Overview:
It costs between $95,000 and $2,000,000 to open a restaurant in Colorado, so many entrepreneurs are turning to ghost kitchens.
Rob Almaraz has always had a passion for work that benefits other people and allows him to showcase his attention to detail. He previously worked in renowned restaurants and some of the most exclusive hotels in big cities. Now he is running a ghost kitchen.
“This work helps me to feel like I’m doing something positive because I’ve always worked for somebody else, and I just thought, ‘Why don’t I try and give back and do something to help other working people, to help them save a little bit money and eat better?’” Almaraz said.
The term “ghost kitchen” was popularized in 2015 to describe restaurants that operated within non-commercial properties to prepare food for online ordering and delivery services but didn’t have a storefront. Post-COVID, the ghost kitchen industry is booming. Research by Hospitality Technology suggests that the ghost kitchen industry within the United States was worth just over $43 billion in 2019, with the industry expected to bring in over $70 billion by 2027.
Almaraz is the owner of a commercial ghost kitchen called Denver Home Cooking Ready To Go, a stand-alone business that serves customers their favorite foods that are reminiscent of childhood home-cooked meals. The catch: a 24-hour in-advance ordering system that allows a meal to be curated to perfection. Of course, pick-up ordering is welcome as well.
“The idea is that it’s comfort food, peasant dishes, generous portions and very tasty,” Almaraz said. Located in the Northeast Park Hill neighborhood of Denver, the commercial ghost kitchen has given Almaraz a way to showcase his years of work experience and a foot in the door in a lesser-known industry that has been making strides in recent years.
“What most people consider ghost kitchens I think became popular after COVID-19 because it was a way for people to not necessarily have to be in contact with their customers but still be able to make food,” Almaraz said. “In my kitchen, it’s just a hallway with doors; it was an empty space with an industrial hood, triple sinks, all of the water that you need, and a really great suppression system.”
In Denver, ghost kitchens like Almaraz’s business have been popping up full of available food options, ranging from a delicious smash burger to a standard Caesar salad. In fact, it is not hard to come across one of the various apps used to order food, according to Vlad Jaćimović, a local Denverite and self-proclaimed foodie.
“I don’t care whether or not the restaurant has a spot for me to physically eat at,” Jaćimović said. “Since I usually order on food delivery apps that offer restaurants operated in ghost kitchens, I will be just as happy getting good food from a random place than I would from a Michelin-starred restaurant.”
There is a common misconception that these businesses are not completely legitimate and operate outside the typical legislation of the restaurant industry. Adrianna Bhan, a University of Colorado student and former IHOP employee, discovered a ghost kitchen operating concurrently in her workplace.
“I think that it’s honestly pretty messed up, especially since my IHOP didn’t have the best reputation and we got a lot of complaints in general about the restaurant and then lying to people about where their food was coming from felt really wrong,” Bahn said.
While ghost kitchens, such as Almaraz’s, are commercial and conglomerates of parent companies that provide working space, ghost kitchens are often off-hours operations within other established restaurants.
Businesses, particularly in the Denver area, have provided more direct and professional methods of starting your own kitchen. For instance, Cloud Kitchens offers rental space that ensures a fully working kitchen is available for you at a relatively affordable price.
“This business gives you a really professional storefront and everything that you would need in a restaurant at maybe 60% of the cost of operating a regular establishment,” Almaraz said. “It gives you every opportunity to be as professional as possible and not have to entertain people in your space and having to look after their needs.”
The cut in cost is significant for those looking to get into the restaurateur business. According to Toast, it costs between $95,000 and $2,000,000 to start a restaurant in Colorado. A ghost kitchen in the Denver area can cost a business owner as little as $30,000 to begin. More importantly, ghost kitchens have provided Denver residents like Almaraz with an opportunity to give back to their community.
“Now that I’m in the last 10 or 12 years of my working career, I want to see if I can actually make some small difference,” Almaraz said. “It’s cool; people are reaching out, and I’m connecting through a lot of different areas in Denver.”
As a man who runs his business alone, the idea of allowing his customers to see where their food comes from and connecting with those willing to try his dishes captures the essence of the business.
“I invite anybody to come and see where their food is cooked, as I think that’s very positive for people,” Almaraz said. “Anybody who wants to come and see their food can. I had a guy who came in; we had a cup of coffee for 15 minutes, and I showed him around.”
Ghost kitchens allow otherwise unnoticed and overshadowed independent businesses to thrive in the restaurant industry and let individuals like Almaraz experience a new sense of pride in the work that brings him the most joy.
“I’m very proud of my kitchen,” Almaraz said. “I’m very proud of what I do, and people are responding.”
