Have you ever been at a bar having a great time, but then got hungry and realized you’d have to leave to find some grub? Well, it may not be a problem for much longer in Chicago, thanks to a new startup that aims to bring food options to bars and other establishments that don't have kitchens.
2ndKitchen, founded in 2018, operates a platform that allows businesses without kitchens, like bars, breweries, smoke lounges and bowling alleys, serve food from nearby restaurants. Venues can create custom menus with options from nearby restaurants, allowing customers to order food and get it delivered directly to the establishment.
The idea is 2ndKitchen can help businesses that don’t serve food keep patrons in their establishments longer while restaurants expand their dining options for customers.
Co-founder and CEO Nick Anastasiades said he originally got the idea for 2ndKitchen from his prior startup, RedPie, a pizza-delivery company based in San Francisco, because 80 percent of their business was delivering pizzas to establishments that didn’t have kitchens. RedPie has since shut down because Anastasiades left the Bay Area to pursue an MBA at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. But when he was thinking of how to launch his next venture, he pulled on his RedPie experience.
“Once we were brainstorming ideas for companies, that insight came back to us and we realized there is a huge segment of businesses that want to serve food to their customers or have food as an amenity, but they’re not able or they don’t want to spin off their own kitchen,” Anastasiades said.
2ndKitchen launched with a pilot program in March at Sketchbook Brewing in Evanston, and officially launched in June. Soon after, it completed the Techstars Chicago accelerator, which helped it refine its business model and bring on new clients.
“There are a ton of businesses that don’t have kitchens here,” Anastasiades said.
When businesses sign up with 2ndKitchen, the platform allows them to choose a nearby restaurant to create their custom menu with, which the startup defines as a half mile away or less, so delivery takes no more than 5 minutes by walking or biking. Businesses can pair with more than one restaurant if they choose, but Anastasiades said most limit it to two, offering one or the other for lunch and dinner.
Patrons can place orders with an employee at the business or at a kiosk inside, which sends orders directly to the paired restaurant. The service is free for businesses to offer to their customers. However, 2ndKitchen charges restaurants and customers a service fee.
“[Patrons] are spending more time and more money at those businesses, and restaurants get more customers,” Anastasiades said. “There’s really no reason any business would say no to this service.”
According to 2ndKitchen, customers are spending nearly twice as much time and money at businesses serving food via 2ndKitchen than they were before.
2ndKitchen operates in neighborhoods throughout Chicago at places like The Map Room, Hopewell Brewing Company and Off Color Brewing. Anastasiades wouldn’t disclose exactly how many clients they have, but said the client base is growing by “double digits every month.”
Beyond Chicago, the startup is focusing on expanding throughout the Midwest and eventually nationwide. To help it grow, Anastasiades said the company is raising a seed round.
