Ghost kitchens, "stripped-down commercial kitchens" that do not have a dine-in option and operate as delivery-only businesses, have been around for years, CNN says. And they took off during the pandemic as a "salvation for the restaurant industry" when restaurants closed their doors and switched to online delivery services.
With restaurants looking for ways to recoup revenue during the Covid-19 crisis, interest in ghost kitchens and their "close cousin, the virtual brand," blew up seemingly overnight, said The New York Times. Their popularity attracted billions of dollars from investors, and startups and established brands announced plans to expand into the space.
But after pandemic lockdowns ended and customers returned to dining indoors, large chains operating ghost kitchens "found themselves squeezed by overtaxed kitchens and rising customer complaints," the Times said. So they reconsidered their strategy.
Many companies abandoned their ghost kitchens altogether. Wendy's pulled back on its plans, and Kroger shut down all of its ghost kitchens in 2023. Consumers are going out to eat again and "craving that relationship with the brands themselves," Dorothy Calba, a senior research analyst for food service at Euromonitor International, said to the Times. "Virtual brands just did not have that connection with consumers." | 
