Virtual restaurants, also known as ghost kitchens, have been making their ways into Chicagoans’ conscience for years, but it took a pandemic for the idea to really take off. These are delivery- and takeout-only restaurants without dining rooms. In theory, these are places with low overheads that could allow chefs interested in opening a restaurant with a dining room to learn without the need to pay high bills.
However, there’s debate on how beneficial virtual restaurants are to chefs as third-party apps forge alliances with larger fast-food companies to price independent restaurants out. So the bottom line: not all virtual restaurants are created equal. Consumers should be choosy on where they spend their money. That new virtual restaurant might just be a gimmick set up to compete with local business owners.
