A woman prepares food inside a commercial kitchen at DTLA Kitchens.
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Courtesy of Yuri Amsellem
)
Topline:
A look into the world of ghost kitchens, the low-key anonymous spaces your takeout may be coming from. There might be lockers, robots and tablets. And there won’t be any seats.
Why it matters: Many ghost kitchens say they’re attempting to change the food business by offering a low-cost way for smaller vendors to enter the restaurant world. But it can be hard for a new restaurant to build a following off of apps alone. Plus, ghost kitchens are changing how and where we spend our mealtimes.
Why now: Ghost kitchens are continuing to expand across LA as more and more Angelenos use food delivery apps as a quicker, more automated alternative to the brick-and-mortars eateries they once frequented.
Recently, I was working from home in Eagle Rock, hungry, but trying to meet my LAist deadlines. I decided to quickly go get lunch at a sushi place I’d been recommended, Rice and Nori.
Since I’m new to the area and rely on Google Maps for everything, I followed it to an address on Colorado Avenue in Pasadena.
But when I got there, I found myself in front of a liquor store and what looked like a small auto shop. You know, the classic red and black bold lettering with racer stripes along the exterior. Nothing like a restaurant.
But Google Maps insisted that this auto-shop-maybe-it's-a-warehouse was, in fact, where my lunch was being prepared. And on the sign above the door, it said Allied Food To-Go. So I took a deep breath and walked in.
What I found was something like an Amazon locker meets Hot Dog on a Stick. There was no hostess and no tables — no seating at all in fact. Instead, there were white lockers on the left all the way up to the ceiling, and a desk with a tablet on top.
I was confused as to where I was. There was an employee placing food into the lockers, assisted by what seemed to be a robot, but since talking to strangers is on my top 10 list of things I hate to do, I decided to just navigate this one on my own.
Food is picked up via lockers at CloudKitchen locations.
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Lucy Jaffee
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LAist
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The tablet had 15 restaurant options to choose from, and after scrolling past lots of birria and Mediterranean food, I found Rice and Nori on the last screen and picked what I wanted.
I awkwardly stood by the lockers, middle school flashbacks flooding in, wondering what would happen next.
Two robots at Allied Food To-Go ready to deliver food to the lockers.
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Lucy Jaffee
/
LAist
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A few minutes later — a text! Apparently my order was ready in locker D2. I pressed a button on my phone and it opened automatically, like the gates of heaven, and there I found my spicy tuna onigiri and edamame. (I’d been looking in the other direction, but I’m pretty sure one of the robots put it there. Later, I found out they have names, Rosie and Johnny).
By now, the space was filling with delivery drivers hustling to grab orders. Still confused, still hungry, I sped off in my car to process what just happened.
Is this normal for Pasadena? Again, I’m new.
What is a ghost kitchen?
Back at home, I googled Allied Food To-Go and discovered it’s a ghost kitchen, a commercial kitchen where multiple vendors make food that’s ordered online for pickup or delivery. Perfect for the digital age, customers and drivers usually pick up their orders using a tablet — no interaction with an employee is necessary.
Allied Food To-Go is just one location of CloudKitchens, a larger company that operates multi-vendor ghost kitchens in cities like Los Angeles, Miami, and New York (Co-founder of Uber Travis Kalanick invested a few years ago). In L.A. according to its website, CloudKitchens currently operates 11 ghost kitchens in places like Long Beach and Koreatown.
I tried to contact CloudKitchens but they couldn’t be reached. I only got through to one location in Echo Park, who declined to comment.
How does it work?
Ghost kitchens took off due to the pandemic when many restaurant owners shifted to delivery-only operations to reach customers out of public safety concerns. By leaving their storefronts and switching to a less costly ghost kitchen, they could also cut costs — making this new set-up popular post-pandemic too.
I wanted to understand more, so I tracked down George Shenefelt, a partner at Rice and Nori. He told me that they’d initially partnered with CloudKitchens to experiment with other concepts (but haven’t thus far) because their locations had become too busy for the kitchen to make anything besides their staples.
Most ghost kitchens function the same way. Food vendors pay rent to the ghost kitchen operator, whether it be a company like CloudKitchens or an individual, to use the space. The prices vary according to the size of the space, type of equipment and whether additional storage is needed, according to CloudKitchens’ website.
The exterior of DTLA Kitchens, an independent commercial kitchen located in southeast Los Angeles.
