A woman prepares food inside a commercial kitchen at DTLA Kitchens.
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Courtesy of Yuri Amsellem
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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
/
LAist
)
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
)
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
)
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.
Libby Rainey
has been tracking how L.A. is prepping for the 2028 Olympic Games.
Published April 22, 2026 5:00 AM
The LA28 Olympic cauldron is lit after a ceremonial lighting at the Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles on Jan. 13, 2026.
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Federal K. Brown
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Getty Images
)
Topline:
Re-sale policies for past Olympic Games and the coming World Cup's eye-popping price tags could provide hints as to what's coming for the L.A. Olympics ticket re-sale market.
What we know: Officials with Olympics organizing committee LA28 have been tight-lipped about how the official resale market will work, saying only that it will launch in 2027 and have an "official marketplace" by AXS and Eventim and other platforms including Ticketmaster and Sports Illustrated Tickets.
How has it worked in the past? The International Olympic Committee told LAist that host committees and host country's laws dictate rules around ticket re-sale — and in the U.S., major hikes in ticket prices on secondary markets are the norm.
Read on...for more on how secondary ticket markets worked in Paris in 2024, and what it all could mean for L.A. in 2028.
In the flurry of ticket-buying that engulfed Los Angeles when Olympics sales started earlier this month, questions about the coming re-sale market loomed large.
As locals balked at ticket prices that averaged in the hundreds and went as high as $5,500, some wondered if re-sale would push costs for prospective fans even higher. Others wanted to know if they'd be able to easily recoup their money for the tickets they had splurged on. And then there was that 24% service fee — would that be charged on the resale market, too?
Officials with Olympics organizing committee LA28 have been tight-lipped about how the official resale market will work, saying only that it will launch in 2027 and have an "official marketplace" by AXS and Eventim and other platforms, including Ticketmaster and Sports Illustrated Tickets.
But re-sale policies for past Olympic Games and the coming World Cup's eye-popping price tags could provide hints as to what's coming for the L.A. Olympics ticket market.
If these touchstones are any indication, fans could see even higher prices when the L.A. Olympics re-sale market opens next year. And fees — both ubiquitous and loathed across live music and sports events — will likely keep popping up every time a ticket sells or re-sells.
How have Olympics tickets been re-sold in the past?
The International Olympic Committee told LAist that host committees and host country's laws dictate rules around ticket re-sale — and in the U.S., major hikes in ticket prices on secondary markets are the norm.
The two most recent Olympic Games did not allow tickets to be re-sold for a profit on official platforms, in compliance with Italian and French local laws, according to the I.O.C. Instead, Olympics organizers in Milano Cortina in 2026 and Paris in 2024 provided a re-sale market where fans could put up their tickets at face value.
In Paris and Milan, ticket re-sellers came out in the red after being charged a 5% service fee to re-sell the ticket. LAist reviewed one person's receipt from the Paris Games who re-sold two 100 euro tickets to an archery event for €200, and got back €190. A number of fans struggled to re-sell their tickets, according to news reports.
"A lack of demand in the secondary market has left many holding tickets they cannot sell, while organisers have continued to release more tickets," the Financial Times reported just before the 2024 Olympics began.
Tickets that were re-sold included a fee for 10% of the ticket value for the new purchaser.
Olympics tickets have been re-sold for higher prices when the host country allows it, though.
At the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, Canadians could re-sell their tickets at any price, according to the New York Times. An article from the time declared, "Olympic Ticket Business Gets a Taste of Internet Capitalism." The Vancouver organizing committee also charged a fee on each transaction.
The L.A. Games seem poised to look more like Vancouver than Paris, since the L.A. lacks the ticket regulations of recent European hosts. In all recent cases, organizers charged fees on resold tickets, indicating the 24% service fee on 2028 tickets could be on secondary markets, too.
At a Los Angeles City Council meeting last week, LA28 CEO Reynold Hoover said he didn't know how much of that fee would be going back to LA28. Hoover has repeatedly pointed out to critics that LA28 needs to deliver the Olympic Games under budget, otherwise taxpayers in L.A. and California will end up paying for cost overruns.
Will LA28 go the way of the World Cup?
Ticket sales for this summer's World Cup provide another window into where Olympics ticket prices could go.
