Have questions about virtual restaurants? We have answers.

• What is a virtual restaurant?

  A virtual restaurant is an online-only restaurant model that operates from an existing brick-and-mortar restaurant location with the goal of expanding customer reach and business growth. They typically share a kitchen with the brick-and-mortar restaurant to prepare and package orders. Customers order from a secondary menu that’s available exclusively online and for delivery or pickup. Those orders are prepared by the existing restaurant’s staff alongside orders for the primary business.

• How do I open my own virtual restaurant?

  Grubhub makes it easy to start your own virtual restaurant. You can choose to license one of our turnkey virtual restaurant concepts. We take care of the menu, branding, packaging, marketing and more for you. You simply handle cooking the food and fulfilling the orders with your existing kitchen and staff.

  If you want to launch your own unique virtual restaurant concept, we can help with that too. Your Account Advisor can provide resources to get started and can use data from Grubhub orders in your area to find menu ideas and other insights to help you fine-tune your concept.

• How can a virtual restaurant help grow my business?

  Virtual restaurants can add an additional revenue stream for your restaurant. Since they don’t require an additional brick-and-mortar location or any extra overhead, they provide a great way to get incremental profits for your business. You can select a concept that offers a cuisine not currently available in your area or one that focuses on different hours from your brick-and-mortar location.

• What’s the difference between a virtual restaurant and a ghost kitchen?

  First, let’s start with their similarities. Virtual restaurants and ghost kitchens share the goal of establishing virtual brands and capturing new customers and orders through food delivery. While virtual restaurants typically operate from existing brick-and-mortar restaurants, ghost kitchens don’t have a customer-facing physical storefront and are instead kitchen space focused solely on preparing to-go meals. Such facilities are often used by multiple chefs or restaurant operators in coworking spaces.

   Learn more about ghost kitchens on our blog.

• Why should I license a turnkey virtual restaurant concept?

  Branded concepts offer a number of benefits. They provide expertly crafted recipes curated for a delivery-styled menu, as well as menus and visual branding that allow you to get started much more quickly than you could if you had to develop it all yourself. Many have already established national brand recognition or are associated with a celebrity or company that brings trusted brand equity to the concept.