at a faster rate, and begin to develop brand loyalty for continued expansion in various formats," CEO Andy Wiederhorn said in a company press release. "San Francisco is an ideal market to continue our ghost kitchen expansion plans as we see unlimited opportunities for growth in the region."​

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The ghost kitchen will operate through third-party delivery services Uber Eats, Postmates, DoorDash and Grubhub. Local San Francisco customers will be able to simultaneously order menu items from FAT Brands' Fatburger, Buffalo's Express and Hurricane Grill & Wings. Yalla Mediterranean will be added to the ghost kitchen offering in the near future.​

I have heard of some restaurants that have a concept where existing kitchens are used for delivery orders that are only by delivery. Brinker's (Chili's, Maggianos, and On the Border) has a chicken wing business called It's Just Wings that operates out of existing restaurants even if what they sell isn't available for onsite sales.

 

[Disneylover99]

Never heard of a Ghost kitchen. I had to Google it. Interesting.

 

[kdonnel]

But for the most part they don't allow the final customer to enter the building and buy anything.

That is what was odd about this place. Many of the restaurants had storefronts that accepted walk up orders.

There are over 40 food trucks that use the community kitchen as their prep kitchen and several of the food trucks sold their food from the storefronts.

 

[Southernmiss]

Sounds like a neat, new way for small businesses to operate.

I would patronize them.

Reminds me of a mall food court like place.

 

[bcla]

Sounds like a neat, new way for small businesses to operate.

I would patronize them.

Reminds me of a mall food court like place.

I remember going to an outlet mall that was really bizarre. It was kind of cafeteria style where one ordered from different "vendors" including some clearly independents as well as national fast-food chains. But then it ended up with combined cash registers where one could pay for any combination there.

 

[tvguy]

Sounds like a neat, new way for small businesses to operate.

I would patronize them.

Reminds me of a mall food court like place.

Not sure how new it is, just expanded at a lightning pace during the pandemic as restaurants tried to cope with a sharp increase in sales involving food delivery companies. Why spend money to expand your own kitchen to fill demand that may not continue for ever when you can rent a kitchen to fill orders, the pull back when and if business drops off.

 

[bcla]

Not sure how new it is, just expanded at a lightning pace during the pandemic as restaurants tried to cope with a sharp increase in sales involving food delivery companies. Why spend money to expand your own kitchen to fill demand that may not continue for ever when you can rent a kitchen to fill orders, the pull back when and if business drops off.

It wasn't just that though. A lot of these ghost kitchens didn't necessarily have all the same issues with permitting that a place with a real storefront would have. Certainly contactless delivery took off. A lot of these could also be set up in industrial area that weren't necessarily ideal for customers to show up in. However, I remember one in San Francisco that was set up in the weird narrow alley.

I was thinking maybe they might be able to combine staff, but it looks like some places like CloudKitchen don't really have that. But a company might combine staff with multiple concepts as part of the same parent company. CloudKitchen apparently has separate kitchens for each customer, but then provide front of the house staff to handle the handoff to delivery drivers. This certainly wouldn't be suitable for customers being in a back alley. Some of these locations I wonder about parking, as they might be in narrow streets with dead ends. Many take over older closed businesses like auto body shops.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Interesting business model! Prices sure seem low - around me those would be at least doubled, maybe more!

 

[MamaMermaid]

I think this is brilliant! Had never heard of it till now but what a smart idea.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Never heard of it.

 

[bcla]

Interesting business model! Prices sure seem low - around me those would be at least doubled, maybe more!

It's an interesting concept, but most ghost kitchens try to save money by not having to deal with end customers. Tables, cash registers, etc. slow things down and require workers and extra space.

I have seen a few "take out" restaurants, but still with limited seating like a counter or outside tables. A lot of fast-food places went that way obviously - possibly because of personnel shortages on top of COVID-19 restrictions. I know of one that still hasn't opened its dining room up yet, and there's no legal reason why they can't. But they have outside seating. When some went to take-out/delivery only, there wasn't much they could do if they simply had no tables outside.

 

[goofy4prez]

I've never been to a ghost kitchen, but I certainly have been ghosted by the kitchen after placing and paying for an order.

 

[pookybean]

I remember going to an outlet mall that was really bizarre. It was kind of cafeteria style where one ordered from different "vendors" including some clearly independents as well as national fast-food chains. But then it ended up with combined cash registers where one could pay for any combination there.

That would be kind of cool and convenient. Im thinking of the times we all wanted something different at the food court resulting in me standing in several different lines (paying for kids food) before even getting to mine. Or if i want a sandwich from one place but the fries from another... lol

 

[Mysterian]

I love this idea! The shadow chefs must save bundles by not having to bother with all the extra costs and concerns with typical food establishments.