A ghost kitchen startup called ChefReady is set to open in Denver next month with a roster of delivery- and takeout-only brands including McKinners Pizza and a french fry concept dubbed Let's Get Loaded. Aspiring restaurateurs Thomas and Jill Concannon will launch their Old School Heros sandwich and pasta menu at ChefReady, after the pandemic forced them to hit pause on leasing space for their first brick-and-mortar location.

Fox Restaurant Concepts' launch of new takeout-only concept Fly Bye To Go followed the familiar collaborative path the group takes each time it develops a new concept, founder Sam Fox says. "We have this 'circle of learning,' where everyone within all of our brands learns from each other. With that, we always borrow or learn or educate ourselves on the history of things that we've done," he said.

San Francisco-based pizza startup Shuggie's has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for its "trash pie" concept, scheduled to launch next spring. The restaurant, the brainchild of Ugly Pickle Co. founders David Murphy and Kayla Abe, will sell pizza made from ingredients typically seen as food waste, such as offal, spent grain from breweries and imperfect produce.

Minnesota restaurant owners are calling on lawmakers to allow them to sell alcohol to-go as part of customers' takeout orders. The effort is an attempt to make up for plummeting alcohol sales, which normally comprise roughly 50% of many restaurants' sales, as restaurants were forced to shutter or pivot to takeout-only amid the pandemic.

McDonald's has launched a tech-enabled takeout-only concept called McDonald's to Go in London, and it is the first of many that are slated to open. The eatery features a pared-down menu and minimal decor, and customers order and pay via touchscreens.