What is a dark kitchen?

A dark kitchen is a commercial kitchen that focuses on delivery and takeaway orders instead of dine-in guests. There is no traditional dining room: guests find the brand on delivery platforms, place their order online, and receive their food through couriers.

You'll often see different terms used for similar concepts, dark kitchen, ghost kitchen, cloud kitchen and virtual kitchen. In practice, they all describe a kitchen built around off-premise consumption, with menus designed specifically for delivery.

In the UK, many restaurants are already operating as small dark kitchens without calling it that – especially when they run multiple delivery-only brands from a single kitchen alongside their main concept.

How does a dark kitchen work in practice?

Operationally, a dark kitchen follows a simple flow:

1. Guests discover the brand on delivery platforms such as Uber Eats, Just Eat or Deliveroo.
2. Orders are placed online and sent directly to the kitchen screens or POS.
3. The kitchen team prepares the food using recipes designed to travel well.
4. Orders are packed, handed to riders and delivered to guests.

The key difference from a traditional restaurant is focus: menu engineering, packaging and operations are optimised for speed, consistency and delivery experience instead of table service.

With E-vittles, your existing restaurant kitchen can act as a dark kitchen for multiple delivery-only brands. You keep your team and your space, we bring the brands, recipes and platform expertise.

Types of dark kitchen models

There is no single dark kitchen model. In practice, you'll find several variations:

• Single-brand dark kitchen – a dedicated kitchen for one delivery-only restaurant brand, with no dine-in operation.
• Multi-brand virtual kitchen – one kitchen running several different virtual brands in parallel, often sharing ingredients and preparation flows.
• Shared or rental kitchen facilities – companies that rent equipped kitchen units to multiple operators under one roof.

E-vittles focuses on the second model: we help existing restaurants and dark kitchens run multiple delivery-only brands from the same kitchen, with overlapping ingredients and simple execution.

Benefits of the dark kitchen model

When implemented correctly, the dark kitchen model can unlock new revenue streams without multiplying your fixed costs. Some of the main benefits include:

• Better use of your existing kitchen – fill quiet periods and underused capacity with additional delivery brands.
• Lower overhead compared to opening a new site – no extra dining room, front of house team or high-street rent.
• Flexibility to test concepts – launch and iterate on new virtual brands faster than opening a traditional restaurant.
• Stronger presence on delivery platforms – appear in more cuisine categories and search results without confusing guests on your main brand.

This is the core of the E-vittles model: we design brands that work specifically for delivery and train partner kitchens to execute them with confidence.

Challenges and risks to consider

Dark kitchens are not a magic solution. Like any restaurant model, they come with challenges:

• Competition on delivery apps – guests have many options and first impressions matter.
• Operational complexity – running multiple brands and menus from one line requires clear processes and training.
• Dependence on third-party platforms – fees, algorithms and visibility rules can change over time.
• Consistency and quality control – every order is a review waiting to happen.

E-vittles was built around these realities. We create brands engineered for delivery, centralise platform setup and optimisation, and support partners with training and ongoing menu improvements.

Is a dark kitchen model right for your restaurant?

A dark kitchen or virtual brand strategy is usually a good fit for restaurants that:

• Have spare capacity in their kitchen during specific dayparts or days of the week.
• Already operate a solid core concept but want to grow delivery without diluting the brand.
• Operate in areas with strong delivery demand but limited space for additional sites.
• Are willing to follow clear recipes, preparation steps and packaging guidelines.

If this sounds like your situation, adding virtual brands to your existing kitchen can be a faster, more flexible move than opening a new location or building a separate dark kitchen from scratch.

How E-vittles helps you operate as a dark kitchen?

E-vittles creates delivery-only brands designed to sit on top of your existing operation. Our model is simple:

FAQ: dark kitchens & virtual brands