Ghost Kitchens or Virtual Dining Concepts

CDGator

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Just learned about a ghost kitchen. Interesting concept that’s starting to boom. You order from a delivery only “restaurant” through an app however a brick and mortar restaurant cooks the order for them. For example: You order through Mr Beast Burgers app but Red Robin is subcontracted out to prepare and cook the order. RR gets 40-45% for the sale.

I’m not exactly sure what the appeal is because it’s just takeout. Why not order a burger from Red Robin?


The day-to-day is less chaotic than it sounds. Delivery-app orders stream into one tablet, and the takeout containers all come from the same pile; nothing is branded except HotBox orders, and those have just a sticker. Recipes from Nextbite’s Colorado test kitchen are easy to follow, and the company recommends ingredients from the suppliers Mr. Garofalo already uses. Nextbite takes a 45 percent cut of sales, but handles all delivery-app fees, which would be, for Mr. Garofalo, as high as 30 percent per order. In his best month so far, he cleared $20,000 across the 12 brands.
 

Detroitgator

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Just learned about a ghost kitchen. Interesting concept that’s starting to boom. You order from a delivery only “restaurant” through an app however a brick and mortar restaurant cooks the order for them. For example: You order through Mr Beast Burgers app but Red Robin is subcontracted out to prepare and cook the order. RR gets 40-45% for the sale.

I’m not exactly sure what the appeal is because it’s just takeout. Why not order a burger from Red Robin?

Son #1 did a lot of analysis for a big one in Tampa. Had no idea that they even existed before he was doing that work, and it wasn't just small, independents using them.

UPDATE: he said Wing Squad, South of the Border, It's Just Wings (part of Chilis), Mr Beast Burgers, Red Robin, Ruby Tuesday were all in the Ghost Kitchen he did the work for in Tampa. He said it really started growing in 2018, then exploded with COVID.
 
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Gatordiddy

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My son cooked for and managed one in Denver -
cool concept too.. the orders began cooking according to the Uber drivers GPS coordinates so that the food would drop when the driver was getting close to picking it up. But.. alas, COVID and the scarcity of good Uber drivers led to their demise.
 

deuce

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another idea bound to fail...... "shaking my fist"
 

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I’m the last guy to predict what will be financially successful, so if you are looking at this as an investment opportunity, go for it.

If you think this is going to be a great dining experience, I have to say, “no.” “No.” “No!” As for culinary enjoyment, I have to say this maybe the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of. As a money maker, it would not surprise me in the least if it was pure gold.
 

AugustaGator

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I’m the last guy to predict what will be financially successful, so if you are looking at this as an investment opportunity, go for it.

If you think this is going to be a great dining experience, I have to say, “no.” “No.” “No!” As for culinary enjoyment, I have to say this maybe the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of. As a money maker, it would not surprise me in the least if it was pure gold.
I can’t believe ruby tuesday, Chili’s Red Robin are still open. I think I went once to sob in Orlando. Never went back.
 

I Have No Friends :(

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I’m not exactly sure what the appeal is because it’s just takeout. Why not order a burger from Red Robin?
In the case of Mr. Beast the appeal is that he donates most of what he makes to either charity or people who need it, or sometimes he gives it away to random people/subscribers. He got filthy rich being a streamer on Twitch at a young age and then turned philanthropist. Now sponsors just throw the guy money, where he'll turn around and give it away while making YouTube videos about it, which generates more money for him to then give away more money.

Walmart sells the Mr. Beast branded chocolate bars (they're pretty good), and I'm pretty sure the Ford's Garage near where I live is the ghost kitchen for his burgers here (very good burgers). So at least in this one particular case I think the appeal is to support the brand and what it does.

I have no idea what the appeal is for the others :lol:
 

CDGator

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In the case of Mr. Beast the appeal is that he donates most of what he makes to either charity or people who need it, or sometimes he gives it away to random people/subscribers. He got filthy rich being a streamer on Twitch at a young age and then turned philanthropist. Now sponsors just throw the guy money, where he'll turn around and give it away while making YouTube videos about it, which generates more money for him to then give away more money.

Walmart sells the Mr. Beast branded chocolate bars (they're pretty good), and I'm pretty sure the Ford's Garage near where I live is the ghost kitchen for his burgers here (very good burgers). So at least in this one particular case I think the appeal is to support the brand and what it does.

