Delivery services have been on fire since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. That's what sparked the idea of Utica's first ghost kitchen, serving up mac and cheese, grilled cheese, and melts.

What exactly is a Ghost Kitchen?

The concept emerged around the same time demand for restaurant meal deliveries started soaring. As more people started ordering meals delivered to their doorsteps, companies began to address this new demand. Ghost kitchens became the solution. Someone finds a location to cook food with no sitting capacity for walk-in customers, and customers order exclusively through partner delivery marketplace apps like Grubhub, Doordash, Uber Eats, and Postmates.

That's exactly what Travis Bonjovey is doing. The Utica College student has a semester left before he graduates, and was looking for a job to keep him busy. He rented out the space on Roosevelt Drive in Utica.

I've been cooking all of my life, so it just seemed like the right thing for me, and it's just me. I cook all the food, we have a guy who washes the dishes I cook with - but I do it all by myself.

His ghost kitchen is the home of Monster Mac, Grilled Cheese Society and The Big Melt: all available in the Utica area online and inside mobile food-ordering and delivery marketplace apps. Bonjovey started renting the space, deeming it Cheesy's, in December of 2020 and opened the kitchen officially in January of 2021.

Being the first in the area, the concept of a Ghost Kitchen may seem confusing. You can't sit down for a meal. You can't order takeout. Everything is done exclusively through the delivery marketplace apps. If you show up to the kitchen site on Roosevelt Drive, you won't be able to be served. The products can only be delivered, there's not even a cash register on site because it's all done online from the host service.

To reiterate, it's not 3 separate restaurants. Instead, think of it like three different specialty menus all made in the same place. They have your classic options, and more adventurous items.

Monster Mac, Grilled Cheese Society and The Big Melt are all running a special on Grubhub right now. Get $4 off your order, the offer valid on first orders of $12 or more. Delivery is available 7 days a week from 10 am to 8 pm.

You can see just some of the menu items below.

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TAKE A LOOK: What is Served at Utica's First Ghost Kitchen?

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