Ghost kitchen phone orders: one number, or one per brand?

A delivery-only brand can run without a public phone line: Google's guidelines accept a website in place of a phone number on a Business Profile. Take phone orders only if guests can collect the food or you can deliver it yourself. If you do, give each brand its own number, greeting and ticket label, and keep one staffed kitchen line for the delivery apps.

This page is for the operator of a ghost kitchen or of virtual brands cooked in an existing restaurant. It covers the phone and the order path. For how each listing stores your number, see our guide to your restaurant's phone number on Google and delivery apps. For commissions on the apps, see DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub fees.

Should a ghost kitchen take phone orders at all?

Your setup	Phone orders	Numbers	Start here if
Delivery-only brands sold through apps, no pickup counter, no drivers of your own	Skip them; send callers to the brand's website	One staffed kitchen number for the apps, kept off the brand profiles	Every order arrives through an app
Virtual brands cooked in a restaurant with a counter	Take pickup orders at the counter	One number for each brand that lists a phone on Google	Guests already collect orders at your door
Several brands with your own drivers or a delivery service you book per order	Take delivery and pickup orders	One number per brand	You want orders without app commissions
A restaurant whose virtual brands are small next to its own name	Take them under the restaurant's name	The main restaurant number	Most callers ask for the main restaurant

Pickup changes what Google expects, as the next section shows. If you would deliver phone orders yourself, price the courier first; our commission-free ordering guide covers who pays for delivery.

What do Google's guidelines say about delivery-only brands?

Google's guidelines for representing your business have a section on virtual food brands. It says:

"Delivery-only brands (i.e. those operating out of virtual kitchens) are permitted if they have distinct branded packaging and a distinct website. Multiple virtual brands operating out of one location are permitted, but are subject to additional verification steps."

"Delivery-only brands must add their service areas and hide the address on their business profile to avoid confusing their customers."

Brands that offer pickup follow a different rule. The same section says co-located food brands "each must have permanent separate signage" and "should display their address only if they offer pick-up to all customers." So a brand in a shared kitchen that starts taking phone orders for pickup needs its own permanent sign before it shows an address. The facility that houses the brands, such as a shared kitchen building, may have its own separate profile, claimed only by someone affiliated with the facility.

On phone numbers, the guidelines ask for "a phone number that connects to your individual business location, or provide a website that represents your individual business location." The number "must be under the direct control of the business," and numbers that redirect callers to anyone other than the business are ruled out. Menu URLs "can't be direct links to third-party ordering or delivery services," so point the menu link at the brand's own site.

One number per brand, or one shared?

Option	Works when	Watch for
A number for each brand	Each brand has its own profile, packaging and website, and staff can tell which brand is ringing	The cost of extra numbers, and a greeting and caller ID label for each brand
One kitchen number, kept private	No brand lists a phone publicly and the number serves the delivery apps and suppliers	Guests who find it anyway and hear a name they do not know
One number with a menu ("press 1 for...")	Brands share a pickup counter and callers already know the kitchen	Every brand's guest hears every other brand's name, and DoorDash asks stores with a phone menu to contact Merchant Support

RingCentral's pricing page lists additional toll-free or local numbers at $4.99/month, so four brand numbers add $19.96 a month to the plan. Ooma's plan comparison lists a main company number, virtual receptionist greetings and distinctive ringtones among its features; ask which plan includes each.

Keep one line the apps can reach. DoorDash's Merchant Portal settings page says the store number "may be used for order-related issues and automated calls." If that number uses a phone menu, DoorDash asks you to contact Merchant Support to set it up. For how several stores share or split numbers, see our multi-location phone routing guide.

How do phone orders reach the right brand in the POS?

A phone order has to land on the brand's menu and print with the brand's name, or the packer bags it in the wrong box. Toast's guide to setting up a virtual restaurant shows one way a POS separates brands:

• Each virtual restaurant is a separate location with its own back-end, added under a separate contract.
• It needs at least one hard-wired terminal and a digital ordering subscription, and Toast says there must be a separate device for each virtual restaurant, even when several run from one kitchen.
• In this setup, Toast says virtual brand orders print and stay off its kitchen display screens.
• Toast recommends naming the brand's dining options so staff can tell its orders apart.

In that setup, staff key a phone order for Brand B on Brand B's terminal. Add a dining option such as "Brand B phone pickup" so phone orders show as their own line in the sales reports. Other POS systems separate brands by location, revenue center or order source. Whichever you use, check the printed ticket for the brand name before launch.

If a brand also sells on DoorDash, its virtual brand requirements apply. They include at least 50% different main menu items from other brands at the same address, at least 8 food items, a lifetime rating of 4.0 or higher, under 5% of orders canceled by the merchant, and no more than 10 virtual brands per store address, with exceptions for established commissary kitchen operators or with DoorDash's written approval.

What should you test before you list a number?

1. Call each brand's number from a mobile phone. Check that it rings where staff can answer and that the greeting uses that brand's name.
2. Order one item only that brand sells. Check that the ticket prints on the right printer with the brand name and a phone dining option.
3. Call Brand A's number and ask for a Brand B dish. Decide in advance what staff say.
4. Ask for pickup. Check that the address you give matches what the brand's Google profile shows, or hides.
5. Call during the busiest app hour and time how long the phone waits while staff pack app orders.
6. Call after hours and check what each brand's caller hears.
7. Search each brand on Google Maps and tap Call. Confirm the number, and confirm the menu link goes to the brand's own site.
8. Open each brand's store settings in the DoorDash Merchant Portal (and any other app you sell on), note the phone number on file, and call it.

If you want calls answered by AI, Maple Pro lists phone orders taken into your POS, secure payment over the phone and order confirmation texts, for $350/month billed monthly or $220/month billed annually. Its POS list includes Toast, Square, Clover and SkyTab (now Shift4 Dine), with more on the integrations page. The pricing page does not describe virtual brands, so ask how several brands on one kitchen would be set up and run this test list on every number.

Published by Maple, which sells AI phone answering to restaurants. This AI-assisted guide combines Google's Business Profile guidelines, DoorDash and Toast help pages, and RingCentral and Ooma pricing pages with an original decision table and test list. It does not report a test at any ghost kitchen or promise how a listing or brand will perform.