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Courtesy of Yuri Amsellem
)
Another fee is added for utilities and general operating costs, such as the employees (or robots) needed to transport food from the kitchen to customers.
Vendors are given individual or shared kitchen spaces to prepare and produce their food. Their workstations are usually adjacent to other local vendors renting in the same ghost kitchen.
On a food delivery app, these all show up as different restaurants, but their locations will be the same. The only way to tell if it's from a ghost kitchen is to look up the vendor’s address or drive there.
Since ordering delivery is the reality for most of us at the end of a long day, chances are you’ll never stumble into a ghost kitchen like I did.
Struggling without a storefront
While ghost kitchens can be a good way for restaurants to cut costs, they come with several downsides. Shenefelt says he has found staffing the ghost kitchen to be challenging.
“It kind of feels like a prison,” he said. The space has no windows and is only around 200 square feet, turning off many employees looking for more interactive work experiences.
Another major drawback is that without a storefront, a new restaurant can struggle to find customers. Rice and Nori has been around since 2018, has two locations and an Instagram following. But others are not so well-established.
Janet Kang originally started Pizza Baby as a ghost kitchen but broke her lease last September because sales were too low. Between paying for rent and utility costs, she had no extra money available for marketing to draw in customers.
She said it’s a “matter of money,” whether using a ghost kitchen ultimately turns out to be profitable. “Do you have enough cash reserve to stick around long enough to get noticed?”
The inside of a commercial kitchen for rent at DTLA Kitchens.
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Courtesy of Yuri Amsellem
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Winston Shipp, founder of ¡Quesadilla Mía! shared a similar experience. He started in the pandemic renting a space at a delivery-only CloudKitchen. But few knew of their brand.
“You are at the mercy of people searching on apps looking for food,” said Shipp. He also left CloudKitchen and now rents a kitchen for a limited number of hours per week, rather than having a permanent space in a ghost kitchen.
Shipp sees ghost kitchens as ideal options for already-successful restaurants looking to move delivery away from their brick-and-mortar locations. Kitchen staff can better focus on dine-in customers and prevent long lines and wait times.
However, Yuri Amsellem, owner of DTLA Kitchens, a commercial kitchen that is used as a ghost kitchen and for other ventures like filming in southeast LA, sees ghost kitchens as a “great start” for small businesses. “We are incubators,” he told LAist, where vendors will eventually expand into their own brick-and-mortar locations.
Should I order from one?
If you need a reliable lunch option when hunger strikes, ghost kitchens are the way to go. With no dine-in customers to distract the kitchen, your food will arrive quickly to your doorstep. Or, you can pick it up from an automatic locker.
But if you’re new to a restaurant and need some advice on what to order, opt for a brick-and-mortar. Employees can impart their knowledge about flavor, the level of spice, or whether the dish you want contains traces of gluten, among other preferences.
Five sushi hand rolls from Rice and Nori, with fillings ranging from cucumber to spicy salmon, wrapped in your choice of seaweed or soy paper.
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Courtesy of George Shenefelt
)
Plus, it's hard to beat an excellent mealtime ambiance.
So, would I go back to a ghost kitchen?
Maybe.
My Rice and Nori order from Allied Food To-Go was delicious and the food quality was not compromised. It was packed in sealed containers with extra soy sauce and chopsticks.
But at the end of the day, I prefer a meal shared with friends amid a lively restaurant. No ghost kitchen can replace that.
A vibrant sunset framed by clouds was visible across Los Angeles yesterday. Atmospheric conditions might have something to do with it.
The backstory: The high clouds yesterday were likely related to Hurricane Odalys, which was downgraded to a tropical storm Sunday. “We were getting some high-based tropical moisture coming in far away from the center of the storm,” Robbie Munroe, meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said.
What's next: High clouds are expected to stick around through at least today, according to the National Weather Service, which could make for another picturesque sunset.
Angelenos looking up Saturday may have noticed a particularly striking sight — a vibrant sunset framed by clouds.
Tropical moisture coming in from far off the coast could explain it.
“One thing that might have played a role in making it look awfully nice yesterday was those high clouds that were moving in,” Robert Munroe, meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said. “The way the sun was hitting the high clouds made some bright yellows and oranges in the sky. That moisture is actually related to probably mostly Odalys.”
An early sunset at yesterday's "Be The Light" 5K event in Valencia last night.
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Jenn Baughman
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Jenn Baughman
)
Odalys is the hurricane (since downgraded to a tropical storm) churning off the coast of Mexico, along with Hurricane Polo.
