Why is it called a ghost kitchen?

The kitchens themselves don't have a storefront, and the staff prepares dishes from their menus, which are only available for home delivery. Think of it as a virtual restaurant that works like a digital store, with some members of the company's staff working on online order fulfillment. In short, ghost kitchens are physical spaces for operators to create food for consumption outside the facility. And in apps such as Grubhub and DoorDash, listings of restaurants that operate with ghost kitchens don't usually look different from traditional establishments.

For example, where I live in Northern Colorado, there's a restaurant called Rocco's Ravioli that appears on apps. But Rocco's has no shop window. It's a food delivery service that makes food in a ghost kitchen. Ghost kitchens are essentially restaurants with no space to eat.

Its purpose is to sell and fulfill online food orders for delivery using third-party applications such as Grubhub, UberEats and DoorDash, or with its own delivery operation. As a result, they usually don't have a visible showcase. Ghost kitchens are also known as microcloud kitchens or virtual kitchens. They refer to restaurants that do not offer food services on site.

They are designed to fulfill online orders, so their menus are only available to customers who require delivery. Think of it as a co-working space. There are no tables or walk-in customers. Just rent a space, create a menu and start selling your food to customers online through third-party delivery apps.

Previously, ghost kitchens were mainly used by virtual restaurants, however, after the pandemic forced restaurant owners to reduce their operations or close their doors, more restaurant chains have begun to adopt the concept. While the high fees charged by major delivery services could be mitigated or included in the price, food delivery companies that work in ghost kitchens could find a way to make a living. Ghost kitchens and the food delivery possibilities they offer are key factors in the continued success of many restaurants. The dynamics of running a restaurant are changing and ghost kitchens are helping to reach an untapped market audience.

Also called virtual kitchens, in the cloud, delivery-only, in the shade and dark, ghost kitchens are a relatively new concept that emerged in the last two years. Many restaurants have decided to open ghost kitchens as an expansion of their existing establishment. Ghost kitchens grew in popularity after the COVID-19 pandemic due to increased demand for food delivery services. Some small food operators used ghost kitchens to gain a foothold in the market at a time when opening a standard restaurant with a dining room would have been unthinkable.

With customers adapting to the trend quickly and easily, ghost kitchens are likely here to stay. Existing dining restaurants, like fine-dining establishments, tend to explore ghost cooking opportunities when they want to try new concepts. The meaning of the ghost kitchen comes from the fact that there are no waiters, no public presence or dining room. One trend that I am seeing is the formation of central ghost kitchens, economato type, with several restaurants or brands that work in the same physical space.

Ghost kitchens are food preparation operations without waiters, dining room or parking; in reality, without any public presence. Although ghost kitchens had already started to become a trend, the pandemic made them a necessity for entrepreneurs who were still hoping to stay in business. .