FIFA decided not to cap re-sale prices in the U.S. and Canada for 2026 — a change in policy compared to past World Cup tournaments, according to The Athletic. (In Mexico, ticket re-sales are limited at their face value). That led tickets to be listed for way higher than their original price on the resale market, with FIFA making 30% in fees on each ticket that was re-sold.
The price tag for tickets to this summer's tournament has stoked indignation in fans and local officials alike. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani even launched an effort during his campaign asking FIFA to cap resale prices.
FIFA has also caught flak for increasing ticket prices using dynamic pricing, adjusting ticket prices based on demand. A Congressional coalition led by L.A. Democrat Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove wrote FIFA President Gianni Infantino a letter in March asking him to change course on ticket prices.
"The extreme high demand for World Cup tickets should not be a green light for price gouging at the expense of the people who make the World Cup the most-watched sporting event in the world," the coalition asserted.
Infantino has defended the prices, calling the U.S. market "very special."
Ticket prices under scrutiny
The spotlight on Olympics tickets comes as ticket sales and the companies that control them in the U.S. face growing scrutiny.
Just this month, a jury found that Live Nation and Ticketmaster, which merged in 2010, overcharged customers and acted as a monopoly. California was one of dozens of states that sued the company.
" What we've seen is the public reaching their own breaking point," said Morgan Harper, with the American Economic Liberties Project, a progressive group that has pushed to break up Ticketmaster and Live Nation. "The prices were getting so high that people were like, 'Wait a second. Is it now also gonna be unaffordable to even go to a concert?'"
In California, lawmakers are considering legislation to limit ticket prices, including one bill to cap re-sale at just 10% above face value. Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-SF) introduced the bill, which is aimed at preventing price gouging. In an interesting twist, Live Nation has backed the bill, and critics say it will ratchet up prices by limiting competition.
Even if that bill passes, it won't apply to L.A. in 2028. The legislation specifically excludes sports and the Olympic Games.
Gab Chabrán
covers what's happening in food and culture for LAist.
Published April 22, 2026 5:00 AM
A pizzaiolo finishing a Neapolitan-style pie at last year's Pizza City Fest. The fourth annual event returns to L.A. LIVE April 25-26.
(
Susana Capra
/
Courtesy Pizza City Fest
)
Topline:
Pizza City Fest returns to L.A. LIVE this weekend with 40 SoCal pizzerias, including 11 first-timers, and a lineup that doubles as a snapshot of where Southern California pizza stands right now.
Why it matters: The fest is one of the few events that brings the full geographic and stylistic range of SoCal's pizza scene under one roof — making the case that L.A. isn't just a pizza city, it's a pizza region. Expect Detroit, NY, Neapolitan, tavern-style, grandma pie and more. No dominant identity, and that's kind of the point.
Why now: The event runs April 25–26, and the scene it's showcasing is as strong as it's ever been — more artisan bakers, more diverse styles, and more pizzerias pushing past city limits into the IE, OC, and beyond.
The backstory: Founded in 2022 by food reporter and James Beard Award winner Steve Dolinsky, Pizza City Fest has grown into a three-city operation. The L.A. edition is now in its fourth year and continues to expand its footprint both geographically and stylistically.
What's next: Tickets are still available at lalive.com/pizzacityfest. GA is $99/day, VIP is $199.
For anyone who doesn't think Los Angeles is serious about pizza, they've never been to Pizza City Fest.
Now in its fourth year, the festival returns to L.A. LIVE's Event Deck this weekend — from 1-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday — showcasing the full range of styles that define SoCal's pizza scene. The event was founded by three-time Emmy and 13-time James Beard Award-winning food reporter Steve Dolinsky, who has built Pizza City Fest into a three-city operation spanning Chicago, Nashville and Los Angeles. This year, 40 pizzerias will be offering unlimited tastings — general admission runs $99 a day, VIP $199. (Drinks, both alcoholic and NA, are also included in the price).
Who's going to be there?
SoCal pizza isn't specific to L.A. What's most exciting about this year's lineup is how far it stretches — from Orange County and the Inland Empire to the San Fernando Valley and Santa Barbara. It’s a testament to the fact that good pizza is everywhere in the region; you just need to know where to find it.
As Dolinsky puts it: "You don't have to get in your car and drive all over Southern California to try all these great pizzas because they're all going to be made fresh, right there in one place."
