Foodie Labs brings in ghost kitchen hub to St. Pete takeout scene

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - A new way to do takeout is taking over major cities across the country. 

Ghost kitchens rose in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, a ghost kitchen hub has opened in downtown St. Petersburg: Foodie Labs. 

"It’s a restaurant, but instead of having the front of the in-house experience of having a hostess and a waitress, and sitting down and getting service at the table, it’s 100% virtual," said Managing Partner Kristin Zelinsky.

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Ghost kitchens like Foodie Labs, which opened in late 2023, operate through pickup or delivery apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats or via website. 

"We basically took three different concepts with the event space, the commercial shared space, and the ghost kitchen space," she said. 

Foodie Labs takes ghost kitchens a step further. 

"We mentor people all along the way, right from the start," Jim Pachence, a managing partner, said. 

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"They don’t have the build out cost or overhead of a brick and mortar that they owned to start with," Zelinsky added. 

Michael Shaner opened his own ghost kitchen at Foodie Labs called Shaner's Surf & Turf after his parent's business on Pass-a-Grille closed last year. 

"I'm a butcher by trade. It's in my DNA. Both sides of my family. So, I want to have my own meat market, which features a small kitchen," he said. "It’s awesome working here. We meet a lot of great people and networking. A lot of awesome people. I love working with all the other kitchens."

Foodie Labs is located at 515 22nd Street South in Suite 130 in St. Petersburg. For more information, visit thefoodielabs.com.

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