Global franchising company, FAT Brands, opened several ghost kitchen locations specializing in takeout and delivery orders throughout Texas, Pennsylvania and California this fall.
FAT Brands is the parent company of nine restaurant concepts including Fatburger, Johnny Rockets, Buffalo’s Cafe, Buffalo’s Express, Hurricane Grill & Wings, Elevation Burger, Yalla Mediterranean and Ponderosa and Bonanza Steakhouses.
How do ghost kitchens work?
Ghost kitchens allow restaurants to focus on food production, rather than guest amenities like dining rooms or bathrooms. Sometimes, they are designed to give a restaurant flexibility, like focusing on coffee in the morning and then transitioning to another concept at night.
At other times, they can function like a food hall, where multiple branded kitchens operate in one facility. For example, at the Dallas, Texas FAT Brands ghost kitchen, menu items Fatburger, Buffalo’s Express and Hurricane Grill and Wings are available, with plans to add food from Yalla Mediterranean shortly.
Customers ordering pickup can use www.fatburger.com. Delivery will be performed via third party delivery services Uber Eats, Postmates, DoorDash and Grubhub. When possible, FAT Brands plans to partner with local delivery partners, like Favor.
Brand loyalty and new audiences
The three ghost kitchens give the brand an opportunity to introduce its restaurant concepts to new audiences and develop brand loyalty in preparation for future expansions to new markets.
“Ghost kitchens are a natural next step for us. With our recent acquisition of Johnny Rockets, we currently own nine concepts and ghost kitchens allow us to offer food from many of our portfolio companies without the investment of a physical store,” Andy Wiederhorn, CEO of FAT Brands explained.
“Via the ghost kitchen model, we are able to enter new regions at a much faster rate and develop or continue to grow upon brand loyalty.”
The new ghost kitchen in Dallas, Texas was developed as part of a larger development agreement with Croft Ventures. The San Francisco, California location was developed in partnership with Tahoe Miller Group. Additional ghost kitchen locations in all three states are a part of the brand’s future growth plans.
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