Our Work / Ghost Kitchen Ordering App

Overview Challenges & Solutions Features Tech Stack Result Process Business Benefits Conclusion Related Projects FAQs

Food & HospitalityMobile & Web Apps

Ghost Kitchen Ordering App

An ordering app for a delivery-only kitchen model, where several food brands can share a single line and have no dining room to fall back on.

DeliverablesConcept development, customer ordering app, kitchen application, operations admin

IndustryFood & Hospitality

Business goals

The client wanted to explore the ghost kitchen model: food prepared for pickup and delivery, with no dining room and no street presence. Without a storefront, the app is the restaurant. It has to carry the brand, take the order and tell the kitchen what to cook. The client needed help shaping the concept and then an app and application that matched how a shared kitchen runs.

Project overview

Hexagon worked with the client on concept development, deciding how brands, menus and kitchen stations should be organized. We then built the customer app and the supporting application. Diners browse virtual brands, order and choose pickup or delivery. Kitchen staff work from a ticket queue grouped by station. Operators manage brands, menus and hours in one place, and see how orders are moving through the kitchen.

Challenges faced and solved

With no front of house, every mistake a guest would normally forgive in person has to be prevented by the software.

The challenge

One kitchen, several brands

A virtual brand needs its own name and menu, even if it shares a fryer with three others. Mix that up and customers lose the sense that they're ordering from somewhere specific.

Our solution

We structured the system so each brand has its own menu and identity in the app, while all of them draw on one kitchen behind the scenes.

The challenge

Tickets colliding on the line

When orders from several concepts land at once, a cook can't tell what to fire first. Items for one bag finish minutes apart, and half of an order goes out cold.

Our solution

We grouped tickets by order and kitchen station, so staff can see what belongs together and time each item to finish close to the others.

The challenge

Running out with no one to tell the guest

In a dining room, a server can suggest a substitute. In a ghost kitchen, a guest simply orders something you no longer have, and the first apology is a refund.

Our solution

We let staff mark ingredients or items as unavailable from the kitchen application, which removes them from every affected brand's menu straight away.

The challenge

Handing off to whoever walks in

Pickup customers and couriers arrive at a back door with no host or waiting area. Bags get mixed up, and staff get pulled off the line to sort it out.

Our solution

We added order codes and ready alerts, so the person collecting knows when to arrive and staff can match each bag to its code quickly.

Features

Feature	Description
Diners
1. Virtual Brand Storefronts	Each food brand gets its own page and menu in the app, giving a kitchen with no sign a real presence.
2. Multi-Brand Browsing	Diners can explore all the brands cooking from the location, which introduces them to more than one concept.
3. Combined Cart	Items from different brands in the same kitchen can go in one order, because they share one pickup point.
4. Item Customization	Add-ons and allergy notes travel with the dish to the right station.
5. Pickup or Delivery	Diners choose how they get their food, and the checkout adjusts accordingly.
6. Scheduled Orders	Orders can be placed ahead for a chosen time, which helps the kitchen smooth out its peaks.
7. Order Status and Ready Alert	Notifications tell diners when food is being cooked and when it's ready to collect.
8. Loyalty and Promotions	Offers bring people back directly, which matters when there's no street presence to remind them.
Kitchen staff
9. Ticket Queue	Orders appear on a kitchen screen in sequence, replacing paper tickets on a crowded line.
10. Station Routing	Each item goes to its station, so the fry cook only sees what the fry cook must make.
11. Order Grouping	Items for one bag are tied together, which helps them finish at about the same time.
12. Item Availability	One tap marks an item or ingredient as out, which updates every affected menu.
13. Pause by Brand	During overload, staff can pause one brand without closing the whole kitchen.
14. Pickup Codes	Each order gets a short code, so bags are matched to the right person at a busy door.
Operators
15. Brand and Menu Management	Operators add brands, edit menus and test new concepts, without a new physical location.
16. Hours and Service Windows	Each brand can have its own schedule, so a breakfast concept and a late-night one can share a kitchen.
17. Order Dashboard	Live and past orders are visible by brand, showing what's moving through the kitchen.
18. Sales by Brand	Reports compare concepts side by side, which helps decide what to keep, change or drop.

How the platform is put together

Each layer has one job.

