Are ghost kitchens a problem with traffic and parking?

[y_p_w]

Granted food delivery in general creates a lot of problems. I've been to fast food places in downtown locations where there are clearly a lot of Uber Eats and DoorDash drivers picking up, and I'm not sure where they park. When Cheesecake Factory had its one day free cheesecake delivery through drivers, many locations had massive issues with parking and drivers lining up where they had to get out of their cars.

However, I've seen the locations of some ghost kitchens. I remember one in a narrow alley in a mixed-zoned area and wondered where anyone parked and how dangerous it could be. This was one where it looked there was no way to turn around. It's especially creating issues where residents or other businesses can't move their vehicles because of all the double-parked vehicles and/or blocked streets. Some delivery drivers are using off-street parking spaces reserved for customers or for the business (work vehicle and/or employee parking)

https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/ghost-kitchens-neighbors-18483456.php

Echo Park ghost kitchen parking problems, Lincoln Heights senior center reopens and more news

Discover the latest updates in your neighborhood. Lincoln Heights Senior Center reopens after three years, Graham Nash's home is on the market, and Darrell Kunitomi explores fly-fishing at Echo Park Lake. Plus, updates on Echo Park's ghost kitchen. Stay informed with local news.

www.theeastsiderla.com

 

[AZjeff]

Sounds like an extremely localized problem in urban areas. Sucks to be nearby but not a problem for 99.999999999999% of the rest of us.

 

[eljefino]

So a business is so successful it causes traffic issues. We get that here with drive-thru coffee shops, Black Friday sales... That business employs local people, pays local taxes, and the money doesn't go to Bezos or Musk.

 

[oil pan 4]

Yeah I'm thinking first world problems.
We are lucky we have them.

 

[mk378]

The only real problem I see is that one white car parked in the middle of the street choking it to one lane as the blue car and everyone else has to go around. Not sure what the two dark cars facing the wrong way at the bottom of the picture are doing, but they both have drivers so I assume they will be moving soon. The place on the left appears to be some sort of taxi company that has filled up their private lot with derelict cabs (note the flat tire on the yellow bus), wood pallets and other junk, then selfishly parking their usable fleet on the street.

 

[methusaleh]

I’ll bite…

What’s a “ghost kitchen”? Those with such few staff that they are manned by “ghosts”? As in, hardly believable that they can turn a profit?

My in-laws are restaurant owners so I hear about it often.

I’m able to see the first few lines of the article and then I get a popup wanting me to pay to join.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

I’ll bite…

What’s a “ghost kitchen”? Those with such few staff that they are manned by “ghosts”? As in, hardly believable that they can turn a profit?

My in-laws are restaurant owners so I hear about it often.

I’m able to see the first few lines of the article and then I get a popup wanting me to pay to join.

paywall free version from MSN

 

[MNgopher]

A ghost kitchen is a restaurant operating out of another restaurants kitchen that offers food for sale online, typically delivered via a food service delivery. There are examples locally operating out of TGI Friday's, Dennys, Buffalo Wild Wings, Perkins, etc...

As an example, the ones out of Perkins nearby are a Burger place and a Quesadilla place.

 

[y_p_w]

I’ll bite…

What’s a “ghost kitchen”? Those with such few staff that they are manned by “ghosts”? As in, hardly believable that they can turn a profit?

My in-laws are restaurant owners so I hear about it often.

I’m able to see the first few lines of the article and then I get a popup wanting me to pay to join.

It's a restaurant space that generally only prepares for delivery and not direct customer sales. There are other terms for it like "cloud kitchen" or "virtual restaurant". They often have multiple outlets sharing a bigger space and sometimes they even share the same equipment like grills and ovens. They often will only have a place for drivers to check in to pick up their orders, and there's usually no money changing hands where all the transactions are logged electronically and settled in bulk. I suppose the criticism is that many save money by not having to pay for adequate parking for delivery drivers and often pick inexpensive locations that are cheap because they're somewhat inadequate for the amount of vehicle traffic they'll bring in. They try to be in big cities where they'll have more business, but that also means it's more expensive to find a place that can serve the needs of the kitchen, have adequate parking, and be close enough to enough end customers. The space also doesn't have to look all that appealing if the end customer isn't going to see it, and a lot of restaurants spend money maintaining an appearance. Even in ghost kitchens that have a takeout space, it may only be a small lobby that doesn't cost as much to maintain (divided for each tenant operator) as a full restaurant might.

