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From Wiz Khalifa’s favorite chicken to cauliflower pizza: 5 virtual brands we’re dying to get delivered

New delivery-only concepts from Smokey Bones, Muscle Maker, Hello Salted and Nextbite

Holly Petre, Assistant Digital Editor

September 8, 2020

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The virtual restaurant space keeps expanding with more restaurant operators jumping in. This month brought a host of new concepts, including restaurant newbies and brands from seasoned pros.

Former software creator Jon Brennan, for example, has developed a group of virtual brands. After working with restaurants for his software company, Menu Mavens, he noticed an opening in the market for brands that could handle the rush of lunchtime while dealing with the lull of non-active times.

He calls his company, Flavorism, a “virtual food hall” where several concepts targeting different dayparts are produced for delivery only out of one kitchen.

He’s not alone. Big brands like Smokey Bones (who already had The Wing Experience), Muscle Maker Grill and Hello Salted all entered the fray this month launching new virtual concepts.

Plus, there’s a new celebrity-backed brand. Rapper Wiz Khalifa has teamed up with Nextbite for a restaurant concept he owns that focuses on some of his favorite “munchies” including burnt ends and a play on his song “Black & Yellow” with mac and cheese.

And multiconcept group Hello Salted has a new pizza brand that caters to the veg-loving crowd as the crust is made with cauliflower, making it gluten-free and vegan. This fun company also has concepts called F#ck Gluten and $5 Salad Company, leaving no confusion as to what its concepts are all about.

Here are the restaurants we’re dying to get delivered this month.

Contact Holly at [email protected]

Find her on Twitter: @hollypetre

About the Author

Holly Petre

Assistant Digital Editor

Holly Petre is a digital editor for Nation’s Restaurant News as well as the host of NRN’s podcast, Extra Serving, and producer for Informa Restaurant and Food Group’s other three podcasts, One On One by Food Management, Off the Shelf with SN and In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn. Holly holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in Sculpture, fibers and Material Studies and Ceramics from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. A native New Yorker, Holly enjoys her place on staff as the resident pop-culture expert and millennial with a sassy attitude and great sense of style.

Holly Petre’s work on Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality often covers marketing and trends, either aimed-at or examined-through the millennial mindset. Holly is responsible for introducing TikTok and Twitch to NRN and RH readers as well as explaining terms like “Karen” to staff and readers alike. She also spends her time on staff trying not to make every headline a pun.

Holly Petre hasn’t spoken at any events or on panels, but she is readily available with a killer shoe wardrobe and several witty quips.

 

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