In the diner's handBrand storefronts, ordering and order alerts

Native appsFlutter

On the kitchen line and in the officeThe ticket screen and the operator tools

JavaScript

Behind each ticketBrands, menus, orders, station routing and availability

PHPPythonREST APIs

Keeping it runningCode control and scheduled releases outside service hours

Git and GitHubCI/CD

The result

The client's ghost kitchen concept became a defined operating model, with an app for diners and an application for the kitchen and operators.

Area	Before	After
The model	A concept without settled brand or kitchen rules	A defined structure for brands, menus and stations
Reaching diners	No storefront and no ordering channel	An app with a storefront for each brand
Kitchen tickets	No way to route orders across brands	Ticket queue grouped by order and station
Handoff	No process for an unstaffed door	Ready alerts and pickup codes

How we took it from idea to launch

Good software follows a process. Here are the six stages, and what happens in each one.

Stage 1

Discovery & Requirements

Goal: Define the product vision, target audience and core business requirements.

Key activities

Stakeholder interviews
Market and competitor research
Defining user personas
Drafting technical specifications or a Product Requirements Document (PRD)

Stage 2

Design (UX / UI)

Goal: Create an intuitive user experience and visual interface.

Key activities

UX design: information architecture, user flows and wireframes
UI design: high-fidelity mockups and interactive prototypes in Figma or similar tools
Design system: colors, typography and component libraries

Stage 3

Development: Frontend & Backend

Goal: Build the functional application using agile sprints.

Key activities

Backend: set up databases, design APIs (REST, GraphQL), implement server logic, and configure authentication and authorization (OAuth, RBAC)
Frontend: build responsive interfaces and connect components to backend APIs
Version control: manage code through Git and GitHub

Stage 4

Security & Optimization

Goal: Harden the application against vulnerabilities and boost performance.

Key activities

Security: address the OWASP Top 10, including injection, XSS and CSRF, enforce encryption in transit and at rest, and implement rate limiting
Optimization: code splitting and lazy loading, database indexing, API caching and load testing
QA and testing: unit, integration and end-to-end tests

Stage 5

Beta Release

Goal: Deploy to a controlled group of real users to catch edge-case bugs and gather feedback.

Key activities

Set up staging and production CI/CD pipelines
Launch a closed or open beta with real users
Monitor errors through observability tools

Stage 6

Public Release (Launch)

Goal: Roll the software out to the general public.

Key activities

Final production deployment
DNS configuration
Marketing and onboarding rollout
Post-launch performance and security monitoring

Business benefits

Lower-risk menu testing

A new brand can be tried in the app without opening a new location.

Better use of one kitchen

Several concepts can earn from the same line and staff.

Food that arrives together

Grouped tickets help items for one bag finish close together.

Fewer disappointed diners

Out-of-stock items come off menus before someone can order them.

Conclusion

A ghost kitchen removes the dining room, and with it the staff who usually smooth over a bad moment. The software has to take on that job. Hexagon helped the client think the model through, then built an app that gives each brand a presence and a kitchen application that keeps the line organized. If you're running or planning a delivery-only kitchen or a multi-brand food concept, and you're weighing what to build first, we'd be happy to talk it through with you.

Talk to us about your project

Related projects

Food Delivery App →Connected Home Security Solution →Video Surveillance Software →

FAQs

Can one kitchen run several brands in the same app?Yes. Each brand has its own menu and storefront, and all of them feed one kitchen queue.

Can we still sell through third-party delivery apps?This project centered on the client's own app. If you also use third-party channels, we can look at how to bring those orders into one place.

What if an ingredient runs out mid-service?Kitchen staff mark it unavailable, and it comes off the affected menus.

Do we need a concept finished before we talk to you?No. Concept development was part of this project, including how brands and stations should be organized.

Ghost Kitchen Ordering App

Business goals

Project overview

Challenges faced and solved

One kitchen, several brands

Tickets colliding on the line

Running out with no one to tell the guest

Handing off to whoever walks in

Features

How the platform is put together

The result

How we took it from idea to launch

Discovery & Requirements

Design (UX / UI)

Development: Frontend & Backend

Security & Optimization

Beta Release

Public Release (Launch)

Business benefits

Conclusion

Related projects

FAQs

Build, Improve, or Connect the Systems Your Business Depends On.