The Pros and Cons of Operating a Ghost Kitchen Restaurant

Ghost kitchens may or may not be the future, but a growing number of large companies are making big bets that these delivery-only restaurants are here to stay

www.eater.com

With growing frequency, the food you order from a delivery app is being prepared in a ghost kitchen — or cloud kitchen, or commissary kitchen, or whatever you want to call it — by cooks working for a restaurant that doesn’t really exist, at least not in the traditional sense. There is no storefront, no dining room, and no front-of-house staff. In some cases, the kitchen functions as a hub for a handful of other so-called virtual restaurants; in others, the food from the virtual restaurant is prepared inside the kitchen of an established brick-and-mortar but with a separate name and menu. Either way, your burger or tacos or pizza could be cooked anywhere by anyone — which is what makes the ghost kitchen concept so lucrative and appealing to owners and investors.​

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Another definition is when an existing restaurant might use some of its kitchen capacity for delivery only items that aren't on the dine-in menu of the main restaurant. Possibly for takeout too, but where the orders can only be made electronically. Brinker has a concept they call "It's just Wings", but they mostly operate out of existing Chili's locations. They seem to have fiddled around with it as now they say that they're available for dine-in at Chili's, even though Chili's has those same items. Well it's kind of bizarre because Chili's only has two sauce flavors for its wings, but It's Just Wings had 10. There's no particular reason why they couldn't just brand it as Chili's.

https://itsjustwings.com/about-us

 

[y_p_w]

A ghost kitchen is a restaurant operating out of another restaurants kitchen that offers food for sale online, typically delivered via a food service delivery. There are examples locally operating out of TGI Friday's, Dennys, Buffalo Wild Wings, Perkins, etc...

As an example, the ones out of Perkins nearby are a Burger place and a Quesadilla place.

That's one definition, and certain there are outlets like that. I mentioned It's Just Wings, which operate out of Chili's locations. However, most chain restaurants with dining rooms have adequate parking.

But the issue I was thinking of was the ones that are essentially "commissary kitchens" where there are multiple vendors sharing a large combined space without a dining room or even lacking takeout. Most around here only sell through delivery services. And also those vehicle converging around peak times can be crazy. I remember hearing about this one location with the front door in a narrow alley.

I've been to some small restaurants where the staff indicated that they actually did have a commissary somewhere else since the kitchen attached to the dining room wasn't big enough and they delivered many items from a bigger kitchen. I remember this one place that could accurately be described as a hole in the wall with a small kitchen, but nearly got shut down by the county health dept since the proprietor prepared food at home and not a commercial kitchen that could be inspected. He eventually closed, claiming that he couldn't afford to pay for another commercial kitchen just to do adequate food prep.

 

[MNgopher]

Ghost kitchens in this area are all operated out of existing brick and mortar locations. None that I am aware of are commissary style. Being blunt though, this is suburbia, and not downtown urban.

Their intent at the time was to drive more sales out of the existing kitchens that had lost business due to restrictions during the pandemic era. There were many more during that time, most of them have gone away as we've returned to normal. The ones that continue seem to be at the places that have not recovered well...

 

[Snagglefoot]

How much does the delivery driver get from the ghost kitchen. I imagine a lot of the earnings is simply tips. Also, since the meals are usually centerd around three meals a day, how much can these drivers make? After fuel and depreciation I wonder how much is left. Anyone know?

 

[y_p_w]

How much does the delivery driver get from the ghost kitchen. I imagine a lot of the earnings is simply tips. Also, since the meals are usually centerd around three meals a day, how much can these drivers make? After fuel and depreciation I wonder how much is left. Anyone know?

Drivers are paid as contractors by the delivery service and not by the restaurant. I would think they would make the same whether they pick up at a ghost kitchen or at a regular restaurant. I go to McDonald's and I clearly see delivery stickers being placed on bags and handed to drivers who they seem to know.

I would think a lot of the increased business these days is from people working from home and getting lunch or dinner delivered. When I work at home I could basically set my own hours and occasionally I'd keep on working until 2 PM when I just had to eat. So I'm thinking the delivery drivers might be getting deliveries throughout the day. In addition to that, many of these are flexible about what they deliver. Uber Eats had a bunch of commercials showing stuff that was delivered via Uber Eats that wasn't food, but people tried eating them anyways.

 

[Carmudgeon]

So basically, instead of a congregation of ride share drivers clogging up a particular area, like at an airport cell phone lot, there is a bunch of food delivery drivers clogging up an area waiting to pick up their orders.

Chains like Taco Bell and Chipotle are experimenting with "digital" outlets that minimize human contact and mostly serve to fulfill electronic orders.

Even a lot of indie or mom/pop shops are making electronic ordering via kiosks standard procedure, to save on staffing that is hard to find, even if they can afford to hire them.

Things are changing, and these processes will work themselves out.

 

[PandaBear]

Basically ghost kitchen to me is a "outlet" kitchen that has no seating, no customer facing staff, only for delivery takeout. Since the delivery guy is the only one who knows how to get there, they would likely be in a hidden place with no foot traffic, and plenty of parking. If they have problem with parking then the business has failed to pick the right location (it is likely expensive and not ideal).

However if someone decided to turn a retail restaurant into a ghost kitchen, there is nothing you can do about it. Only the landlords and the tenants can decide whether it is a good spot for a business as they have to balance out what the rest of the location (strip malls, street, etc) can tolerate.

Let's put it this way, a successful sit down restaurants can also have the same problem. Too many customers waiting, using up all the street parking, etc. I remember whenever I visited Korea Town in LA the owners always come out to see if you are using their parking but went into another shop instead of theirs.

 

[Cropduster172]

Sounds like an issue to about .0000000000010% of the population.