I have no idea what the appeal is for the others :lol:

Interesting
I can see why youth would want to seek out Mr Beast but I don’t understand why someone would order from another random ghost kitchen unless the food was somehow unique. The company would have to do a lot of advertising.
 

I Have No Friends :(

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Interesting
I can see why youth would want to seek out Mr Beast but I don’t understand why someone would order from another random ghost kitchen unless the food was somehow unique. The company would have to do a lot of advertising.
It's not hard for a kitchen to make a custom order. My guess is that the distributor supplies the ghost kitchen with everything needed to make the food (protein, sides, sauces, etc). The kitchen's job is simply to cook it to spec and take 40-45% of the profits.
 

gingerlover

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I can’t believe ruby tuesday, Chili’s Red Robin are still open. I think I went once to sob in Orlando. Never went back.
The last time I went to a SOB had to be at least 20 years ago. Didn't know they still existing. Ruby Tuesday's are scarce, but actually wasn't half bad (for that type of restaurant) the last time we did one. Growing up we ate there all the time. It was in the mall and the mom of my sisters best friend worked there. The arcade was right across from it and I would get to go waste my $5 while we waited on our food.

Red Robin isn't half bad either. Had that recently when I took a client to lunch and let them pick. In the construction industry that is high class dining.
 

AugustaGator

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The last time I went to a SOB had to be at least 20 years ago. Didn't know they still existing. Ruby Tuesday's are scarce, but actually wasn't half bad (for that type of restaurant) the last time we did one. Growing up we ate there all the time. It was in the mall and the mom of my sisters best friend worked there. The arcade was right across from it and I would get to go waste my $5 while we waited on our food.

Red Robin isn't half bad either. Had that recently when I took a client to lunch and let them pick. In the construction industry that is high class dining.
I’d much rather go to a local burger joint than Red Robin and five guys.
 

AlexDaGator

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Take a chain restaurant like Ruby Tuesdays or Applebees. The brand is now "tired". People claim they don't like chains, they prefer to order local, etc. You have a lot of unused capacity in their kitchen.

So you take the regular Ruby Tuesday's burger, rebrand it as something new and exciting that sounds local ("Grind and Salt's Legendary Smashburgers and Malts" or maybe "Aidan's Artisan Burgers and Custards"), and sell it to people who would never order a delivery burger from Ruby Tuesdays.

No additional wait staff needed, no delivery needed because it's uber eats or postmates or grub hub or whatever. For a little extra work in the kitchen, you make a lot of extra money.

Ultimately however, you do have to be able to track the food to a particular brick-and-mortar restaurant (health code stuff).


Alex.
 

Detroitgator

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Take a chain restaurant like Ruby Tuesdays or Applebees. The brand is now "tired". People claim they don't like chains, they prefer to order local, etc. You have a lot of unused capacity in their kitchen.

So you take the regular Ruby Tuesday's burger, rebrand it as something new and exciting that sounds local ("Grind and Salt's Legendary Smashburgers and Malts" or maybe "Aidan's Artisan Burgers and Custards"), and sell it to people who would never order a delivery burger from Ruby Tuesdays.

No additional wait staff needed, no delivery needed because it's uber eats or postmates or grub hub or whatever. For a little extra work in the kitchen, you make a lot of extra money.

Ultimately however, you do have to be able to track the food to a particular brick-and-mortar restaurant (health code stuff).


Alex.
Yep, it's VERY efficient use of space/resources, and the food is tracked back to the "ghost kitchen." That name makes them sound "bootleg," but they fall under all the same Health Dept rules as anyone else.
 

CDGator

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In the case of Mr. Beast the appeal is that he donates most of what he makes to either charity or people who need it, or sometimes he gives it away to random people/subscribers. He got filthy rich being a streamer on Twitch at a young age and then turned philanthropist. Now sponsors just throw the guy money, where he'll turn around and give it away while making YouTube videos about it, which generates more money for him to then give away more money.

Walmart sells the Mr. Beast branded chocolate bars (they're pretty good), and I'm pretty sure the Ford's Garage near where I live is the ghost kitchen for his burgers here (very good burgers). So at least in this one particular case I think the appeal is to support the brand and what it does.

I have no idea what the appeal is for the others :lol:

CD34DCB4-C845-4878-A13F-860BD18B2F88.jpeg


 

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