Neither is expected to make landfall here, but they're forecast to bring high surf, dangerous rip tides and potential flooding to coastlines already battered this month by Hurricane Marie.
The bright side is Munroe said those high clouds from yesterday will be sticking around through at least today, which could make for another pretty sunset this evening.
Josie Huang
is a reporter and Weekend Edition host who spotlights the people and places at the heart of our region.
Published September 27, 2026 9:27 AM
The star marks the epicenter of a small quake Sunday morning off shore in the South Bay.
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Courtesy USGS
)
Topline:
An earthquake with a magnitude of 3.6 struck near Hermosa Beach, and it was reported as being felt as far off as Oxnard.
Keep reading ... for more on what we know for now.
An earthquake with a magnitude of 3.6 struck off the South Bay at about 8:40 a.m. and was reported as being felt as far as Oxnard.
The U.S. Geological Survey says it was centered about four miles west-southwest of Hermosa Beach. More than 1,500 people reported feeling it within the first hour after it struck. [You can report what you felt to the USGS.]
No significant damage has been reported, which is typical at this low of a magnitude.
The quake was below the threshold of 4.0 magnitude that triggers an alert on the ShakeAlert app.
We don't want to scare you, but the Big One is coming. We don't know when, but we know it'll be at least 44 times stronger than Northridge and 11 times stronger than the Ridgecrest quakes in 2019. To help you get prepared, we've compiled a handy reading list:
Experience what the first hours after a massive earthquake could be like and get motivated to get ready.
Keep up with LAist.
If you're enjoying this article, you'll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less.
Members of Compás Discoteca (L to R): Adrian Silva, Albert Piña, Ricardo Carlos, and Elias Ruiz.
(
Dañiel Martinez
/
LAist
)
Topline:
Compás Discoteca, a four-person DJ collective, fosters community and connections with eclectic live vinyl mixing at restaurants in and near the Inland Empire.
The backstory: Ricardo Carlos, Elias Ruiz, Albert Piña and Adrian Silva have been friends for about two decades. They all DJ as a hobby and often share music. The crew decided to form the collective after seeing what they thought of as a "sign" in 2024.
On a Sunday night at the Mexican restaurant La Popular in Claremont, diners are eating to a soundtrack that starts with cumbia and jumps to J Balvin and Bad Bunny before landing on Luther Vandross.
That’s the aim of DJ collective Compás Discoteca — to bring connection and community through live vinyl mixing at La Popular and El Balcon in Ontario.
How Compás Discoteca was born
Ricardo Carlos, Elias Ruiz, Albert Piña and Adrian Silva have been friends for about two decades. They all DJ as a hobby and often share music. On a night out in 2024, they saw a sign: a parking space for a “compact car,” minus two letters.
“The C and T are missing — compá. Like, ‘We're compás,’” Carlos said, recounting that night.
A "Compás Discoteca" turntable mat.
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Dañiel Martinez
/
LAist
)
Their DJ collective, Compás Discoteca, was born. “Compás” means “buddies” in Spanish and “Discoteca” means “nightclub."
Seasoning the scene
When Compás Discoteca first formed, the members said Southern California’s vinyl-listening scene was more focused on track selection, letting songs play out in full. The collective wanted to bring more life to the experience by mixing music live.
“It just seemed a little stale,” Silva said. “I feel like we helped to bring some seasoning to that.”
They also wanted to play genres people wouldn’t normally hear together.
“You might hear us jump from funk to cumbia to hip-hop to disco, soul to house. We're just trying to take people on a journey with us,” Silva said.
Each compá takes their turn at the turntables for two 30-minute sets. And each brings their own sound.
Three of the "compás" pose for a picture in between their sets.
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Dañiel Martinez
/
LAist
)
Silva is the “party-starter.” He gets people dancing.
Carlos has a Latin bent, taking influence from his Puerto Rican, Salvadoran and Creole roots.
Ruiz lives for “jaw-drop moments” and brings records he thinks will surprise his fellow DJs.
Piña spins rare world grooves in the funk and boogie vein.
“He probably gets the most Shazams from us and from the audience,” Ruiz said of Piña. “But most importantly, you feel like you're hanging out and with some good music.”
Albert Piña prepares looks through a box of vinyl records during his DJ set at "La Popular" in Claremont.
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Dañiel Martinez
/
LAist
)
Feeding off the energy
Compás Discoteca DJs at El Balcon in Ontario on the first Friday of each month and at La Popular in Claremont on the third Sunday.
