As the food hall/delivery startup Wonder grows on the East Coast, a similar model is expanding and staking its claim in California.
Local Kitchens was born during the pandemic as a ghost kitchen, but has evolved as it has grown to 12 units in the San Francisco Bay Area. Earlier this month, Local Kitchens opened its first location in Southern California, bringing the total to 13.
Expansion will continue, but the new location in Los Angeles represents a new model as the brand pushes forward.
It’s not really a ghost kitchen anymore, though delivery remains about 45% of sales. It’s also not really a “micro food hall,” as it has been called. Those are typically defined by multiple bays operated by different concepts.
Rather, it’s a “culinary collective,” with multiple menus from famed chefs produced out of one kitchen, said Jay Gentile, who was named CEO of Local Kitchens in May. He was previously CEO of Veggie Grill.
Like Wonder, Local Kitchens has partnerships with chefs and culinary influencers who have developed menus specifically for the brand, or perhaps who are expanding a beloved brand into a new market. Each menu includes a few starters, entrees, sides and desserts—all prepared from scratch out of one kitchen, which Gentile likens to The Cheesecake Factory model.
Guests can mix and match orders across the various menus, and proprietary technology coordinates timing so they arrive at the table (or for pickup/delivery) at the same time.
In LA, menus for Local Kitchens have been developed by Tue Nguyen (left), Einat Admony and Alvin Cailan. | Photos courtesy of Local Kitchens.
At the new Local Kitchens Los Angeles, for example, short menus have been developed by TikTok star Tuê Nguyen (known as @TwayDaBae and briefly for the restaurant DiDi in Los Angeles), with Vietnamese egg rolls, a tamarind jackfruit salad, and entrees like The Broke Chick Tam, with charbroiled chicken over broken rice, chunks of pork-and-egg quiche, pickled daikon and carrot with cucumbers and tomatoes that can all be doused with a sweet fish sauce.
Another menu is by New York Israeli chef Einat Admony (Balaboosta, and her former concept Taim was acquired by Craveworthy Brands) includes a green falafel or Amba chicken served in a pita or as a plate with hummus, Moroccan carrot, spicy green s’chug and more.
Alvin Cailan (known for the Los Angeles restaurants Amboy and Eggslut, and the First We Feast’s “The Burger Show”) brings a menu of Oklahoma Onion Burgers with various toppings.
Author Rick Martinez offers a line of Sonoran-style tacos and burritos inspired by his latest cookbook “Salsa Daddy.”
Cinnamon-sugar dusted tortilla chips with a berry salsa, crema and cotija cheese from Rick Martinez' menu. | Photo by Lisa Jennings
And there’s a menu from Proposition Chicken, a Bay Area chain created by chef Ari Feingold and known for spicy chicken sandwiches. Local Kitchens serves as Proposition Chicken’s first outlet in LA.
And there may be more chef partnerships coming. All of the chefs bring a story to their food, Gentile said.
Fans of Nguyen, for example, may have drooled over her dishes on social media, but Local Kitchens gives them an opportunity to taste.
At Local Kitchens in Northern California, guests order off digital kiosks onsite and the model is designed more for off premise.
The Los Angeles location, however, operates more like a fast-casual restaurant, with guests ordering at the counter with a human (or on the kiosk, if they prefer), and sitting, with food run to tables (or to go).
Delivery is still available, of course. But this is the model Local Kitchens plans to grow with, said Gentile.
“We needed to stop being a platform and start being a restaurant,” he said.
Local Kitchens in Los Angeles offers indoor and outdoor seating. | Photo by Lisa Jennings
Local Kitchens was founded in 2020 by former DoorDash executives Andrew Munday and Jon Goldsmith. Last year, the company had raised $40 million for expansion in a Series B round led by existing investor General Catalyst, a venture capital firm.
Out of COVID, consumers wanted convenience and choice, and at a high level, said Gentile.
That’s still true, but those needs have evolved. Now guests are looking for more of an in-store experience and to be served, he said.
Indeed, there is growing evidence that consumers are shifting away from off-premise channels to seek out more human interaction, if even to avoid high delivery fees.
Local Kitchens is planning to open another location (which will be No. 14) this year in Burlingame, California. That location will be similar to the Los Angeles format.
As the concept has grown, there have been some real estate missteps, Gentile said. At one point Local Kitchens had 15 units, but three underperforming units were closed.
Local Kitchens Los Angeles is the first outlet for Proposition Chicken in Southern California. | Photo courtesy of Local Ktichens.
The company is planning to bring the brand to Orange County (south of Los Angeles), and then San Diego, in time.
It’s a bit of a race. New York-based Wonder, which has raised some $2 billion, is coming to the West Coast at some point. The rapidly growing chain expects to reach 90 units by the end of 2025, mostly in the Northeast. Wonder also owns Grubhub, Blue Apron and the food media company Tastemade.
Gentile contends Wonder is a somewhat different model, with food prepared out of central kitchens and heated in outlets, which are more designed for off-premise.
For now, Local Kitchens’ focus is on figuring out the unit economics with this premium fast-casual model, Gentile said. “It’s let’s get the West Coast mastered and we'll see where it takes us."
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