Some ghost kitchens have multiple locations, sometimes within 5 to 10 minutes of each other. Some food delivery shops require shoppers to order online via third parties (such as DoorDash) but shoppers will get paid only if the orders come from the assigned locations.

What can a shopper do to make sure an order is coming from the right location? I passed on multiple assignments because I could not tell which location would prepare my food.

I did one of these a month ago. When I signed in and put my order in using in my case Postmates it told me where the meal was coming from on the Postmates site before I actually paid for the meal. It was not the correct location and I was able to choose the right one for the shop. When I signed in I searched for the ghost kitchen at the address I needed to do the shop at but for some reason they assigned me the other location. It was a slight bit closer to my house.

@sandyf Thanks. I tried something similar with DoorDash before I self-assigned. I could not determine exactly which ghost kitchen location in San Francisco the food would come from. Since there were several in close proximity to each other, I decided not to self-assign the shop. I may try Postmates next.

In DoorDash, click on the restaurant and then hit the info button. It'll show you the address.

Check the address listed for the restaurant. You have to click and scroll until you find it depending on which service you use.

I have found these to be a lot of hassle for a little bit of overpriced food. Hopefully others have better luck.

The chains generally have specific delivery areas, which are marked out on a map. The ones in my town will only deliver to certain addresses, and the order will default to the location in whose delivery area you live. Although there may be a work around, I have a feeling that, if it isn't already, the same thing will end up being true of the ghost kitchens. They are still so new in my area, it is clear that they are still working out the bugs, but I have been happy to be able to pick up a few shops in the process. Ditto, on the assignments being a lot of work and the food is generally overpriced. I was pacing through the house fuming the other night when I got one more email advertising free food, MS food is not free, it is work like any other. Evaluating the food just happens to be part of the job.

Now, I will also add, DoorDash seems to do a somewhat better job than some of the others in my area, and I ended up going for their yearly plan. Therefore, unless there is some particular reason not to, I generally order through DoorDash and, as other mentioned, you can immediately see where your order is coming from by clicking the "Info" button when you go into the ordering process.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/22/2022 01:38PM by GinnyLynn.

I had the misfortune of checking and making sure and then right as I signed up for the shop and went to the delivery app ANOTHER kitchen became available on the app and the location wouldn’t go back to the original. The default was now the wrong one. The solution would’ve been to find a location for delivery nearer the old location. I didn’t want to drive though (for crummy food I’m paying to have delivered). So I cancelled.

I’d suggest skipping as they’re all terrible food. Even at the $20 “bonus” unless you’re really hard up for a meal. If that’s the case, park at a business near by and eat it warm instead of cold.

It could be that the food choices differ by area. Although on the spendy side, some of the choices are pretty tasty in my area. I've ordered from the ghost kitchens a few times now, and I have definitely found a few things that I would order again, among them some of the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever put in my mouth. I'd take the assignment again just for the cookie. Yum.

GrubHub allows me to choose my location. There are 3 different ones close enough to deliver to me. I keep checking at every stage of the order that the correct location is still showing.

One poor location left out the entree one time, and the side item the next time. Plus they didn't have correct packaging either time.

To be honest, I'm sympathetic towards the employees at the in-real-life restaurant. This is a lot of extra hassle for them.

Sadly, none of the cookie locations are near me. But probably just as well considering we're heading into the holidays and I'll find plenty of calories I don't need elsewhere!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/2022 01:30AM by amyann2.

Are you referring to the ghost kitchens that's also in the place with all the breakfast items? I find these shops to be quite easy, although the food is not so great. To make it worst, one location is particularly bad, whereas, the one closest to me is decent enough, but someone else always beat me to those shops!

If it's another ghost kitchen, can some fill me in on which one?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/2022 03:56AM by OEShopper.

Thank you, all! I really appreciate your insights!

I have ordered from DoorDash, etc., but I am still a newbie in using those services. I am sure, based on some of the many helpful posts in this thread, that there are ways to do what I need to do but I just did not know how to do it. When I used DoorDash to see whether I could narrow down which SF ghost kitchen would fulfill the order, I was actually prepared to drive to wherever I needed to go to accept the food delivery order. (I had multiple shops in SF for the day in question.)

I had much better luck doing some ghost kitchen shops in Oakland because there was only one Oakland location. There was no way I could mess those assignments up and I didn't mess them up. The physical restaurant location was also one that I had shopped multiple times, in person. Four or five different ghost kitchens worked out of that one restaurant. I have not seen those shops for many months or I would gladly do another.

