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Name: Central Kitchen food hall
Location: Irving, Texas
Operated by: Concept Entertainment
Facility: Host Kitchens in the Toyota Music Factory
Delivery: All major delivery providers
Concept(s): The food hall operated by Concept Entertainment — that owns and operates Thirsty Lion Gastropub & Grill in Texas — founder John Plew and corporate executive chef/partner Keith Castro wanted to create a rotating virtual food hall that would allow customers to mix-and-match cuisines from across the world in one delivery order. Previously, the pair opened a food hall in Oregon that was in-person, but this is the group’s first virtual food hall.
The first three concepts are Killer Wings, Pizza & Spice and Southern Jewel.
Killer Wings: The brand offers all things wings with a variety of flavors and combinations.
Menu: The nine distinctive sauces include: Dry Rub, Old School Buffalo, Atomic Buffalo, BBQ Cilantro Lime, Sesame Ginger, Nashville Hot, Sriracha, Gochujang Korean and Mango Habanero. Sides include fries and salads.
Price: Wings range from $12.95 for 8 pieces to $21.95 for 16 pieces
Southern Jewel: Traditional southern classics with some “Texas heat” made from scratch daily.
Menu: Starters range from crispy fried dill pickles to cheese curds while entrees include items like southern fried chicken, hot chicken Nashville-style, seared and sliced pork belly and smoked BBQ pork topped with Sriracha mayo. Sides include traditional southern items like buttermilk biscuits and hush puppies.
Price: Sandwiches and entrees range from $8.95 to $21.95 for a platter of Nashville Hot Chicken.
Pizza & Spice: Nine gourmet 10-inch pizzas with a variety of sides.
Menu: Nine pizzas are offered: Margherita, Chipotle Chicken, Pepperoni & Four Cheese, The Works, Grilled Pear & Prosciutto, Very Veggie, Spicy Italian Butcher’s, Backyard BBQ Chicken and Reuben. Desserts include milkshakes and the same sides as the above brands are offered.
Price: Pizzas range from $17.95 to $18.95
Name: Luchini Italian
Location: New York City
Operated by: Tao Hospitality Group
Facility: LAVO Italian kitchen (a Tao Hospitality Group restaurant)
Delivery: All major delivery providers
Concept(s): Classic Italian food in a delivery-forward way meant to bring the nostalgia of the classic New York Italian restaurant at-home. The menu was created by Chef Ralph Scamardella, who serves as partner and chef of Tao Group Hospitality.
Menu: The menu covers 12-inch Italian sourdough sandwiches called “heros” (Eggplant rollatini parm, classic caprese, Cubano italiano, Italian cheesesteak are just a few), New York thin crust pizzas and consigliere pizzas which are the brands thick-crust rectangular pizzas and, of course, some classic entrees like saltimbocca chicken and chicken in lemon butter.
Price: Entrees range from $18-$24, pizzas between $12 and $15 for a thin crust and $22 and $36 for the consigliere versions and heros range from $12-$15.
Name: Ghost Bar
Location: New York City
Operated by: Ning (Amelie) Kang and Yishu He, owners and partners of MáLà Project, and Lee Burger
Facility: Little Alley kitchen (owned by Yishu He)
Delivery: All major delivery providers
Concept(s): This virtual cocktail bar is trying to bring the night-out experience to those remaining safely at home. In individually sealed and mixed bottles, with instructions to either pour over ice at room temp or keep chilled on the front, NYC residents below 66th street can get their favorite cocktails delivered to their homes.
Menu: Classic cocktails like the Negroni, Old Fashioned, Sazerac, the Manhattan, Cosmo and an espresso martini all come pre-packaged in clear glass bottles reminiscent of a high-end green juice. Most of the specialty cocktails like the instant hot toddy, lychee martini, dragon fruit daquiri and long-est island (their version if a Long Island iced tea) come with accoutrements like rosemary and lemon for an added cocktail experience.
Price: Drinks range from $5 for beers in the can to $12-$16 for single drinks and $18-$24 for a double.
Name: The Rooftop Lounge, Superrich, Surf Panda
Location: Los Angeles
Operated by: The Rooftop Lounge
Facility: The Rooftop Lounge kitchen; Surf Panda uses a ghost kitchen
Delivery: Ritual
Concept(s): “It was important for us to create new ways to connect with our loyal customers until we can once again invite them back to our rooftop to dine in-person. Our hope is that the community will embrace the new editions and enjoy the diverse variety of fare that each of these new and exciting restaurants has to offer,” said Spencer Kushner, The Rooftop Lounge’s director of food and beverage.