The vibes for Sundays are chill, they said, and Fridays are for letting it all loose.
“There's like an energy there, like, ‘Oh, man, we made it through the week.’ We try to feed off of that,” Piña said.
Compás Discoteca vinyl nights
Compás Discoteca DJs at El Balcon (200 N. Euclid Ave., Unit C, Ontario) on the first Friday of each month and at La Popular (235 N. Yale Ave., Claremont) on the third Sunday.
When: Fridays, 7 p.m. to 12 a.m.; Sundays, 5 to 9 p.m.
Cost: free to diners
Next shows: Friday, Oct. 2, at El Balcon; Sunday, Oct. 18, at La Popular
Fiona Ng
is LAist's deputy managing editor and leads a team of reporters who explore food, culture, history, events and more.
Published September 27, 2026 5:00 AM
The Bagel Portal, the bagel delivery system of 29 Loaves, in Joshua Tree.
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Courtesy 29 Loaves
)
Topline:
Joshua Tree has quirk, character and plenty of nature. Since 2024, it also has real New York-style bagels.
How? These bagels are courtesy of 29 Loaves, a home bakery operated by DIY baker and through-and-through New Yorker Richard Lee.
Read on… to find out what distinguishes a New York-style bagel from lesser ones, according to Lee, and how he learned to make his.
Along Highway 62 in Joshua Tree, a stack of high school lockers holds something the High Desert was missing: a real New York-style bagel.
For that, you have DIY baker Richard Lee to thank.
“I want a bagel. What do I do?” Lee remembered thinking after moving to Twentynine Palms in 2023 from Los Angeles, where he had lived for more than a decade.
The Bagel Portal off Highway 62 in Joshua Tree.
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Richard Lee
/
Courtesy 29 Loaves
)
It wasn’t just any bagel the born-and-raised New Yorker was craving, but the kind from back home that gives “a little crunch” when you bite into its crust — with a “chewy, softer” inside and a taste Lee calls “ineffable.”
“Like maybe a sourdough or an Italian bread,” he said.
Taught by YouTube, tested by family in New York
Richard Lee converted his garage in 29 Palms to make bagels.
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Courtesy 29 Loaves
)
A tinkerer by nature, Lee launched 29 Loaves in early 2024, bringing bagels he handcrafts in his licensed home operation to Twentynine Palms, Joshua Tree and surrounding communities.
“I went to the culinary school of YouTube,” he said, having watched more than 100 videos on how to make a bagel. At first, he relied on his own taste buds as a guide, before sending his creations to his family in New York to taste.
After months of overnight shipping, Lee said, “Even a UPS store is asking me, ‘Why are you doing that?’”
“I know it makes no sense,” he told them. “That's how I operate.”
29 Loaves serves up New York-style bagels to Joshua Tree and other desert communities.
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Courtesy 29 Loaves
)
Eventually, his sister gave the thumbs-up. To be extra, extra, extra sure, Lee went to folks living in the desert with New York ties to get their blessing.
“Attention is an ingredient,” Lee said of his bagels. It’s a philosophy he’s honed while running his other business providing IT services, which he now operates remotely.
“Garbage in, garbage out,” he said. “If you make a mistake or something falls on the bagel and marks it, it’ll end up that way as a finished product.”
Why bagels mean so much to him
Lee, whose father is Korean and mother is Brazilian, said his bakery is ultimately about food memories — and draws inspiration from what he ate growing up. The only other baked good 29 Loaves sells is pão de queijo, a gluten-free Brazilian cheese puff he makes.
Richard Lee handmakes New York-style bagels at his home operation.
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Courtesy 29 Loaves
)
But nothing rivals bagels. Sundays were often bagel days in his childhood home in the Long Island suburbs. As a teenager working for his father, Lee remembered they would make detours off the Long Island Expressway to grab fresh bagels.
“They were nice and plump, and they were so hot,” he said.
Father and son would eat them straight out of the bag — no cream cheese, no nothing.
“Those were the types of memories that I wanna bring here,” Lee said.
Get your bagel
You can find 29 Loaves bagels in select cafes and markets in desert communities, including Indian Wells, Palm Desert and Pioneertown. Lee himself delivers orders within Twentynine Palms and Joshua Tree.
For a 24/7 hankering, there’s The Bagel Portal, at 61877 29 Palms Highway, Joshua Tree — look for a stack of lockers under a wooden A-frame in the parking lot facing the highway. You’ll get a combination code after making a purchase.
