Published in The Mystician 84.5, Page 5
With the development of websites like Uber Eats, GrubHub and DoorDash, businesses are now given an opportunity to open and expand on the digital space.
Virtual Restaurants, also known as ghost kitchens, are restaurants that have been founded exclusively with the intent of delivering food through online services without dine-in options. These restaurants give the opportunity for smaller businesses to thrive without the need to rent space for seating customers.
Smaller independent businesses are not the only restaurants taking advantage of this medium. Larger chain restaurants have decided to open their own virtual restaurants. Wingstop, a chain chicken wing restaurant, opened a detachment called “Thighstop” in about 1400 locations in the United States only accessible on DoorDash.
This concept has spread from metropolitan areas to smaller towns across the country. Businesses in the Bismarck/Mandan have started opening virtual restaurants. Papa Corazon's Quesadillas in Perkins and The Burger Den in Peacock Alley are examples of already existing restaurants that opened a virtual restaurant.
Virtual restaurants have allowed people who have never operated a business to open their own restaurants. A local example is the online bakery Macaron Man, run by current UND student RJ Tare. After the lockdowns made it impossible for Tare to get macarons from a Fargo bakery, he decided to take up baking his own as a hobby.
Tare used his baking skills to start his virtual bakery. He started Facebook and Instagram accounts where he posts pictures of his macarons. Tare offers a wide range of flavors, from standard flavors like red velvet to more unique flavors like cosmic brownie, fruity pebble and milky way. While he also has a website, RJ says he prefers to use the direct messaging services on his social media pages for customers to make orders since supplies are limited.
Tare was able to start serving at events with the support of his family and the community. He has served events such as bridal showers and fundraising for organizations like Dakota OutRight, a group dedicated to finding a safe space for those in the LGBTQIA community.
Balancing a small business and being a full-time student, along with a part-time serving job, has been difficult for Tare. He is also considering attending graduate school. He said this could affect the fate of his business if it gets in the way of his life goals. Despite this, Tare believes that expansion is inevitable.
“I think it's just bound to happen,” Tare said. “Covid happened and people realized how restrictive it is to have storefronts when there was a global lockdown. I think more and more businesses will transition to a virtual business, but I think some businesses will never truly transition to just a website. Rather, it will be another tool to make more profits.”
Tare believes that while there are benefits to virtual restaurants, physical stores are still important. Seeing other people shop in person is something a virtual business can never replicate.
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