Your very own Chicago dark kitchen awaits

Ghost kitchens, also known as dark kitchens or virtual kitchens, are commercial kitchens built for food delivery. They’re located within the delivery radius of a high volume of online customers, rather than high foot traffic areas. With ghost kitchens, there’s no physical storefront or dining area, so you only need a few back-of-house staff members to fulfill online orders.

In a ghost kitchen, your restaurant is focused on delivery rather than dine-in. When eaters order your food online, you’ll prepare it from your ghost kitchen, and hand it off to a fulfillment team to get the order over to the right delivery driver. This gives restaurateurs a low cost, high efficiency model to get the most out of delivery.

Yes, ghost kitchens can be profitable. Ghost kitchens allow restaurateurs to increase profitability by maintaining the essential elements of a restaurant while cutting costs on labor, overhead, and wasted food while reaching a higher volume of customers ordering online. Plus, you can run multiple virtual brands out of a single ghost kitchen to increase revenue without the extra overhead.

Ghost kitchens are rising in popularity because they’re a lower cost alternative to operating a traditional restaurant. They’re also focused on delivery, which has grown 300% faster than dine-in since 2014. That means restaurateurs are using ghost kitchens to future-proof their business and accelerate growth.

Ghost kitchens help restaurateurs grow their business by doing delivery right. The way we dine has changed, and ghost kitchens allow restaurant operators to capture food delivery demand without sacrificing their bottom line. They’re also a great way to expand to new markets without spending time and money on a traditional restaurant buildout. You can easily expand your restaurant brand to different cities across the country such as Los Angeles or New York.

The cost of ghost kitchens varies by market, space, and services. Compared to a traditional restaurant, they’re a much lower cost alternative on both upfront capital and ongoing operating costs. You can get started in a ghost kitchen with as little as $30K, instead of $1M+ for brick and mortar buildout.

Like most Chicago commercial kitchens, fully operating ghost kitchens require real estate space, reliable utilities, and industry-grade equipment. It’s important to have these fundamentals in place for a Chicago virtual kitchen ready to expand. You’ll also need to abide by state-specific policies and pass health and safety criteria. 

Beyond the basics, your Chicago ghost kitchen also must be equipped to handle food delivery needs at all times of the year. Well-planned ghost kitchens in Chicago can reach new service locations and capitalize on the convenience of food delivery. To tap into these opportunities, you’ll need a support staff that understands local vendors and delivery logistics. When you start your delivery business in Chicago, we provide a knowledgeable team—ready to cook up your vision.

With CloudKitchens, you can set up a ghost kitchen operation Chicagoans will love for as little as $30k upfront—a steal compared to a Chicago commercial kitchen or traditional restaurant that might require an investment of over $1 million.