ghost kitchen

noun

plural ghost kitchens

: a commercial cooking facility used for the preparation of food consumed off the premises

Ghost kitchens host food establishments, usually fast-casual, that make meals that can be purchased exclusively with a delivery app …

—Jonah Engel Bromwich

Ghost kitchens, which have no storefronts or dining rooms, are the hottest thing going during the pandemic. Some are all-new kitchens created to house multiple companies. Others … are new brands added to existing restaurants that seek additional business.

—Michael Klein

This is what [Eric] Greenspan did with his own ghost kitchen brands—multiple cuisine styles made from the same basic supplies, all from a single location.

—RoamingHunger.com

called also cloud kitchen, dark kitchen

Examples of ghost kitchen in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Read the full report for Parker at The Fontaine. Suspensions Crossroad Food Stop restaurants 1600 Campbell Food licenses suspended June 27 The permits of seven restaurants inside of the ghost kitchen were suspended due to inactivity. —Kansas City Star, 8 July 2025

Later that year, Modelo created a ghost kitchen in New York City to commemorate Día de Los Muertos, featuring dishes like beer battered fish tacos and pollo asado in a beer citrus marinade. —Sara Braun, Fortune, 21 June 2025

Many of them abandoned their ghost kitchens altogether. —Theara Coleman, theweek, 7 May 2024

Alex Perez started his restaurant as a ghost kitchen in 2013, building a following on Instagram. —Christina Tkacik, Bon Appetit Magazine, 18 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

2015, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for ghost kitchen

• cowichan
• kitchin