Xi'an Famous Foods Opens Ghost Kitchen in Roxbury

A number of year ago, it was reported that an award-winning group of Chinese restaurants based in New York City known in part for their hand-pulled noodles might be looking to expand to Boston, and now we have learned that it has finally happened, though only as a takeout/delivery spot.

According to a source (Gary Goldblatt), Xi'an Famous Foods is now open in Roxbury as a ghost kitchen, with the business operating out of a shared facility on Shirley Street a few blocks west of Massachusetts Avenue and South Bay, and around the corner from Bully Boy Distillers. We have been told that this is a company-owned location (not a franchise) and that according to the business, "the taste will be just like the stores in NYC."

In addition to hand-pulled noodles, Xi'an Famous Foods--which has received accolades from such publications as Bon Appetit, Forbes, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Time Out--also offers dumplings and burgers on flatbread buns.

The address for the Xi'an Famous Foods ghost kitchen is 94 Shirley Street, Roxbury, MA, 02119. The website for the business is at https://www.xianfoods.com/

(Follow Marc on Bluesky at @marchurboston.bsky.social)

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[A related post from our sister site (Boston's Hidden Restaurants): List of Restaurant Closings and Openings in the Boston Area]

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Flying Boar Kitchen Opens in Westwood

A sandwich place and caterer in the southwest suburbs of Boston that is set up as a ghost kitchen has opened.

According to an email sent to us, Flying Boar Kitchen is now open in Westwood, moving into a space at Southwest Park, which is accessed off Route 1 northbound just before the Route 128/1 intersection. The new spot offers Caribbean-inspired sandwiches that are available for takeout, pickup, and delivery via online ordering, with its menu including such sandwich options as beef burger chimi, Dominican porchetta, platano and bean patty, and more, along with empanadas and such sides as red potato salad, fried cheese, and fried rice.

The address for Flying Boar Kitchen is 34 Southwest Park, Westwood, MA, 02090. Its website can be found at https://flyingboarkitchenandcatering.com/

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[A related post from our sister site (Boston's Hidden Restaurants): List of Restaurant Closings and Openings in the Boston Area]

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Guy Fieri's Flavortown Kitchen Is Now Operating Out of a Number of Bertucci's Restaurants

It looks like one of the best-known celebrity chefs and restaurateurs in the country has quietly started to run ghost kitchens out of a chain with roots in the local area.

Based on information given from Adam Gaffin of Universal Hub, Guy Fieri's Flavortown Kitchen is operating out of at least some Bertucci's locations in the Greater Boston area, with a check on the locations section of the delivery-only restaurant showing that diners can order Flavortown Kitchen dishes out of Bertucci's outlets in Brockton, Canton, Hingham, Lexington, Medford, North Andover, Peabody, Reading, Swampscott, West Roxbury, and others. There is at least an indirect connection between Bertucci's and Guy Fieri, as the growing Chicken Guy! chain is a collaboration between Fieri and Robert Earl (of Earl Enterprises, which is the parent company of Bertucci's).

Some of the offerings from the menu at Guy Fieri's Flavortown Kitchen include cheesesteak eggrolls, buffalo wings, burgers, Cuban sandwiches, Cajun chicken alfredo, macaroni and cheese, and fried pickles.

The website for Guy Fieri's Flavortown Kitchen can be found at https://guysflavortownkitchen.com/ while the website for Bertucci's is at https://www.bertuccis.com/ (Fieri is also behind Guy Fieri's Tequila Cocina at the Hub on Causeway Development by North Station, and he has also been planning to open Guy Fieri's Boston Kitchen + Bar and a location of Chicken Guy! in the former Explorateur space by Boston Common.)

[February 19 update: The Guy Fieri's Flavortown Kitchen website shows that more Bertucci's locations have become home to the Flavortown ghost kitchens, including in Beverly, Braintree, Needham, Norwood, Waltham, and Woburn.]

by Marc Hurwitz (Also follow us on Twitter at @hiddenboston)

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[A related post from our sister site (Boston's Hidden Restaurants): List of Restaurant Closings and Openings in the Boston Area]

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As Restaurants Continue to Suffer Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Ghost Kitchens Could Begin to Flourish

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)

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[A related post from our sister site (Boston's Hidden Restaurants): List of Restaurant Closings and Openings in the Boston Area]

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