Ghost Kitchen (Delivery-Only)

Ghost kitchens (also called cloud kitchens or virtual restaurants) prepare food exclusively for delivery through apps like Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Grubhub.

With no dining room, you focus purely on food quality and delivery optimization.

You rent commercial kitchen space (often shared facilities), develop delivery-friendly menus, and fulfill orders through multiple platforms.

Some operators run multiple virtual brands from one kitchen - tacos, burgers, wings - maximizing kitchen usage.

Startup costs are dramatically lower than traditional restaurants since you skip dining room buildout, servers, and front-of-house expenses.

Success requires understanding delivery economics - app fees take 25-35% of orders, so menu pricing must account for this.

Menu engineering focuses on items that travel well and maintain quality.

Location matters less than with dine-in but proximity to delivery zones matters.

Profit margins run 15-25% after delivery fees and costs.

The model allows testing concepts with minimal risk and scaling successful brands.

Marketing is primarily through app optimization, photography, and maintaining high ratings.

Challenges include no direct customer interaction, dependency on delivery platforms, and intense competition.