Chains Like Wendy's And Applebee's Are Using 'Ghost Kitchens' To Keep Up With Delivery Demands

Photo credit: Matthew Horwood - Getty Images
Photo credit: Matthew Horwood - Getty Images

From Delish

Food delivery has become increasingly popular over the years, but when the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, the service grew in popularity extremely quickly. This has meant many food providers have had to get creative, including increasing the presence of so-called dark kitchens, also called ghost or cloud kitchens. If the term has you scratching your head (there are, after all, about a dozen synonyms), here's what you need to know.

What is a ghost kitchen?

QSR describes it well: "Virtual—also called cloud or ghost—kitchens are stripped-down commercial cooking spaces with no dine-in option." They give restaurants all the resources they need to crank out more food (commercial equipment, dishwashers, cold storage, etc.) at a lower cost. In a time when delivery demand rose basically overnight, this space is even more precious.

Restaurants, caterers, and fast food chains can rent out space in facilities designed to make food specifically for delivery or catering. This helps free up space and time in existing kitchens and offers an alternate option to renting a storefront for up-and-coming chefs.

Additionally, these kitchens are often used to highlight certain popular menu items, especially ones that travel well (such as pizza, wings, or burgers), and can even be used to test foods that will eventually make it to a restaurant's main menu.

Who's using them?

This may seem like a fairly new trend but restaurants have been operating ghost kitchens for a while. DoorDash opened its first shared kitchen in Northern California in 2019 with tenants like The Halal Guys and Nation’s Giant Hamburgers. Wendy's has been an adopter of ghost kitchens around the world, and Chick-fil-A has also used them in the past. Still, it seems to have exploded in 2020 as restaurants have faced huge pitfalls due to COVID-19 restrictions on indoor dining and big demand for delivery.

Red Lobster opened its first ghost kitchen late last year in Chicago. Food spots like Chuck E. Cheese and Applebee's gained headlines around the same time for opening up to-go-only kitchens under different names than their parent restaurants. A recent TikTok noted a few other popular "ghost kitchens" and Denny's announced this week that it would be testing two new "virtual brands" this year.

What will it mean for me?

As more food brands adopt the model, restaurants will aim to improve your experience both dining in restaurants (once that is safe again) and ordering food for delivery, as there will be dedicated kitchens for each option. For those living in cities with expensive real estate, it could also mean your favorite chain opening a location (or expanding its delivery options) near you. Alternatively, if you live in an area with lots of drive-thrus, it could potentially mean fewer brick-and-mortars.

It's worth noting that some people have mixed feelings about so-called "ghost kitchens," specifically ones that have different names than their parent restaurants. Many have raised concerns about mix-ups, especially for those specifically trying to support small businesses amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Usually, these kitchens will disclose in some way that they're associated with a larger chain (and more and more people are noting their existence online), so if shopping small is your goal, it's oftentimes as simple as giving that new restaurant an extra look or search before clicking the "order" button.

However, these ghost kitchens could also help smaller brands expand their operations; i.e., that coffee shop across town you love could have the capability to send its scones straight to your doorstep. And because of the lower barrier to entry, it opens the door for new and different foods to make their way to your "New on UberEats" section, even if you never drive past their storefront.

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