ghost kitchen

[ gohst kich-uhn ]

noun

1. a commercial facility that prepares and cooks restaurant-style food for delivery directly to customers or to one or more dine-in restaurants:

   Your order may have been cooked in a low-grade, or even totally unregulated, ghost kitchen.

Word History and Origins

Origin of ghost kitchen¹

First recorded in 2015–20

Example Sentences

Like most fast-food chains, the menu at every MLB ghost kitchen is identical, right down to sandwiches served on the same soft pretzel bun.

From Los Angeles Times

The result was an explosion in the growth of the so-called ghost kitchen and its close cousin, the virtual brand, or a restaurant that has no physical space and operates online only.

From New York Times

It’s also adapted its business model to pandemic-era lifestyle changes, with delivery, “ghost kitchen,” and drive-thru features for customers seeking quick lunches and dinners while working from home; you may be surprised to learn that less than 20 percent of its locations lie in “high-footfall cities” where office commuters walk about for lunch outings.

From Slate

“Maybe in the future we can have a ghost kitchen and maybe do pizza or something in there.”

From Los Angeles Times

He started a ghost kitchen in Queens called Pecking House based on five-spice-seasoned fried chicken generously basted with Tianjin chile oil — ingredients in his family’s Chinese restaurant pantry.

From Washington Post