Celebrity ghost kitchens come to Chicago's suburbs
With the new restaurant chain Guy Fieri's Flavortown Kitchen, the Food Network celebrity chef has become one of the latest stars attached to “ghost kitchens.”
No, foodie spirits are not frying up Fieri's “Bacon Mac M Cheese Burgers“ or his “S-M Cheesesteak Eggrolls.” Ghost kitchens (or “virtual restaurant chains”) involve pre-existing restaurants that do double-duty preparing another set of recipes for delivery-only orders.
The ghost kitchen trend has been growing amid the coronavirus pandemic. With indoor seating reduced or closed off, many dine-in restaurants have sought other revenue streams by entering into agreements with cuisine chains that specialize in delivery-only or take-out fare.
For example, some locations of the Chicago-based Goddess and the Baker chain have become ghost-franchisees for virtual restaurants like CraveBurger, Wing Dynasty and HotBox by Wiz, from rapper Wiz Khalifa. No doubt the celebrity names garner more attention online.
In the case of Fieri's Flavortown menu items, customers order them online via the guysflavortownkitchen.com website or third-party delivery apps like Grubhub, DoorDash or Postmates. But the menu items are physically prepared within the Italian restaurant kitchens of Bucca di Beppo.
“All the virtual brands are only by delivery,” said Cassandra Cervantes, the general manager of Buca di Beppo in Wheeling. She added that if you dine in at Bucca di Beppo, you can't order off the Fieri Flavortown menu.
Since late February, the Wheeling and Lombard Buca di Beppo locations have also become ghost kitchen homes to the delivery-only MrBeast Burger and Maria's Cookies by Mariah Carey. And more celebrity ghost kitchens are in the pipeline nationwide.
Mario's Tortas Lopez by Mario Lopez and Pauly D's Italian Subs by DJ Pauly D are virtual restaurants being readied by Virtual Dining Concepts. It's a company co-founded by Robert Earl, one of the restauranteurs behind Planet Hollywood and Buca di Beppo.
“I've had the pleasure of collaborating with Guy for many years now, so having him join my newest venture is a natural fit,” said Earl in a statement. “With Guy Fieri's Flavortown Kitchen, Guy's fans across the U.S. will now be able to experience his recipes delivered straight to their door.”