Grubhub, in partnership with Lettuce Entertain You, has launched its third virtual restaurant, a kitchen-only concept that allows patrons to order food for delivery.
The Chicago-based food delivery company launched a Whole 30 virtual restaurant in August and a Bon Appétit one in September. Now, its third virtual eatery, revealed Wednesday, is serving up authentic Indian cuisine.
Called Padma’s Curry Leaf, the new delivery-only restaurant serves lunch and dinner exclusively through Grubhub. Dishes on the menu include baked samosas, butter chicken and chicken tikka masala.
Delivery is available every day from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. throughout Chicago, and Grubhub promises each dish is under $16. A portion of proceeds from each order will go to Step Up Women’s Network, a charity to empower girls in under-resourced communities.
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The restaurant’s menu is inspired by Bharathi “Bonnie” Rao, a retired school teacher, curry leaf farmer and owner of Perryville Farms, which sells fresh and organic curry leaves throughout the U.S. The new Grubhub eatery is named Padma, after Rao’s daughter.
Virtual kitchens have become popular in recent years thanks to food delivery companies, like Grubhub, UberEats and DoorDash. Additionally, Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick is building a food delivery startup called CloudKitchens, which buys up cheap real estate and turns those spaces into kitchens that are exclusively used for food delivery. CloudKitchens has already raised $400 million in outside funding.
Closer to home, Chicago startup 2nd Kitchen launched in 2018 to allow businesses without kitchens, like bars, breweries, smoke lounges and bowling alleys, set up their own virtual kitchens by serving food from nearby restaurants.
2nd Kitchen, a graduate of the 2018 Techstars Chicago class, raised about $4 million last year. The startup now works with places like Midwest Coast Brewing in Chicago, Strong Rope Brewery in Brooklyn, and Birch Road Cellar in Seattle.
