Flavor District's ghost kitchen concept shines light on new restaurants

Flavor District officially opened its doors for the first time in Wake Forest Tuesday.

The new venue has multiple restaurants in one central location. Families can order from multiple restaurants in one order for both pickup and delivery, with only one delivery fee.

The food available ranges from BBQ and pizza to Mexican and Jamaican cuisine.

David Foye, owner of Flavor District, came up with the idea during the pandemic when restaurants closed and several food truck owners and caterers were losing out on business.

“You can reduce your overhead costs by 2/3 by operating out of here so we’re pretty much sharing the facility space,” Foye said.

Ghost kitchens are meant for cooking in a delivery-optimized kitchen that's designed to cut unnecessary costs.

Since the pandemic many food truck vendors have switched to this concept.

For Jeffery Groce, owner of Oink and Moo, one of the vendors at Flavor District, Ghost Kitchens are optimal.

“With the pandemic, we learned a lot of people don’t necessarily want sit in dining, but they definitely want quality food,” Groce said.

Groce, who's been operating Oink and Moo out of a food truck in 2018, said the model is way better than opening a space for his restaurant..

"If you were to start a brick and mortar with a new lease building utilities, staffing , equipment, it’s adds up," Groce said.

Vendors who would like to operate out of Flavor District are allowed to apply, but Foye informed WRAL News there is currently a waiting list for vendors to move in.