Überall in Tokio tauchen „Geisterrestaurants“ auf, die keine Ladenfront haben und nur bei UberEats erhältlich sind. Einige Küchen betreiben mehrere „Restaurants“ mit unterschiedlichen Menüs und Küchen. Auch große Ketten machen das. Coco Ichibanya gründete ein experimentelles Geisterrestaurant „Nagoya Meshi no Ankake Spaghetti“.

I’ve ordered from a bunch of these. In central Tokyo there are some good ones that specialize in New York style chicken over rice.

I first found out about ghosts when I tried to track down a good wings place from UberEats only to realize it didn’t exist. The nearby uber pickup point was just a generic building from outside. Later I talked to someone in the restaurant industry who says his company likes to start them to pilot new foods and menus before taking the leap and making the big investment in a physical location.

I hope it is more successful in Japan, this was a thing during the pandemic in the US but have since become extinct.

I’ve heard of them to be referred as ‚ghost kitchens‘, and the concept already exists in a couple of countries.

It sounds weird at first, but I actually think this might be a good thing.
– Normal restaurants won’t be held up with online orders and can focus on eat-in customers.
– Delivery drivers don’t have to wait around in- or outside the restaurant, which might annoy customers.
– Reviews for bad delivery service, messed-up orders etc. won’t dillute reviews about the actual restaurant experience.
– Ghost kitchens can adjust their schedule to actual delivery demand more freely and accurately.

Its two different ways of serving food that won’t interfere with each other. Can’t really find any downside, as long as there’s a way to review the ghost kitchen independently from the main restaurant.

Otherwise, why would I care where my delivery food was prepared?
Or if my eat-in restaurant doesn’t deliver directly?