COLUMBUS, Ohio — The operations manager for Mario Fazio’s Columbus is putting a modern twist on his family’s longstanding business.

What You Need To Know

  • Mario Fazio's in Columbus is using the ghost kitchen business model

  • Ghost or cloud kitchens only offer pick up or delivery

  • Fazio-Grk is a third-generation owner of the Italian restaurant that moved to Columbus in August

“It’s a real unique, different kind of trend in the restaurant industry. The ghost kitchen idea,” Frank Fazio-Grk said.

A ghost or cloud kitchen is a business with no in-house dining and only offers delivery.

“We operate in this sort of a small space, which you can actually get a lot out of,” he said.

The third-generation business owner said the ghost kitchen provider, "CloudKitchen," approached him with the idea in 2019.

“It was a good opportunity for me to tackle my long-term goal of expanding the family business in a real quick way,” Fazio-Grk said.

But he said the business model does come with some costs.

“It has its ups and downs. You definitely get an exposure to a new group of people than you would have before. The fees are a little tough,” Fazio-Grk said.

That’s why he suggests ordering his Italian classics right from his website, rather than going through a third-party like Uber-Eats or Grub Hub.

“There’s a few recipes that have withstood the test of time. The marinara recipe, the dough recipe, the homemade bread we make daily,” he said.