Eleven out of the 40 pizzerias are making their Pizza City Fest debuts this year (marked with an asterisk).
Saturday
Angel City Pizza (Venice)
Anna Pizza (Valley Village)*
Bianca Sicilian Trattoria (mobile truck — Arts District)*
Bub & Grandma's Pizza (Highland Park)*
Colossus (Long Beach, San Pedro)*
Emmy Squared (DTLA)
Esco's New York Style Pizza (Mid-City)
Fat Lip Pizza & Beer (Corona)
Fat Nattys (Los Angeles)*
Joe's Pizza (Southern California)
Mievè (Miracle Mile)*
Mike's Firestone Pizza (Fullerton)*
Old Gold Tomato Pies (Los Feliz)*
Riip Beer & Pizzeria (Huntington Beach)
Slice House by Tony Gemignani (Southern California)
Thunderbolt Pizza (Long Beach)*
Tribute Pizza (San Diego)
Triple Beam Pizza (Southern California)
Truly Pizza (Dana Point)
Woodstock Farina (mobile truck — Oxnard)
Dessert: Lei'd Cookies (Culver City) and Uli's Gelato (Los Angeles)
Esteban "ESCO" Gutierrez grew up in his father's Manhattan pizza shop. Now he's bringing that New York tradition to Mid-City L.A. — and to Pizza City Fest this weekend at L.A. LIVE.
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Susana Capra
/
Courtesy Pizza City Fest
)
Perhaps one of the most exciting aspects of Pizza City Fest is the sheer range of styles on offer. Detroit, NY, Neapolitan, tavern-style, grandma pie — all under one roof. No dominant identity, and that's kind of the point. Unlike New York or Chicago, where pizza culture rallies around a single style, SoCal's scene is pluralist by nature. You've got Ozzy's Apizza repping New Haven-style, Esco's flying the New York flag, Detroit Pizza Depot doing what it says on the tin, and Bub & Grandma's doing their own artisan thing that defies easy categorization.
Keep an eye on Colossus, based in Long Beach and San Pedro, who earned a glowing review from the LA Times and is bringing a 100% sourdough crust to the fest — the kind of artisan approach Dolinsky says has defined the scene's evolution over the past four years.
And then there's PiiZaa — a mobile operation out of the Torrance Farmers Market whose name is apparently how the Vietnamese community pronounces the word. They'll be making a bánh xèo-inspired dish (a traditional stuffed crepe in pizza form) with turmeric, shrimp and pork.
As Dolinsky puts it, "That to me is very LA. Vietnamese culture meets Neapolitan pizza. That doesn't happen really anywhere else in the country." The fest isn't an argument for one style over another — it's an argument that SoCal can do all of them and do them well.
Slice House by Tony Gemignani will be serving at Pizza City Fest at L.A. LIVE this weekend.
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Susana Capra
/
Courtesy Pizza City Fest
)
Beyond the slices
When you get tired — or full — of stuffing your face with delicious slices, Pizza City Fest has you covered there too.
Saturday's programming kicks off with "The Dough Whisperers" at 2 p.m., featuring Nancy Silverton and Aaron Lindell of Quarter Sheets in conversation about the craft of dough, followed at 3 p.m. by a home baker's masterclass demo from Thomas McNaughton and Ryan Pollnow of SF's Flour + Water — plus a Silverton book signing after.
Sunday brings a backyard pizza oven demo at 2 p.m. from Daniele Uditi of Pizzana. At 3 p.m., Esteban Gutierrez, Sean Lango, and Vito DeCandia make the case that great New York-style pizza doesn't require a New York zip code — moderated by Noah Galuten.
The details
Pizza City Fest runs Saturday and Sunday at the Event Deck at L.A. LIVE in downtown Los Angeles, 1–5 p.m. both days.
General admission is $99 per day; VIP tickets are $199 and include one-hour early entry, access to an exclusive lounge, preferred panel seating and a swag bag.
All tickets include unlimited pizza tastings, beverages, desserts and admission to all panels and demos — yes, that means drinks, both alcoholic and NA.
First-timer? Dolinsky's advice: "Go to the places that are furthest from your home ... go to the places from Corona, the IE and Covina. Who knows when you'll go there?"