The Rooftop Lounge: The restaurant’s take on American comfort food classics
Menu: Handhelds include La Casa Smashburger — a burger with white cheddar cheese, bacon jam, smokey sauce on a brioche bun and the Buttermilk Fried Chicken Sandwich on a pretzel roll. Fried brussels sprouts with prosciutto, feta cheese and a balsamic reduction is one of the sides offered and 12 oz. to-go cocktails include the Silk Whisperer (Aperol Aperitivo, Green Tea-Infused Grey Goose, Rose Prosecco, Rhubarb, Lemon, Himalayan Salt) and the Brand New World (Kaffir Lime-infused Bombay Dry Gin, Matcha, Lime, Club Soda).
Superrich: Innovative Japanese fare
Menu: One of the brand’s most popular items, Onigiri (Japanese rice balls), is offered in a variety of creative flavor combinations such as Yuzu Salmon with Opan Basil and Ume Shiso-- pickled plum steeped in agave and shiso leaf. Donburi rice bowls and deep-fried Inari sushi round out the rest of this menu.
Surf Panda: Based on traditional, American Chinese take-out
Menu: Chinese take-out classics like Crab and Cream Cheese Wonton and Confit Chicken Egg Roll appetizers, Orange Chicken with salted peanuts and scallions, Beef & Broccoli, Creamy Coconut Shrimp, Fat Fried Rice, Asian Slaw, or Chow Mein all dot the menu here.
Name: Hollywood Crab Shack, SocialEats Food Hall
Location: Orange County
Operated by: K2
Facility: CloudKitchens
Delivery: All major delivery providers
Concept(s): Hollywood Crab Shack joins already-existing virtual brands in the food hall including Pop!s Burgers & Shakes, Azule Taqueria, Supertoro and Street Noods and serves as the fresh seafood option for customers who want crab in and out of the shell delivered.
Menu: Crab by the half-pound bagged is offered ranging from Dungeness to King to Stone to Blue along with half-pound bags of shrimp, crawfish, clams, mussels and lobster available mild, medium and spicy. Sides include half-pound orders of potatoes, andouille sausage, calamari, corn, crusty bread, white rice and fries.
Price: Not yet released
Name: Chuck’s Dockside
Location: Arlington Heights, Ill.
Operated by: Sparrow Hospitality
Facility: Passero kitchen
Delivery: GrubHub and UberEats
Concept(s): Owner/Chef Matt Peota was inspired to open the seafood joint when he created a Friday night seafood meal at his Italian-American restaurant, Passero. The concept sells chowder and bisque, lobster rolls two-ways, coconut and garlic shrimp, cheddar chive biscuits, New England style smoked ribs, house made sweets and more.
Menu: New England Clam Chowda bacon + Kennebec potatoes; Lobster Rolls your pick Maine Style or Connecticut Style; Tybee Island Coconut Shrimp sweet chili mango sauce + coleslaw; Dockside Burger two all beef patties + lettuce + American cheese + red onion + house pickles + Chuck’s sauce + sesame seed bun + coleslaw; New England Style Smoked Baby Back Ribs maple bourbon bbq sauce; and Key Lime Pie Maine blueberries + fresh whipped cream.
Price: Main dishes are $14-$22 and sides range from $7-$14.
Name: Blake Lane
Location: New York City
Operated by: Mexicue’s owners
Facility: Mexicue kitchen
Delivery: Direct through Blake Lane’s website or DoorDash
Concept(s): From the founder of Mexicue, the delivery-only pop-up is a version of Blake Lane the brick-and-mortar restaurant that was previously located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Re-launched as a virtual brand with just two chefs making healthy-ish neighborhood fare made from scratch.
Menu: Some of the health-adjacent food items include spiced purple potatoes, thick cut Neuske's bacon, and softly scrambled eggs folded into a charred flour breakfast wrap; or Bien cuit ciabatta sandwiches grilled with chipotle butter and filled with charred broccoli, cashew vinaigrette, chili Romanesco and herb slaw.
Price: Sides are $5.50, Market Bowls range from $10.50-$14 and sandwiches cost between $9.75 and $13.
