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

The Celebrity Classic was created in partnership with the Hoag Classic, Newport Beach Country Club, and Athletes First to provide a day of competitive golf, charity and fun. Correction Pasta Sisters operates one ghost kitchen in Costa Mesa and two restaurants in Los Angeles County. —Samantha Gowen, Oc Register, 25 Mar. 2025

The Orange County location is the only ghost kitchen for the company, which also has two eateries, one in Los Angeles and the other in Culver City. —Samantha Gowen, Orange County Register, 17 Mar. 2025

In 2018, California passed the Homemade Food Operations Act, which approved a statewide program to allow one kitchen operation so vendors wouldn’t have to rent ghost kitchens or purchase food trucks. —Emma Hall, Sacramento Bee, 15 Mar. 2025

Comforting bowls of she-crab stew and chili from Bub and Pop's new ghost kitchen, No Soup For Youse. —Anna Spiegel, Axios, 11 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

2015, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for ghost kitchen

• cowichan
• kitchin