In terms of the quality of the food, I must agree that it was not worth the high prices. OTOH, I have been lucky that one or more items in each order were usually above average. Not worth the price, certainly, but at least it was not so bad that I regretted doing those shops.

Thanks again for sharing your knowledge.

@OEShopper The SF shops I had trouble with served sushi. The Oakland shops I did successfully (some delivery, some pick up) had mostly non-breakfast items.

I have done about 6 of these. I go through Grubhub as I get it free for a year with Amazon Prime (check it out). The food is pricy but has recently improved and I consider it a late-night snack. On my last order, Grubhub somehow placed my order through a different location, several miles further for me. Since trying to cancel one of these delivery orders is nigh impossible, I quickly assigned the other shop to myself, went in and changed the date on the first one, and did both shops-2 days in a row. Interesting discovery, one location did a much better job than the other in terms of food quality, but they both missed a number of requirements such as including the Secret Sauce. In my area, they are basically amped up Grilled Cheese Sandwiches or amped up Quesadillas. I haven't tried the chocolate chip cookie, but the brownie is awesome. The report is not too bad. Give it a shot.

@ShopperGirly I know which MSC and clients you're referring to. I considered doing them but decided to be good and passed. I have a lot of dietary restrictions and am supposed to avoid cheese. Doing one of those shops would be way too tempting for someone like me (very poor self-control when it comes to food).

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/2022 10:21AM by BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz.

I have Amazon Prime, but I missed that about the free year of GrubHub. Thank you ShopperGirly! I don't think they have been open very long at all in my area, and they tend to miss a number of the requirements here as well, which is likely why they have mystery shoppers to catch these things before they loose customers on such. I was missing a sandwich and sauce both on the last one. My combo picture was of an order of fries.

On a positive note, the Italian sub, I don't remember what they called it, was one of the best I have had anywhere. It was made with a really substantial, high quality bread, and I've already mentioned the mega awesome cookies. They should be at that price, but they did not disappoint. I guess it is like any other, you have to figure the best things to order. Also, some selections travel better than others for delivery.

For me, the hard part of these orders is making sure that I get all of the right pictures. I've gone in circles more than once to get them all correctly in there.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/2022 01:25PM by GinnyLynn.

I agree that these are really hit or miss. I've had some food I really liked, in a naughty, junk food kind of way. I've had some that was really bad, almost comically so - ingredients left out, really poorly assembled, etc. Ironically, one item was made completely differently than it had been described and pictured but it was completely awesome.

I'd say give them a try and have low expectations. I wouldn't pay real money for this food at this price but for a couple of photos it's some fun food for watching a game.

I’ve found Uber Eats lists each location with the address clearly stated on the search results.

I guess if I end up doing it again I will have to try the dessert. I did the Quesadilla one which had so little filling I could not even prop it up on its side for that photo. And they changed the delivery time on me twice so I was not expecting it to arrive at the original time. The delivery guy never knocked or rang and I was not near my phone as the delivery time was still 20 minutes away. So it was cold but at least not stolen. Postmates had a map where I could see the car driving to the location which was very helpful but then the car got stuck at the restaurant and never moved again. All the decent ingredients were missing...no avocado, no sauces and a few other things which would have enhanced a dry tortilla with a smattering of cheese. Writing this I just remembered that the delivery car on the map started its trip near the other location Postmates had originally assigned me to which was in the opposite direction from my the location I needed to shop. So perhaps that is why Postmates originally assigned me that location rather than the one I had chosen. My daughter tells me Postmates is not very popular. Maybe they just had one driver in all of the west side of Los Angeles.
By the way I got a free year of postmates delivery on american express and yesterday I saw that my B of A acct will give me a free year of another service ?Grub Hub.

@ShopperGirly wrote:

. In my area, they are basically amped up Grilled Cheese Sandwiches or amped up Quesadillas. I haven't tried the chocolate chip cookie, but the brownie is awesome. The report is not too bad. Give it a shot.

I am wondering what MSC this is!

All the brainy shoppers shop there. How is that for a MSC hint? There are several different ghost kitchen franchises, so I'd just look for delivery shops. They are still a relatively new concept and don't seem to be found throughout yet. They tend to pop up with a very short turn around.

@shopnyc wrote:

I am wondering what MSC this is!

In my area they do a non-major cell phone carrier that uses AT&T's network, AT&T and storage shops.

In Texas they used to do the clown burger joint about 5 years ago. I think this burger joint recently stopped doing shops, but I'm not sure.

I would love to do one but 99.99 % of the drivers do not carry an hot bag. They can spend $ 200-$ 300o on a cell phone but not $ 10 for a nice hot bag to put the food in.

