Exploring DoorDash Kitchens

Is the Downtown Brooklyn location a food hall or a ghost kitchen?

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Exploring DoorDash Kitchens

In the past few years, third party delivery giant DoorDash has gotten into the ghost kitchen and micro-food hall game, with the launch of the prosaically named DoorDash Kitchens. The company first start tinkering with the format in 2019, before properly launching in Redwood City (a suburb between S.F. and San Jose;) the company now has locations in Los Angeles, San Jose, and Brooklyn. OttOmate recently stopped by the Downtown Brooklyn location to explore how the concept operates.

383 Bridge St

DoorDash Kitchens’ NYC location is on a side street just off of Downtown Brooklyn’s pedestrian / transit mall, an area busy with shoppers and office workers, but with less foot traffic than a Manhattan commercial district.

Approaching the eatery, the street is busy with idling delivery workers, awaiting for their dispatches atop ebikes and mopeds. There’s a pickup window, carved into the side of the contemporary apartment building above, that handles most of these orders. While earlier iterations of the DoorDash Kitchens concept were effectively delivery / takeout only, this location also features a dining area; in that sense the concept is much like those of Kitchen United and Local Kitchens.

This location has a particularly broad array of participating brand partners, including DOMODOMO, Kings Co Imperial, moonbowls, La Panineria, Nonna’s Kitchen, Aria Korean Street Food, Plentiful, Baz Bagel, Ivan Ramen, Partners Coffee, Birch Coffee, Famous Desserts by The Cheesecake Factory, Sweet Street, and Milk Bar.

The Ordering Process

Walking in, customers are greeted by the a contemporary muted palette, a mix of wood composites and light plastics that’s as familiar to an Ikea as it is to an upscale urgent care center or frozen yogurt store. To the right there was a lightly staffed checkout area, the opposite side contained a dozen or so tables, plus a long bar-height counter.

Ordering from a kiosk, customers are first presented with a list of brands to choose from. After picking one, shoppers are presented with the regular array of questions and options familiar to anyone that’s bought food from a tablet in the past five years. Only once one has seemingly finished an order from a single brand does the tablet try to cross-sell on other restaurants’ offerings — perhaps you want to pour some hot coffee into your ramen?

Food & Prep Process