Are Ghost Kitchens The Future Of Restaurants?

So just what is a ghost kitchen? It’s comparable to the Amazon Prime of the restaurant industry. With no dining rooms, no waiters, no bartenders or bussers, is this the next step for a struggling restaurant industry? Or is it just a way for large restaurant chain executives to save money? The beneficiaries of these new kitchens are vastly one-sided.

A ghost kitchen, or cloud kitchen, is a relatively modern business approach to the food industry. A ghost kitchen is a kitchen, often in large cities, that is used only for a delivery business. It is merely a kitchen with no seating, waiters, or hosts, but just cooks and delivery drivers. The food is made and then sent out to people nearby.

Think of it this way, it’s a standalone kitchen where cooks make food, hand it off to delivery drivers, and it is delivered to your house. It is a takeout-only restaurant; you can’t visit it, and have no idea where it is.

Now, this concept only works well in large cities with large populations nearby wanting to order delivery. It would not work in a rural town with only a few people ordering delivery.

It is no secret that the restaurant industry is struggling. Increasing food costs, necessary increases in wages, and raising rents all contribute to making an already challenging industry more competitive. The pandemic shut down restaurants to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in 2020, the George Floyd riots increased fear of visiting Minneapolis, and the large presence of ICE in 2026 made many people fear leaving their home due to ICE or the violence of demonstrations that accompanied their presence. 

Ghost kitchens provide restaurants with the opportunity to cut costs by reducing their footprint by not having a dining room or bar, and cutting labor costs by cutting jobs for waiters, bartenders, hosts, and bussers. They also offer more flexibility; they can be put up nearly anywhere.

For new restaurateurs who want to break into the industry, this may be an alternative to a food truck. With lower start-up costs and no general front-of-house restaurant expenses, a smaller investment is needed. This operation also provides an opportunity for restaurants to make extra money. Take, for example, the state fairgrounds. These restaurants often sit idle for the vast majority of the year. Outside of the few weeks that the fair is happening, ghost kitchens can pop up and utilize this space.

These new kitchens have attracted the attention of a number of successful businessmen. One of whom is former Uber CEO, Travis Kalanick, who founded Cloud Kitchen in 2016. Another arguably successful company is Reef. Reef has provided its services to numerous fast-food restaurants and Guy Fieri’s Flavortown Kitchen and is even expanding to northern Africa and the Middle East. With a high-profile backing and cost-cutting opportunities, is this concept the savior of the struggling restaurant industry?

I wouldn’t go so far. Ghost kitchens are fraught with issues. Issues both unique to their model and the irresponsibility of their rapid growth during the pandemic. Reef, a company that has numerous ghost kitchens that seem to pop up as trailers in parking lots, has had numerous run-ins with local health authorities. The long list includes failure to have proper food permits and licensing, failure to have a permit to sell food, and the biggest issue, failure to have an adequate water source of potable water.

Reef’s defense for these violations states that “actual food preparation and handling of food is carried out in separate, fully compliant brick and mortar commissaries.” So let’s break that down, ignoring the fact that they don’t have clean water. Food preparation takes place outside of these kitchens. What this translates to is a glorified microwave that will sell people food to people under the guise of it being from a restaurant. Concerning the water, without potable water, employees can’t adequately wash their hands. So, whether it be the fact that we are selling microwave food or not washing our hands with clean water, these ghost kitchens have serious health issues.

Despite being billed as a healthy amount of friction between innovation and regulation by Reef, these ghost kitchens are a lawless land. When you step into a restaurant, the cleanliness of the dining room is usually an indication of the cleanliness of the kitchen. Ghost kitchens with no visitors other than delivery drivers have no obligation to remain clean other than to pass health inspections, which they don’t seem to be doing very well. But not to worry, if they are caught, these kitchens can quickly change names and menus and continue to operate without you knowing the violations they may have.

The issues hardly stop at the kitchen. Oftentimes, the only way these kitchens can sell food is through third-party delivery apps. This can be frustrating for consumers, but it leads to unique issues. I’ve worked in kitchens that have had to use numerous efforts to seal food to prevent certain third-party delivery drivers from stealing food or a drink. Although preventable to an extent, this is a risk of ordering from sites like DoorDash or Uber Eats.

Despite numerous health inspection concerns, the quality of food, and exploitation by delivery drivers, some restaurants have taken this model and have been successful while fostering an honest relationship with their customers. Take Hungry House in New York. They have taken the ghost kitchen concept and elevated it to keep what’s important- the people. While their primary business is ghost kitchens, they also add a take-out window so customers and restaurant staff can make a connection.  

What ghost kitchens lack is a connection between the people who run them and the customers. For restaurant workers, it gives us purpose when we see the people we are serving. For customers, it makes them feel valued. Being handed a bag with a Styrofoam box of greasy food does not give you that emotional connection that restaurants can give. This emotional connection is what builds trust.

From health violations, licensing infractions, and poor-quality food, ghost kitchens seem to benefit one group of people- the restaurant owners and restaurant chain executives, by cutting costs and jobs. While some ghost kitchen concepts have thrived, I fear it is not a solution to the struggling restaurant industry. Delivery encourages people to eat at home and not cook. Food brings people together, as does cooking with others and being around others in a restaurant.

So, my message to you is this. Cook and eat with those around you at home. And if you can, support your local restaurants and servers by going into a restaurant and experiencing the ambiance these restaurants work hard to deliver. With that being said, Ghost kitchens are a developing concept, and time will tell if they evolve to help the restaurant industry thrive.

Cheers,

Chef Olson

“The Flying Chef”

Sources

https://www.eater.com/22632677/ghost-kitchens-restaurant-industry-food-delivery-takeout 

https://www.7shifts.com/blog/ghost-kitchens/

https://www.businessinsider.com/reefs-ghost-kitchens-shut-down-health-department-violation-2021-11