What Makes A Ghost?
Ordering food in 2026 is like going on a streaming service: gone are the days of pawing for the stained Chinese takeout menu or trying to remember the phone number of your favorite pizza joint. On the apps, anything you crave is at your fingertips and can be delivered to your home in 30 minutes or less.
But among the local favorites and well-known chains, you might find some unfamiliar options. Vague logos. Even vaguer menu items.
“Neighborhood Wings?” Applebees.
“Tender Shack?” Outback Steakhouse.
“Macaroni Man?” D.P. Dough.
“Pasqually’s Pizza & Wings?” … You wouldn’t believe us.
These are ghost kitchens, also known as “virtual restaurants.” These restaurants exist only on delivery apps like DoorDash, GrubHub, Uber Eats and more. There’s no front-of-house staff, no storefront and no dining room. And it isn’t just chains; ghost kitchens operate out of local restaurants, too. But how and why?
A ghost kitchen can mean a hundred different things. Essentially, it’s a restaurant without seats. Limited menus, delivery or pick-up only, and either operating with the same staff as the host restaurant or renting the kitchen to a new staff.
Ghost kitchens skyrocketed to popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic when food delivery services were at an all-time high. They’re dwindling now, less common than they used to be, but there are still a handful of haunts in Columbia, existing only on the apps.
We embarked on a ghost-hunting mission, only, instead of Proton Packs, we took our phones and had a brief scroll through DoorDash. In larger cities, it doesn’t take long to find the ghosts — the IHOP in Columbia doesn’t offer delivery from “Pardon My Cheesesteak,” but other locations do. We don’t have a Chuck E. Cheese, so there’s no opportunity to order from “Pasqually’s Pizza & Wings.” (Told ya).
At Inside Columbia, we know the dining scene inside and out, so unfamiliar logos jump out at us. We narrowed our search to a handful of restaurants: It’s Just Wings, Dirty Burger, Toasty’s Breakfast Burritos and Wild Burger.
Order #1
Among the blast in ghost kitchens throughout the pandemic came Wild Burger, from which we ordered their double burger as well as chocolate fudge cake for dessert.
Surprising to no one, this ghost kitchen operates out of Buffalo Wild Wings. The food arrived in the chain’s packaging and we enjoyed a typical chain burger (not too “wild,” but did the job) and a rich slice of cake. This kitchen, as opposed to others, advertises itself as an extension of Buffalo Wild Wings. It’s not some big secret. But upon first glance at some of these virtual restaurants, patrons might be fooled into thinking they’re ordering from a small, local spot — think, if you were to see “The Burger Den” or “The Meltdown,” you might believe you’re ordering from a hole-in-the-wall joint instead of what it really is: Denny’s. Some call this “virtual catfishing.” Big brands tend to call it “giving the consumer some more options.”
Order #2
From It’s Just Wings, we ordered buffalo wings and French fries. The food arrived hot, arrived fast, arrived … in Chili’s packaging.
Okay, turns out, It’s Just Chili’s.
Then why not just post it on DoorDash as Chili’s? We found no clues toward It’s Just Wings’ identity other than searching its address.
The employee who picked up the phone at Chili’s was not nearly as deceptive as the app. When we spoke, the employee explained it was a convenient use of their kitchen space; the virtual restaurant was a corporate addition across most Chili’s restaurants.
Brinker International, the parent company of Chili’s and Maggiano’s Little Italy, started the It’s Just Wings brand among others in 2020 to keep employees working amid the pandemic and keep business moving. The company stated that branding the product specific to wings, rather than posting it as Chili’s, targets customers who may be craving wings in particular.
The wings were fine. I mean, it’s just Chili’s.
Order #3
Next came Dirty Burger, another unassuming, simple option on DoorDash. We ordered their Dirty Fries, which were loaded with caramelized onions, cheese, pickles and “dirty sauce.” For mains, we chose the double smash cheeseburger and a grilled cheese. This burger was superior to the Wild Burger and the sauce was dirty and downright delicious.
But where did this plate come from? Did a poltergeist leave it at our doorstep? Coincidentally, our Dirty Burger order arrived at the same time as…
Order #4
…Toasty’s Breakfast Burritos.
Online, we were greeted by a grinning cartoon burrito and no other clues regarding its identity. We placed an order for loaded tater tots, a meat and veggie burrito, a classic breakfast burrito and a meat eater burrito.
Our late-afternoon breakfast arrived wrapped in nondescript tin foil and boxed in white styrofoam, and was pretty good. The tater tots were a highlight, the salsas were flavorful and the burritos were everything you’d want for a quick weekday morning bite or a lazy Sunday-morning indulgence. Were these made alongside our Dirty Burger and Dirty Fries? The same driver picked these orders up simultaneously. With a little snooping, the matching addresses directed us to the doorstep of Truman’s Bar & Grill.
Unlike Buffalo Wild Wings and Chili’s, Truman’s is a loved local spot. It isn’t backed by lavish parent companies’ pockets like Brinker International and Inspire Brands. The Truman’s breakfast menu doesn’t carry burritos, so maybe they’re just trying it out. This is the case with most local restaurants who operate ghost kitchens; they use their facilities to offer new food under different branding and experiment with menu items while earning some extra revenue. Maybe they’re renting their kitchen to aspiring restaurateurs. After multiple attempts at contact, we didn’t receive a comment.
For what it’s worth, the food was tasty and hot. We’d just like to know where it’s coming from.
Not So Spooked
We don’t mean to scare you away from ghost kitchens entirely. Like we said earlier, a ghost kitchen can mean a number of things, but essentially, it’s a restaurant without tables. Back of (haunted) house only. There are several reasons why a business would run a new brand out of their kitchen or rent the space to another.
In St. Louis, for example, Cloud Kitchens is a large professional kitchen space that rents to online-only restaurateurs because, as any in-person restaurateur will tell you, kitchens are expensive. Alternatives to owning an entire space are common and help restaurants get their start — much like CoMo Cooks, a kitchen that manages to be 45 restaurants, all at once.
CoMo Cooks could technically constitute a ghost kitchen, considering that these are restaurants without standard dining, but Carrie Gartner, executive director of The Loop CID, says it’s much different than that. When CoMo Cooks was created in 2020, the goal was to make something different from a ghost or virtual kitchen. It’s different crews, different ideas and different recipes, all under one ceiling.
“It’s less about having a factory line of delivery and more, ‘how do we celebrate ultra-local business?’” Gartner says. “This is your neighbor or co-worker who has a side gig with a homemade barbecue recipe … it’s a lot more transparent. You know what you’re getting. Chances are, the cook is the one delivering your food.”
Several chefs who have used the space in the past have gone forward to open their own brick-and-mortar restaurants. Local favorites such as Pasta La Fata, Jowin’s Kitchen and Mahi’s Ethiopian Kitchen are all graduates of CoMo Cooks.
“It’s specifically designed to help cooks, chefs and farmers bring their food to the people of Columbia at a low cost,” Gartner says. “We want to reduce the barrier to entry. It’s very expensive in the restaurant and food industry; we want to make that a little easier.”
Some run out of food trucks, some cater, some can be found at the farmers market. These restaurants, which currently include Das Byrd’s Nest, 2 Odd Dawgs, Tsokolate Chocolates and more, share the kitchen to get their recipes off the ground and build their brands. They’re living and breathing restaurants, not phantoms.
Are we saying to dodge ghost kitchens at all costs? No, choose your haunts as you please.
It’s just good to know who’s behind the curtain.
