Explore the benefits of ghost kitchens in Nashville

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.

Nashville commercial kitchens must abide by Tennessee law. Food service businesses need to meet a long list of equipment and sanitation requirements and must submit their floor plan and business license for approval.

Thankfully, setting up a ghost kitchen can be easier than you think. CloudKitchens helps provide logistics support to get your restaurant business up and running without a hitch.

Delivery drivers are employed by individual food delivery platforms, not by CloudKitchens. However, CloudKitchens will connect your business to those platforms and process orders from each of them onto a single tablet.

Where you open your CloudKitchens location depends on your target audience and the type of food you sell. Are you a late-night snack service or a trendy fusion food pop-up? You might choose to set up your ghost kitchen near Vanderbilt University campus to cater to the diverse student community. Or if your fried chicken delivery is the answer to Nashville's hungry after-hours crowds, choose from multiple downtown locations near the hottest bars and clubs.

Nashville is a location with strong local roots and a vibrant tourist scene. Crafting a message that taps into the city's music scene, iconic foods, and Southern culture can attract long-time residents and hungry visitors alike. Unsure where to start? Partner with an established community brand or influencer with deep knowledge of the city.