Ghost kitchens for Columbus chefs
Take your slice of the food delivery market with a Columbus ghost kitchen.
Why open ghost kitchens in Columbus?
$26
Average basket size
The average basket size at our Columbus ghost kitchen location is 26, meaning more online revenue for your restaurant business.
5K
Deliveries per week
Tap into more online delivery demand at our Columbus dark kitchen locations with an average of 5,217 deliveries per week.
36mins.
Average delivery time
Our Columbus ghost kitchens are built for efficiency, with the logistics and delivery support you need to deliver more orders faster.
6
Delivery platforms available
Maximize your reach online with 6 delivery platforms to choose from.
62%
Weekday orders
This area has more incoming delivery orders during the week Vs. on the weekend
480
New restaurants per year
Unlock your delivery potential in a competitive market
Ghost kitchens versus traditional restaurants
Real estate
Brick & mortar
2000ft2
High cost, high traffic address
Ghost Kitchens
200ft2
Same area, low cost low traffic address
Staff required (~)
Brick & mortar
24
Many dedicated to front-of-house
Ghost Kitchens
4
We provide staff to handle all order handoffs and more
Weeks to launch 1 location
Brick & mortar
52w
10 locations 5-10 years
Ghost Kitchens
6w
Multiple locations 1 year
Upfront investment
Brick & mortar
$1M
High investment
Ghost Kitchens
$30k*
Low investment
Break even
Brick & mortar
5y
10% profit on 1M run rate
Ghost Kitchens
6m
10% profit on 1M run rate
* Varies based on local permitting and operational complexity
All you need and more under the hood
We offer kitchens for modern-day chefs and help get you set up with specialized equipment and minimal fuss.
Space
- Private kitchen
- Driver pickup area
- Staff locker area
- Restrooms
- Mop wash
- Cold & freezer storage
- Dry storage
Services
- Order pickup & processing*
- Courier handoff
- Cleaning & maintenance
- Safety & health inspections
- Delivery logistics
- Extraction & ventilation
- On-site support staff
- Delivery software
*Level of service dependent on facility
Equipment
- 3 compartment sink
- Prep sink
- Hand sink
- Commercial hood
- Tablet
- Grease-trap/interceptor
Utilities
- Gas points
- Power outlets
- High power lighting
- Cold & hot water lines
- Gas/fire safety system
- WiFi
- Trash / recycle
- Ethernet connections
- Grease/trap cleaning
- Hood/flue cleaning
- Pest control
The golden age of food delivery has arrived. And with that, comes 54M delivery app users and a market estimated to reach a net worth of $1.65T by 2027. Ghost kitchens are providing restaurateurs with a lower-risk alternative to a traditional brick and mortar by cutting labor costs and the overall upfront investment to get started.
With dedicated kitchen space built for delivery, these lower cost, tech-enabled locations set you and your restaurant up for delivery success, making it easy to get up and running in less time.
With over 8,000 ghost kitchen locations in the US alone, chances are there is a ghost kitchen in your neighborhood. At CloudKitchens, we find the best possible ghost kitchen location that captures the most delivery demand, at the lowest cost.
As more hungry customers turn to delivery for their next meal, it is becoming even more vital to have a delivery strategy in place for your restaurant business.
Unlock new trends emerging in food delivery, new AI tech to take advantage of, and how to tap into this booming industry with our latest trend guide.
1 ghost kitchen location
Our Columbus facility is located in the heart of delivery demand, providing you with exclusive access to more online customers.
48 total ghost kitchens
Our Columbus facility is equipped with a variety of kitchen layouts to best fit your restaurant needs.
~200 sq ft cooking spaces
Choose from a variety of kitchen spaces that best suit your needs, or open up multiple kitchens to test out new concepts.
Delivery and pickup in high traffic areas
With prime locations near high concentrations of delivery demand in Columbus, you're able to easily drive more pickup and delivery business to your restaurant.
Cooking takes passion, creativity, and intuition. But selling and catering your cooking requires a little more business savvy. In today's food delivery-focused market, there's no smarter decision for restaurateurs than a low-commitment, high-reward Columbus ghost kitchen.
Sit-down restaurants come with countless responsibilities, from property taxes to customer disputes. Delivery-only ghost kitchens free you to focus on your cooking. With less money and time spent on a kitchen space, you’ll be able to serve more delicious meals to central Ohio.
And you shouldn’t have to wait long to do it, either. Launching your ghost restaurant can take as little as four weeks, instead of the months or even years typical of brick-and-mortar establishments. With maximum efficiency, minimal buildout time, and low starting capital needs, ghost kitchens are available to food businesses of all sizes.
Just like cooking in a commissary kitchen or food truck, location means everything for ghost kitchens. We’ve strategically placed our commercial kitchen spaces around Columbus in delivery-centric neighborhoods to bring in more consumers. With more dining room tables within reach, you can deliver more meals and earn more revenue for your restaurant brand.
One way to maximize your revenue stream is to reduce overhead costs for your kitchen space. With CloudKitchens, your payments include basic maintenance, utilities, and support services like order fulfillment, so you don’t have to worry about all the extras. Payment is simple, so you can focus all of your attention on your food.
As the delivery marketplace proliferates, you don’t have to worry about juggling ten or more different apps. Our proprietary technology funnels all orders into a single interface, letting you track, manage, and fulfill each order with ease. Better yet, you can access customized reports on your kitchen’s performance and profits.
With CloudKitchens, starting your food business doesn't have to be so hard. Our ghost kitchens are designed for your success, with affordable payments, easy setup, and a far-reaching local customer base. Learn more about our Columbus locations today—we guarantee you’ll want a taste.
Columbus ghost kitchens
Questions? We’re here to help
What is a ghost kitchen?
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.
How does a ghost kitchen work?
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.
Are ghost kitchens profitable?
Yes, ghost kitchens can be profitable. They 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.
Why are ghost kitchens so popular?
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.
How does a ghost kitchen help your restaurant grow?
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.
How much do ghost kitchens cost?
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.
What is required to set up a ghost kitchen in Columbus?
With CloudKitchens, setting up your new restaurant requires much less than it would take to open up a traditional restaurant! You’ll need at least $30k to start, 4-6 core members of staff, and about six weeks to do the initial work. We’ll help you tackle any of the inevitable logistical challenges that come with ramping up your business in the restaurant industry, so you can focus on feeding Columbus the delicious food it craves.
Why choose a ghost kitchen over a brick-and-mortar restaurant?
Traditional restaurants require a brick-and-mortar space and front-of-house staff in order to run dine-in operations and serve customers. Between extra wages and expensive rent, it can take a lot of time and money to run a traditional restaurant. With a delivery-only ghost kitchen, you can skip the stress that comes with managing a dining room and get to what you love: feeding your hungry customers.
Start cooking with us today
CloudKitchens locations