The restaurant is not available physically and menu items can be ordered only through GrabFood
Jimmy Donaldson, otherwise known on YouTube as “MrBeast”, has launched a ghost restaurant in the United States colloquially named “MrBeast Burger”. In the video in which the restaurant debuted, he gave away free burgers to passersby, either via the Drive-thru or via walk-ins. After the video ended, the philanthropist launched more of his restaurant chains around the country and soon spread to several countries, like China (HongKong), Malaysia, and Taiwan. Now it made its way to the Philippines through an announcement in a now-deleted Facebook post.
By partnering with local restaurant JustKitchen and delivery service GrabFood, netizens were able to order some of its menu items. They can be quite pricey but judging how popular MrBeast is, being one of the most subscribed individual YouTubers (only above PewDiePie) at 100 million subs, it’s no wonder when the news broke out, people were going crazy over it.
Here’s how ghost kitchens, in a nutshell, work. They are so-called because they do not exist as a physical store. So you won’t be seeing a MrBeast Burger restaurant building anytime soon. Instead, proprietors hire different already-established kitchens to make food for them using their own recipes. This actually saves costs in choosing a location, paying for employees, and maintaining equipment, and help experienced chefs sell their recipes without actually trying to start a business.
However, there are downsides to it. First, while the recipes originate from the proprietor, the method of preparing them, as well as the ingredients, originate from the Kitchen they hired from. So the next time you eat a MrBeast Burger, it might taste a lot different than the one you ordered previously. And the succeeding orders would also taste differently. Some may even taste familiar to you, like a restaurant you already have been in. Also, some orders may be rebranded.
This technique worked out so well during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic because people could not easily go outside. So they had to stay at home and do deliveries. Ghost kitchens started appearing left and right. Another term for them is “Delivery-only restaurants” which many of the largest chains in the world like Wendy’s are slowly adopting.
Ever tried ordering from Shopee, Lazada, and Amazon? Ghost kitchens are the food equivalent of that. If you found a restaurant with an unfamiliar name in FoodPanda or GrabFood, there are high chances they do not have a physical location and hire local kitchens instead. Travis Kalanick, former CEO of Uber has actually tried to penetrate through this revolutionary method by opening up CloudKitchen, the “Amazon of food”.
However, in the Philippines, there’s only one contract in which MrBeast Burgers are cooked and manufactured: JustKitchenPH, so for now, the menu items would taste just the same as how JustKitchen would prepare them. However, once MrBeast Burger spreads, there may be other kitchens that could be hired to make recipes for them, and they might taste a little different.
Below are the items currently being sold at GrabFood.
- Chris Style – Php 430
- Karl’s Deluxe – Php 245
- Beast Style – Php 375
- Chandler Style – Php 365
In addition to the four main items, there are also sandwiches being offered:
- Karl’s Grilled Cheese – Php 195
- Crispy Chicken Tender – Php 250
- Nashville Hot Tender – Php 270
Here are the sides that are being offered:
- Seasoned Crinkle Fries – Php 165
- Beast Style Fries – Php 250
Finally, there are two combo meals being offered:
- Chicken Sandwich Combo – Php 456
- Beast Style Combo – Php 550
During the first day of business, JustKitchen reported high demand and low stock volumes which caused massive delays in shipments. Nevertheless, the orders arrived on time and due to this, the restaurant will open again tomorrow, March 26th. Hurry, the restaurant is still in its hype stage and orders would be filled and JustKitchenPH would run out of stock again.
Side note: The chain is only available in select parts of Metro Manila like Makati and Malate, Manila. According to its schedule in GrabFoodPH, it will be available tomorrow at 12:59 AM. After that, it would be available again Monday-Thursday at 12:59 AM – 2:00 AM, Friday at 10:00 PM – 11:10 PM, and Saturday and Sunday at 10:00 PM – 11:59 PM. However, there may be announcements if there are schedule changes.
If things go well after the hype stage, the restaurant could flourish and spread through other parts of the Philippines. However, with so many similar restaurants like McDonald’s, Jollibee, Popeye’s, KFC, and Wendy’s, it’s certainly unclear for now whether people could stick or it will become another one of those niche restaurants that die out after the hype is over. Not to mention, the aforementioned restaurants offer solo and combo meals at either a higher quantity, lower price, or both.
Source: Polymatter
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