Name: Livy’s Plant Based Foods, Rustika
Location: Philadelphia
Operated by: Jose Garces
Concept(s): “Iron Chef” Jose Garces created two, very different virtual brands.
Learn more here: Jose Garces launches two virtual brands, focusing on vegan burgers and Peruvian chicken, in Philadelphia
Livy’s Plant Based Foods: This concept is named for Garces’ own vegan daughter Olivia and only sells vegan food. The concept mainly uses Impossible patties and products for the vegan burger restaurant.
“The exploration of cooking plant-based foods has led me to believe that we really don’t ‘need’ to have meat to have amazing flavors and culinary experiences,” Garces said.
Menu: Livy’s Plant Based Foods: Impossible Foods’ Impossible Burger, made with soy and potato proteins, as well as a black bean-and-soy soyrizo burger, starting at $8. Guests can choose either one and customize their food by selecting a Martin’s seeded roll (which is not vegan because it contains milk powder), a vegan bun, a gluten-free bun or a Bibb lettuce wrap. They can also select from among five different cheese substitutes meant to simulate white cheddar, feta, smoked Gouda, Parmesan and Cheese Whiz for $2 each.
Price: Livy’s Plant Based Foods charges $8 for burgers with optional additions for a fee and sides cost between $6 and $10.
Rustika: Garces’ second virtual concept is a Peruvian chicken brand, centering on its 72-hour brined whole rotisserie chicken
Menu: The rotisserie chicken is offered in quarter, half or full chicken portions for $10, $14 and $20, respectively, with a choice of seven sauces: Citrus garlic sauce (mojo criollo), spicy cheese sauce (huancaina), Peruvian black mint sauce (octopi), aji rocoto aïoli, spicy cilantro sauce. chimichurri or purple olive chimichurri.
Price: Rustika’s chicken ranges from $10-$20, depending on the size of the portion and sides range from $6-$10.
Name: The Finishing Gourmet
Location: Los Angeles
Operated by: Robert Sulatycky, a veteran of Bocuse d’Or culinary competitions and former executive chef at the Four Seasons Hotels in Toronto and Chicago and co-founder Paul Abramowitz, a self-described serial entrepreneur
Facility: The company’s commercial kitchen
Delivery: Tock or via phone
Concept(s): A new virtual restaurant brand focused on delivering a high-end steakhouse experience to consumers’ homes.
Menu: Entrées include USDA Prime beef cuts ranging from a 10-ounce filet mignon for $69 at the low end to the 39-ounce cowboy ribeye for $139 at the high end, along with a handful of poultry and seafood selections, a range of side dishes and Regis Ova Caviar
Price: Steaks range from $69 to $139 and sides, including the caviar, can range from $100-$1,000
Learn more: Virtual steakhouse raises the bar on delivery with “restaurant-at-home” experience
Name: Secret Sauce Barbecue
Location: King of Prussia, Pa.; Gaithersburg, Md.; Pittsburgh, Pa.; Frisco, Texas; Watertown, Texas; and Fort Worth, Texas.
Operated by: Bottleneck Management
Facility: City Works Eatery & Pour House kitchens
Delivery: All major providers
Concept(s): This barbecue concept is all about smoked meats and sauces. Large portions are common on the delivery-only menu meant to be enjoyed family-style.
“The lightbulb went on for us when we realized that we could create a virtual brand that could live online, but that we could execute from our existing kitchens. After crunching a lot of numbers and considering logistics, we decided this could really work and could likely even thrive in today’s on-demand, carryout/delivery-driven environment,” said Angela Zoiss, chief marketing officer for Bottleneck Management, in a statement.
Menu: Large appetizers include: Hot Link Queso Dip with smoked Louisiana Hot Link, and Crispy Fried Smoked Wings with choice of housemade BBQ sauces. The smoked meat options include Baby Back Ribs, Hot Links, Pulled Pork, Jumbo Smoked Chicken Wings, and more, all served with white bread, spicy bread and butter pickles, and a choice of two sides such as Creamy Grits, Mashed Potatoes, Creamed Corn, Chipotle Coleslaw, and Maple Bacon Baked Beans.
Price: Appetizers range from $12.50-$14.50 while the meat dishes à la carte are around $8 per serving and the meat combo platters range from $13.50-$27.
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