Knowles tried contacting the restaurant and corporate contacts at the restaurant but didn't hear back.Ĭaptain Hooks on 13th Street, near the Illinois Medical District, also has ghost kitchen names. That restaurant had recent failing inspections with violations including '100 fruit flies throughout the establishment' and 'no soap at a handwashing sink.' In follow-up reports the restaurant fixed violations and passed inspection. The Buffalo Wild Wings at 513 West Taylor Street, near the South Loop, houses the ghost restaurant Wild Burger. He has about 20 different ghost kitchen restaurants.Ĭastelan's restaurant has recent, good health inspection reports, but what if your food comes from a restaurant with health violations? All of the food is made in the same kitchen. Gabino Castelan, the owner of Taqueria El Ranchito, showed the I-Team how delivery orders for its ghost kitchens come though on tablets.

Some places have one or two,' Green said. 'And what we found is some places have 10, 15 virtual kitchens attached to them. Now the city is asking restaurants to be more transparent.Ĭonsumer Investigative reporter Jason Knowles ordered food from four of them, with ABC7 Data Journalist Maggie Green, who has been matching up ghost kitchens with their real restaurants by cross referencing addresses. The I-Team found hundreds of ghost kitchens on apps. The food is all made in the same kitchen, but you could be ordering pizza from a Mexican restaurant without knowing. This is when the restaurant name on the app is different than the restaurant which is making the food. Ghost kitchens have become a trend on delivery apps.

Ghost kitchens, or restaurants for which the name on a food delivery app is different than the restaurant making the food, are becoming more common.ĬHICAGO (WLS) - You may be ordering a lot of delivery food this winter, but do you really know where that food is coming from?

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