Dunkin’ parent Inspire Brands appears to be opening a ghost kitchen in AtlantaDunkin’ parent Inspire Brands appears to be opening a ghost kitchen in Atlanta

Joanna Fantozzi

Inspire Brands Inc. — the parent company of Dunkin’, Arby’s, Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Jimmy John's, Rusty Taco and Sonic Drive-In — appears to be opening the company’s first ghost kitchen in Atlanta, according to a building permit filed in February. The $2.6 million, 7,500-square-foot delivery and catering-only restaurant is branded as Alliance Kitchen and would be converted from an industrial space into a "catering and food-service kitchen with a public lobby for food delivery services," according to the permit application.  

Inspire Brands first applied to trademark the name Alliance Kitchen in January 2020 with the description that the brand would provide "ghost kitchens and commercial kitchens for use in preparation of meals and beverages for consumption off premises," and it was approved by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in May 2020.

There is no further available information on the concept, brands or menus at Alliance Kitchen.

Although the company declined to comment on the story at this time, this expansion would be Inspire Brands’ first foray into virtual restaurants since CEO Paul Brown spoke at a Restaurants Rise powered by MUFSO keynote presentation in October and said they’re not quite ready to jump on the ghost kitchen bandwagon.

“I think the jury's still out on that,” he said during his keynote. But Brown also hinted that virtual restaurants could hold some opportunities for Inspire Brands, saying at the time, “We believe that true multi-brand companies like ours that own and operate all the concepts, we'll be able to more efficiently share back of house and kitchen equipment, etc. because we are the same operator across all those concepts.”

Inspire Brands completed the purchase of Dunkin’ and Baskin-Robbins in December for $11.3 billion making the parent company the second-largest foodservice company in the U.S. by locations and sales, totaling nearly 32,000 restaurants in 60 countries globally, with $26 billion in sales.

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