Editor note: In our 2022 Startups to Watch feature, the Silicon Valley Business Journal and San Francisco Business Times present startups and founders doing unique things in the San Francisco Bay Area. Local Kitchens is one of 20 that we have profiled — to read more about our mission and the other startups we're featuring, click here.
Jon Goldsmith and Andrew Munday met while working at DoorDash. They both left the company several years ago to pursue other things, including founding five other startups between them, but realized there was more to do in the food space.
Their idea? Put multiple restaurants under one roof, sort of like a food hall, and allow customers to order from multiple restaurants at the same time.
They've gained some notable investors, including Jack Dorsey and their former DoorDash boss Tony Xu. Local Kitchens opened its first storefront in Lafayette as a pickup-only operation but the team quickly learned that there was demand for dine-in and delivery options, too. It now partners with DoorDash get orders out in five Bay Area cities.
The next step is expanding to Roseville, Davis, Sacramento and Southern California this year before going national. Eventually they want to have 2,000 locations across the country, go public and become a national restaurant brand.
Local Kitchens
- Founded: 2020
- Founders: CEO Jon Goldsmith, COO Andrew Munday and CTO Jordan Bramble
- What it does: Operates small, restaurant-sized food courts that offer selections from multiple restaurants for takeout, delivery or on-site dining.
- HQ: San Francisco
- Employees: 28 full-time, 161 total
- Total funding: $28 million
- Investors: Fifth Wall, General Catalyst, Penny Jar Capital, Pear, David Novak, Jack Dorsey and Tony Xu
Would you consider Local Kitchens to be a provider of ghost kitchen space? Is it kind of a hybrid between ghost kitchens and food halls? Local Kitchens is pioneering a new category of food service: the micro-food hall. We shouldn't be considered a ghost kitchen. Local Kitchens offers takeout in addition to delivery through our neighborhood storefronts, featuring the best local restaurants and chefs, not "virtual" brands. Our mission is to serve our communities with incredible food while helping local chefs build a sustainable business.
Why would a restaurant choose to set up shop with Local Kitchens instead of launching a new storefront of its own or even launch a food truck? What are the benefits of signing up with you? Two main reasons. Chefs like to create amazing food that delights their guests, not operate a restaurant. Local Kitchens provides a platform for great local chefs to focus their time and energy on what they enjoy, and what they are good at, without having to worry about scaling up restaurant locations.
Additionally, there is significant risk in restaurant expansion. It can cost upwards of $1 million dollars, and more than 60% of restaurants fail in their first year. Local Kitchens eliminates this risk and shortens the time to expand. Our restaurant partners can be up and running in weeks with no capital.
Why did you base your company where you did? Before the pandemic, San Francisco had the most restaurants per capita of any city in the United States. It was also one of the places that shut down hardest during the beginning of Covid, and a lot of businesses struggled to quickly adapt. We found that there were many opportunities to help the restaurants that were here. Additionally, we have an amazing talent pool to draw from both on the tech side and amazing culinary talent, as well.
What was the biggest challenge you faced in building your startup? The biggest initial challenge we had was finding restaurants to partner with. When we started pitching restaurants initially, people had no idea what we were talking about and it took someone — Ari Feingold, the owner and head chef of Proposition Chicken — taking a chance on us so that we could prove our concept. When Ari saw that our model was effective, we were a lot more credible in the eyes of others, and it gave us a platform for us to find more partnership opportunities.
What is the best way for you and your team to work? We’re a team of doers, owners and grinders. Working in person allows us to come together and create a special electricity that powers the team to collaborate and drive growth. I think the vast majority of people on our team prefer the in-person environment because it gives them energy and motivation to build toward the next big thing.
Who was the first person or organization you asked for money? There were a few people and VCs that took a bet on us early on. Stanley Tang, Human Capital and Pear VC all believed in what we were doing and gave us the starting capital to experiment and establish our initial operations. Everything from buying chicken to trying to build a kitchen for six different brands.