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Suzanne Levy
is a senior editor on the Explore LA team, where she oversees food, LA Explained and other feature stories.
Published April 21, 2026 5:31 PM
The iconic King Taco sign at the original Cypress Park location, which opened in 1974 and is now being considered for Historic-Cultural Monument designation.
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Suzanne Levy
/
LAist
)
Topline:
The original King Taco restaurant in Cypress Park will become a Historic-Cultural Monument after the L.A. City Council voted 10-0 on Tuesday. Raul Martinez launched the business in 1974, when it started out as a food truck.
Why it matters: King Taco helped establish the template for the modern L.A. taqueria — shifting the city's understanding of tacos from the hard-shell, Americanized version to soft tortillas filled with carne asada, carnitas and tacos al pastor. It's now one of the few designated restaurant landmarks recognizing Latino culinary contributions.
The backstory: Founder Raul Martinez launched King Taco from a converted ice cream truck in 1974, eventually opening the Cypress Park brick-and-mortar location that became the chain's flagship. The business grew to 24 locations across Southern California.
Adolfo Guzman-Lopez
is an arts and general assignment reporter on LAist's Explore LA team.
Published April 21, 2026 4:49 PM
One of the many "personal delivery devices" bots in cities across the U.S.
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Courtesy Serve Robotics
)
Topline:
They may be cute, but cities are now deciding how to regulate them — and charge them for their use of public infrastructure. Glendale and Long Beach are in the process of creating new rules and fees for personal delivery devices, as they're called, while L.A. is looking at overhauling existing regulations to increase city revenue.
Why it matters: There’s significant growth projected for companies that create and run delivery bots. City officials see that as a source of revenue and are thinking about how to increase it as the bots become more prevalent, potentially charging a fee per trip rather than a flat fee as is current practice.
Why now: Delivery bots perform an essential service delivering products from Domino’s pizza to Walmart purchases. Companies that create the bots say their tech cuts down on the number of car trips making such deliveries.
What's next: Officials in the cities of L.A., Long Beach and Glendale say staff will submit their recommendations for delivery bot regulations in the next several months.
Companies that create and manufacture personal delivery devices, those cute bots you see on public sidewalks, have been working on growth plans for years.
Cities, on whose public sidewalks the delivery bots travel, are only now catching up to regulating them and charging the companies fees.
That's what's happening in Glendale, where, City Councilman Dan Brotman says, “[The delivery bots] just appeared out of nowhere. The company that operates [them] never reached out and talked to us."
He and other council members, he said, want to know if the delivery devices make it harder for Glendale residents using wheelchairs to use public sidewalks.
“I also am curious who is getting the financial benefit from these,” he said.
Glendale’s City Council asked city staff last month to draft two proposals, one with regulations and fees and the other pausing the operation of delivery bots while the council studies their impact. Brotman said staff may deliver those proposals to him and his colleagues in the months to come.
The two largest cities in LA County, at two different stages
The City of Los Angeles approved rules for personal delivery devices a few years ago, including flat permit fees. The City Council has since asked staff in the Department of Transportation to revaluate those rules and make suggestions.
One idea being considered — charging companies for every bot trip instead of the flat fee.
A delivery robot sits next to the bike path by the beach
“[The companies are] starting to put movie ads or show ads, and if they're generating revenue off that, we want to know what that looks like but also be able to have a fee for them,” Hernandez said.
That report should be presented to the City Council later this year, she said.
She’s also keen to hear from the public about their views on delivery bots.
Tell city officials what you think about delivery bots
L.A. residents can give the city their opinion at this link.
Glendale residents can email: CityCouncil@GlendaleCA.gov
Companies that make the devices argue they’re providing an essential delivery service to residents while cutting down on the number of vehicles on the road making the deliveries.
“We currently pay fees in Los Angeles, Chicago and West Hollywood as part of their permit programs and are open to similar models in other cities,” said Vignesh Ram, vice president of policy at Serve Robotics, by email.
Starship Technologies' delivery robot exits the elevator in the company's office.
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Meg Kelly
/
NPR
)
The company is now operating in Long Beach; Ram says it notified the city before beginning to operate there.
A City of Long Beach spokesperson told LAist its business licensing, planning and public works teams are currently working on recommendations for regulations. Those should be presented to the City Council early this summer.
