Ghost Restaurants Are Here, and It's Hurting Local Business.

Big corporate restaurants are creating "Ghost Restaurants" on delivery apps, and it's shady AF.

What is a "Ghost Restaurant"? Basically, it's when a big, corporate chain eatery creates a new/fake profile on Doordash, Uber Eats, etc. It's a fake name, but the food is made at the original Restaurant. I found this out last week when I was super hungover and craving a burger. I jumped on Doordash because I'm a terrible adult, and I came across what I thought was a new burger joint here in Missoula. I'm all about supporting locals, especially restaurants. After the pandemic it was, and still, is everything these guys can do to stay in business, so I want to show them some love whenever I can. I came across what I thought was a new, local place. The menu and layout looked all new so I decided to give them a try. Their name was "The Burger Den". It was my fault for not even doing the research before I ordered. I came to find out that it was just the local Denny's that had come up with a fake name and profile but was making the food out of their kitchen. They duped me into thinking they were a new local place to grub, and honestly, I was pretty mad. I did a bit of research and they are definitely not the only ones doing this. I hit up Reddit to see if this was a national trend, and sure enough, tons of places are pulling this move. I've listed the local ones here in Missoula that are trying to pull a fast one on ya:

The Burger Den and The Meltdown are: Denny's

Cosmic Wings is: Applebees

Tender Shack is: Outback Steakhouse

Fresh Set & The Wing Depot is: Red Robin

These are just the ones here in Missoula, but there are tons more. As if the little guys don't have it hard enough competing with multi-million dollar corporations, they go and pull this move to cut out their legs even more. I can't tell you where to spend your money, but I can tell you keeping your money locally helps your community way more than spending at these national chains.