In most areas, delivery drivers have to have at least a reasonably decent cell phone to do their job these days. They rely on it for directions, which is in addition to communications, and the little tracker that tells you where they are. I frequently use delivery services, but the considerations are very different if they are for my personal use as opposed to if I am on assignment for a mystery shopping company. Even if it is sizzling hot when they deliver it, the food is going to be cold by the time you finish taking all the pictures on some of these assignments, and I set up for the shoot right after I place the order, so I am ready to go with the camera the minute I get the delivery.

@wrosie wrote:

@shopnyc wrote:

I am wondering what MSC this is!

In my area they do a non-major cell phone carrier that uses AT&T's network, AT&T and storage shops.

In Texas they used to do the clown burger joint about 5 years ago. I think this burger joint recently stopped doing shops, but I'm not sure.

They also do tire comparison phone shops.

They also do alcohol compliance checks for a large grocery store chain.

But I'm pretty sure we could name msc because I don't see the name of a client anywhere.

@GinnyLynn wrote:

In most areas, delivery drivers have to have at least a reasonably decent cell phone to do their job these days. They rely on it for directions, which is in addition to communications, and the little tracker that tells you where they are. I frequently use delivery services, but the considerations are very different if they are for my personal use as opposed to if I am on assignment for a mystery shopping company. Even if it is sizzling hot when they deliver it, the food is going to be cold by the time you finish taking all the pictures on some of these assignments, and I set up for the shoot right after I place the order, so I am ready to go with the camera the minute I get the delivery.

I used to work for a delivery service, and I had a decent phone and hot bag.

I

I guess I was just being cynical @Isaiah4031a The absolute coldest delivery order that I have had in months was definitely in an insulated bag. It was a pizza. The driver brought the order to the door, and with much fanfare opened the insulated bag and presented the pizza to me. As far as presentation goes, that driver got a 10 plus 5 stars, but it was likely the coldest pizza I have ever had delivered in my life. It was also the shortest distance away.

Back to the other, some of the ghost kitchen assignments require a lot of pictures, positioned just so. For some, you also have to cut the sandwich and position it just so as well. The first couple assignments, I was sweating that I even had all the pictures they wanted, much less from the right angle. On one, I had handled the food so much in the process, I was asking my poor son if he even wanted to eat the sandwich. It was that bad. We both ate our sandwiches though, and they accepted the shop. So it was a win overall.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/25/2022 02:17PM by GinnyLynn.

@GinnyLynn wrote:

I guess I was just being cynical @Isaiah4031a The absolute coldest delivery order that I have had in months was definitely in an insulated bag. It was a pizza. The driver brought the order to the door, and with much fanfare opened the insulated bag and presented the pizza to me. As far as presentation goes, that driver got a 10 plus 5 stars, but it was likely the coldest pizza I have ever had delivered in my life. It was also the shortest distance away.

Back to the other, some of the ghost kitchen assignments require a lot of pictures, positioned just so. For some, you also have to cut the sandwich and position it just so as well. The first couple assignments, I was sweating that I even had all the pictures they wanted, much less from the right angle. On one, I had handled the food so much in the process, I was asking my poor son if he even wanted to eat the sandwich. It was that bad. We both ate our sandwiches though, and they accepted the shop. So it was a win overall.

This gives me nightmares as much as the infamous pizza shops where you had to take all kinds of crazy photos!

Hmm, "brainy" - is it Intelli-shop? I never can guess when people describe other clients an MSC has, since I had taken about five years off from MSing until this summer and most hints don't ring any bells for me..

I see none of these ghost kitchen shops near me, unfortunately. Is that what they call the shop? I'm not even sure what a ghost kitchen is and I used to consider myself a bit of a foodie.

My area has a severe lack of food delivery of any kind. It's either Domino's or a local pizzeria that is terrible. Everything else around here requires pick-up. Oh well. That's what I get for moving out of the big city!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/26/2022 11:54AM by shopnyc.

Several of the MSCs are starting to do ghost kitchen shops. Although it varies, a lot of the ghost/virtual kitchens use a stand alone restaurant's kitchen to cook and provide a completely different delivery menu from another food establishment. However, some are just kitchens. Most of them have some delivery service, and some but not all have pick-up available. It is basically a restaurant without a place to sit down and eat. There are a bunch of different ghost kitchen franchises, but they are not all franchises. Although they may have been around before, the concept really started growing when folks couldn't get out during covid. Most of the ghost kitchen delivery shops that I have seen in my area pop up on very short notice for a very short turn-around, like due the same day they are posted.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 11/26/2022 01:30PM by GinnyLynn.