Imagine this: you decide that for dinner, you want to order food. You go to your food delivery app of choice, whether its DoorDash, Uber Eats, or GrubHub. You scroll for a bit, but nothing stands out to you. You’re looking for something different. You don’t want Applebee’s, or Buffalo Wild Wings, or Wingstop. But then, you see a restaurant that you’ve never heard of — Cosmic Wings. You decide to give it a shot and order. When your food comes, you notice that the bag and packaging looks familiar. Then, you unbox your food, and the food looks and tastes even more familiar — you’ve definitely eaten this before. That burger and fries you ordered isn’t from some new restaurant in your neighborhood. It’s actually from Applebee’s, disguised on the delivery app as a new wing spot called Cosmic Wings. And then you realize — you were just fooled by a ghost kitchen.
What is a ghost kitchen?
There is not one single definition for what a ghost kitchen is. Oftentimes, ghost kitchens are also referred to as virtual restaurants, which sums up what many of them do — they are food service businesses that are only available via online ordering. In other words, there is no physical restaurant that you could go to to eat. Instead, there is a kitchen where the food is prepared and delivery couriers will pick up food from. An example is Mr. Beast Burger, which is almost exclusively available for delivery orders.
Most of the time, though, ghost kitchens are operating out of existing restaurants that you actually can go to in-person — disguised as a completely different restaurant on a food delivery app. These ghost kitchens are offering the same exact menu items from a chain restaurant, but under a different name. The food is being cooked in these establishments, such as Applebee’s or Wingstop, but a potential customer on a delivery app is seeing a completely unrelated eatery that they can order from.
Why do ghost kitchens exist then? Many wonder if they are even legal. Essentially, restaurants will establish ghost kitchens so that they can draw in more customers. Sometimes, a customer is more likely to order from what they believe is a new local restaurant rather than somewhere like TGI Fridays. It allows restaurants to reel in more customers, who are most of the time unaware of where they are actually ordering from.
What are some common ghost kitchens?
A lot of sit-down chain restaurants have affiliated ghost kitchens. For example, Denny’s ghost kitchens are called Burger Den and Melt Down — the menu for these ghost kitchens are almost identical to Denny’s, and the cheeseburger you may end up ordering is cooked in your local Denny’s. Conviction Chicken is actually coming from TGI Fridays, and Wild Burger is Buffalo Wild Wings. There’s Thighstop, which if you couldn’t guess already by the name, is a ghost kitchen operated by Wingstop. Both Cosmic Wings and Neighborhood Wings are operated by Applebee’s, and Tender Shack is actually food from Outback Steakhouse. Even Chuck E. Cheese has its own ghost kitchen: Pasqually’s Pizza & Wings.
How do people feel about ghost kitchens?
The public’s feelings on ghost kitchens vary by person. Some customers, like TikToker Semaj in Focus, feel deceived by ghost kitchens. She was excited to try a Philly Cheesesteak from a new restaurant called Melt Down, but upon searching the restaurant’s address, she realized it was actually a Denny’s. She said she would never order from Denny’s, but was intrigued by the Melt Down — and thinks that this deception should not be allowed. In fact, she wonders how ghost kitchens are not considered scams. Safe to say, she did not end up ordering from Melt Down.
Others are less bothered about ghost kitchens, but still feel slightly deceived. TikToker Katy Stevi ordered some confetti cake on Uber Eats, and after eating some of it, realized it was actually from Chuck E. Cheese. She thought it was funny, said the cake was actually good, and continued to eat it. There are even some people that willingly order from ghost kitchens, like TikToker Kerrigan Himmel, who said she purposely orders from a Chili’s ghost kitchen. Next time you think about ordering from what seems to be a new restaurant, take a closer look at the menu and address. You may be getting a meal from a ghost kitchen.