ORLANDO, Fla. – About two years after opening, Ghost Kitchen Orlando is now expanding with a new brick-and-mortar location and plans for more growth in the near future.
“We opened up in early 2020,” said Johnny Nartowicz, the owner and co-founder of Ghost Kitchen Orlando. “Actually, (it was) just a week before COVID hit. It was pretty crazy being a ghost kitchen — being that all the brick-and-mortar restaurants had to go virtual and turn into delivery restaurants. We had already opened being a pickup and delivery restaurant.”
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Now, Ghost Kitchen Orlando is making its first expansion, opening up Bricks & Bowls by Ghost Kitchen Orlando inside the food court at the Mall of Millenia.
“We obviously wanted to grow this company and being presented an opportunity at the Millenia mall was definitely something that we wanted to jump on,” Nartowicz said.
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The name, Bricks & Bowls, comes from the menu offerings.
“The name Bricks & Bowls actually comes from our sandwiches being described as bricks,” Nartowicz said. “If you get a full-size signature focaccia sandwich, it’s almost the size of a brick. So the two sizes are half brick and full brick. And then our bowls — we’re known for our chef-crafted salads.”
Bricks & Bowls offers the same menu Ghost Kitchen Orlando offers in its virtual concept.
Nartowicz already has a second Bricks & Bowls location in the works.
“We have another location actually coming in early January,” he said.
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This location will be inside the new Bumby Arcade food hall set to open in downtown Orlando. This was actually supposed to be the first location to open, but construction on the food hall has been delayed.
“The Bumby arcade location has been almost a year in the works now,” Nartowicz said. “It’s obviously a great site. It’s right on Church Street, so when there’s concerts there and events, that’ll be great.”
In addition to the second Bricks & Bowls location, Nartowicz is planning to expand Ghost Kitchen Orlando’s virtual concepts.
“We have something in the works. I can’t quite explain that,” Nartowicz said. “We’re going to build out a bigger space and hopefully have a couple more virtual concepts there. We don’t have all the details yet. We’re still working (things) out with the landlord but yeah, we’re looking to add a few more virtual concepts.”