Ghost kitchen
Also called: dark kitchen · cloud kitchen · virtual restaurant
A ghost kitchen produces food for delivery only, with no dining room and no front of house. Rent and service labour fall sharply; commission and packaging rise sharply. Whether the trade works depends almost entirely on the commission rate.
| Line | Direction | Typical effect |
|---|---|---|
| Rent | Down | Location matters far less; often a shared facility |
| Front-of-house labour | Down | Largely eliminated |
| Fit-out capital | Down | No dining room to build |
| Commission | Up | 15–30% of every order |
| Packaging | Up | $0.40–$1.20 per order, all of it variable |
| Beverage and dessert attachment | Down | The highest-margin add-ons largely disappear |
| Brand equity | Down | You're renting someone else's customer relationship |
Worked example · The same $16 dish, two models
- Dine-in — price $16.00, plate cost $4.80
- CM $11.20
- Ghost kitchen — same dish on a 25% marketplace
- Net after commission
- $12.00
- Less plate cost and $0.65 packaging
- Ghost-kitchen CM
- $6.55 vs $11.20
41% less contribution per order. The model works when the rent and front-of-house savings exceed that gap at your volume — which is an arithmetic question, not a strategic one.
Run the numbers
Delivery margin calculator
Related terms
Third-party commission
The percentage a delivery marketplace takes from each order — typically 15–30%, charged on the order subtotal.
Break-even point
The sales volume at which total revenue exactly covers total cost — the number below which you are paying to open.
Fixed vs. variable cost
Fixed costs don't move with sales; variable costs do. Most restaurant labour is neither, and that's where planning goes wrong.