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Doggystyle: Premium Wieners, Burgers + Melts is changing the restaurant game in Burlington by operating as a ghost kitchen inside It’s All Good: Southern Kitchen, both owned by Kyle Bundy.
Doggystyle operates as a ghost kitchen in Burlington, with takeout and delivery service online and through Uber Eats, DoorDash and GrubHub.
Doggystyle, which serves food out of It’s All Good: Southern Kitchen at 2306 South Church Street, Burlington, launched in phases on food delivery services back in September. The ghost kitchen launched on GrubHub the second week of September, on DoorDash the next week and then on Uber Eats in the first week of October.
The new restaurant serves a variety of hot dogs, burgers and grilled cheese sandwiches, as well as desserts, sides and beverages. Party packs and catering services are also available to serve a crowd.
Bundy said he launched Doggystyle with the desire to expand business, but maintain the brand identity of It’s All Good.
“We always think of ways to extend our sales as our normal restaurant,” he said. “Once you get to certain point, you can’t extend your menu any further or people get lost in your menu and it kind of dilutes your brand, but your kitchen may be able to service other items.”
“We decided to open a ghost kitchen to highlight those new products without also diluting our existing brand,” he explained.
The concept of a ghost kitchen is a newer idea in the restaurant industry. According to Bundy, a ghost kitchen is a delivery and takeout only food business that utilizes delivery services and delivery apps to increase business without as much overhead cost from a brick-and-mortar location.
“It’s essentially just putting up a second page on restaurant marketplaces,” Bundy explained. “Uber Eats, DoorDash, GrubHub and all the other delivery apps, they’re basically the modern-day food court. You have lots of hungry people coming to those places to order so you don’t necessarily have to have a dedicated brick-and-mortar store for those people to order from. … You just have to have a brand there so you can showcase your products.”
Bundy said he started to see the value of a ghost kitchen even before the COVID-19 pandemic, but as in-person dining was shut down and remains restricted, delivery and takeout services have boomed in 2020.
“Even before the pandemic started, we noticed the market was heading towards delivery, takeout and catering,” Bundy said.
In December 2019, Bundy said 70 percent of It’s All Good’s revenues came from delivery, takeout or catering orders, positioning these services as a strong revenue source for a ghost kitchen like Doggystyle. By adding on the ghost kitchen and adding a new brand to the same location, Bundy said it also helps draw more repeat business.
“We’re basically capturing the same customers multiple times a week with different products and different brands that showcase those products,” Bundy said.
There has been a little bit of confusion over the ghost kitchen concept, Bundy explained, but the response has been generally positive.
“I think people are really interested in the concept in general,” he said. “Within two weeks, Doggystyle was matching on a per-app basis, it was pretty much matching what It’s All Good does in order count, which really shocked us.”
With such quick success, Bundy said the restaurant was forced to order in more refrigerators and reconfigure the kitchen to handle the increased orders.
“I think (ghost kitchens are) going to become more prevalent in society. By having a multi-brand kitchen you’re able to increase your output so you can afford higher wages, so it keeps you competitive on the labor front, especially as we go forward into the future as the coronavirus pandemic hopefully comes to a close,” Bundy said. “I think it’s the future of the restaurant business as a whole.”
Bundy noted that there is another ghost kitchen in the Burlington area called It’s All Wings, which is serviced by Chili’s.
The hours for Doggystyle and It’s All Good are the same with both brands serving food 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Doggystyle orders can be placed through the delivery apps or on the ghost kitchen’s website, www.itsallgoodrestaurants.com/doggystyle. Delivery through the website is free for orders over $30.
