With restaurant restrictions and shutdowns continuing across the country, it is no secret that the industry is reeling, but it looks like an emerging sector of the business might be in better shape than others, especially as the coronavirus crisis begins to plateau and hopefully lessen.
Based on an article from CNBC, it appears that "ghost kitchens" may be primed to take off, with C3--which is a consortium that is part of SBE Entertainment Group--planning to hire 1,000 workers while also signing leases with CloudKitchens, a startup that was founded by former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick. The post says that mall owner Simon Property is partnering with SBE to bring ghost kitchen cooking facilities to malls and hotels, with the plan being to open 138 kitchens by the end of the year.
CNBC mentions that at least some ghost kitchens--which are basically food prep/cooking facilities set up for creating delivery-only meals and are also known as cloud kitchens or virtual kitchens--are being set up within empty restaurant spaces, with SBE Entertainment CEO Sam Nazarian saying that "It's an interesting solution to what we believe, post-Covid, when a lot of restaurateurs will not be able to survive, and these restaurants will be going dark." (C3's delivery-only brands include Krispy Rice, which focuses on sushi, and Sam's Crispy Chicken, which offers chicken sandwiches.)
by Marc Hurwitz (Also follow us on Twitter at @hiddenboston)
[A related post from our sister site (Boston's Hidden Restaurants): List of Restaurant Closings and Openings in the Boston Area]
