PHILADELPHIA, PA – Philadelphia’s modern, state of the art Bridesburg Commissary has expanded and embraced the growing Ghost Restaurant / Virtual Restaurant / Delivery Only food business trend, allowing Bridesburg member food service vendors who operate no actual facility of their own to launch and run “online ghost restaurants.” These online only restaurants offer food actually prepared by the restaurateur at the Bridesburg commissary and delivered to the consumer’s door.
“The ghost restaurant concept helps accelerate Bridesburg Commissary’s significant growth potential,” developer and owner Craig Weizer noted. “Combined with our strategic location right at the Route 95 corridor, highly efficient, commercial kitchen operations and overall vendor support, Bridesburg Commissary is poised for significant growth in the years to come.”
While the online “ghost” restaurants primarily involve Bridesburg members without food trucks, food truck vendors can participate as well with their own online restaurants operating through the commissary.
“We continue to identify more and more target markets — retired, busy professionals, single parents, bachelor and social organizations, for instance – who can order one meal or the weeks’ worth of meals in a single order. The online restaurants make a real contribution to Bridesburg Commissary’s steady expansion,” Weizer said. Weizer’s plans for expansion include supplying value added essentials to his tenants, including propane, ice, bottled water and more, as value added components.
Online restaurants promote through multiple avenues
The online restaurants, utilizing the vendor’s own web site, promote the restaurant through apps, e-mail lists, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other vehicles. The restaurants provide special, varied weekly menus, and take orders normally on one day of the week. Bridesburg’s member restaurants charge a minimum of about $40 to qualify for free delivery. The customer is billed to his or her credit card, the restaurateur prepares the customer’s food at the commissary – frequently multiple meals – and delivers the completed meals to the customer in packaging representing the restaurant brand.
“One of our member restaurants specializes in older singles, another specializes in health clubs, which are a natural for online restaurant participation with multiple selections,” Weizer indicated.
Weizer feels due to the ease and simplicity of operations this business lends itself to franchising, with locations in many metro areas.
Professional, commercial quality food preparation facility
The commissary is preparing the online restaurant meals in highly efficient, sanitary, well-regulated facilities featuring top of the line professional food preparation equipment, virtually around the clock as needed. The mobile vendor friendly Bridesburg Commissary provides:
- 58’ of Cook Line under Ventilation
- Keyless Entry with 24/7/365 Access
- Automatic Gate Operator
- Surveillance Cameras
- Secured Parking Lot where vendors can park their trucks if they are ‘tenants.’
- Plug-in for Trucks
- Lockable Refrigerated Cages
- All Top Line Professional Kitchen Equipment
- Free Wi-Fi
- Hourly Membership Program
- Facility Cleaned Daily
- Family Owned and Operated
- Centrally Located to Serve Philadelphia, the Tri-County Area, New Jersey and Delaware.
- Great Community of Mobile Food Tenants and Members
Commissary essential for safe, legal food
The 6000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art commissary with parking lot is located along the I-95 corridor near the Bridge Street ramp, with coverage of Philadelphia, the nearby Tri County area as well as across the Delaware River into New Jersey and Delaware. The highly efficient facility provides comprehensive food preparation and storage facilities to:
- Mobile food truck ‘tenants.’ Food truck tenants park their trucks on site at Orthodox Street, schedule, prepare and store their food as needed, with virtually unlimited access to preparation and storage facilities.
- Mobile food truck ‘members.’ Members do not park their trucks at Orthodox Street but have virtually the same privileges as ‘tenants’ at an hourly rate to use facilities.
- Online Ghost Restaurant operators prepare food ordered through an online restaurant and delivered to the customer’s door.
- Occasional food service users. Food vendors, with or without trucks, can schedule hourly food preparation and storage once they acquire documentation and satisfy city/municipality requirements, and pick up the food to deliver when needed.
The commissary is highly important for safe food preparation, and satisfies Philadelphia and local municipality requirements. Philadelphia and other municipalities have instituted regulations stipulating that in order to receive a mobile food vending license, vendors must have documented access to a commissary where they prepare their food with city/municipality inspector access to inspect.
State of the art commercial food prep equipment
Equipped with several complete top of the line commercial kitchen modules with professional stoves, hoods, ovens, prep and hand sinks and abundant preparation space and fixtures, the commissary also features two walk in refrigerators with lockable storage designed and strategically placed for efficient tenant and member work flow. The organization currently operates with about 40 tenant vendors and members, and has a waiting list with daily calls from prospective new tenant, member, mobile vendors and ghost restauranteurs wishing to join the Bridesburg group.
“Philadelphia-based food truck vendors were hungry for a good, well located and professionally equipped commissary and just looking for us apparently, and we were in the black within a month of opening our doors,” said Craig Weizer. “Right from the start we have operated the commissary with maximum concern for safe food preparation and vendor convenience. We have prospective new vendors knocking on our door, and ghost online restaurants will be a welcome addition.”
“The commissary supports robust Facebook and Twitter sites that feature a lot of chatter among the vendors and the commissary, reports on new types of food available, coming events and food festivals, and even the announcement that one of our vendor’s food trucks was named one of the top mobile vendors in the country.”
Actual – and online — restaurants add to appeal
And the commissary not only caters to a broad selection of mobile and online vendors covering a wide area, it also solves a pressing Bridesburg community need – a good place to eat. The facility includes an attractive and well equipped sit down restaurant at the front of the commissary, serving both as an appealing eatery for the neighborhood and dressing up the commissary’s appearance.
“The commissary has become quite a Bridesburg community within a community, which we are quite proud of. And this has a positive impact on vendor loyalty and the commissary’s bottom line,” Weizer said.
The Commissary web site with complete operational details and other relevant information is at: www.bridesburgcommissary.com.
