'Mind Blown': Houston Man Catches Denny's Masquerading As Burrito Restaurant On Uber Eats

A Houston man ordered a burrito on Uber Eats, only to receive a product from Denny’s.

It turns out, “Banda Burrito” is a ghost kitchen operating under a pseudonym. Elle (@misselle17), a Houston content creator, posted a TikTok video about her husband’s Uber Eats order after he received it. The video quickly garnered 17,000 views, with many expressing similar shock regarding the Uber Eats order.

The restaurant's website confirms that it's a delivery-only service, saying, “Banda Burrito is a delivery and pick up only dining experience.” Further research helps conclude that Banda Burrito operates out of Denny’s, as the location on 26050 HWY 290 shares an address with one of the breakfast franchise’s locations.

As commenters shared, Denny’s operates multiple different ghost kitchens out of hundreds of its locations. But what is a ghost kitchen, and why does Denny’s have so many of them inside its core restaurant?

What Is A Ghost Kitchen?

A ghost kitchen is a restaurant or business that operates without a dining area or storefront. These kitchens eliminate the need for front-of-house staff like servers, while offering food on apps like Uber Eats and DoorDash.

Ghost kitchens can have 10–15 different establishments operating out of one commercial location. Or, they can be smaller scale, with one to two different “kitchens” operating out of a pre-existing restaurant. Drivers will arrive at these locations and then pick up food, delivering it to customers who never see where they’re actually getting their food from.

One commenter described Denny’s ghost kitchen, saying that it had genuinely good offerings. “You're able to order stuff you wouldn't be able to if you just went to the restaurant,” they said. “Dennys also has one called Burger Den and they have a cheeseburger with marinara and mozzarella sticks and it's so good.”

Have More Ghost Kitchens Recently Popped Up?

Many people noticed more and more of these establishments on food delivery apps post-COVID. Ghost kitchens thrived from 2020–2022, as they limited contact with customers, had higher food margins, and technically made food preparation easier.

These kitchens were able to limit the high costs associated with operating restaurants. They also avoided high rental costs by sharing space with other “kitchens,” while limiting labor costs by having little-to-no staff outside of preppers and back-of-house employees. Because there are so many different restaurants inside one commercial kitchen, these "restaurants" technically only needed to hire a few employees to maintain dozens of menu items.

Generally, restaurants operating under ghost kitchens will also share certain menu items, which helps minimize overall costs. An Italian restaurant operating inside a ghost kitchen may offer mozzarella sticks. An American restaurant will have that exact same food item listed underneath an entirely different establishment on food service apps. That means that both restaurants can technically offer mozzarella sticks by having identical inventories.

Why Do Many People Say Ghost Kitchens Are Bad?

Elle said in her video that Denny’s was actually “ingenious” for operating a ghost kitchen inside its restaurant. This may technically be true for that Houston establishment, but it isn’t generally the case in the restaurant industry.

From2023–2025, many franchises and restaurants abandoned plans for ghost kitchens. Restaurants like Wendy's completely strayed from the idea of having 700 ghost kitchens, a collaboration with Reed Technology that was ultimately abandoned after trying out the concept. Other companies have also moved away from the business model.

There are a variety of reasons why restaurants pulled out of investing in ghost kitchens. The lack of variety between different "restaurants" and overall deceptive appearance tricked people into thinking they’re purchasing food from small businesses.

As Spicy Chefs describes, “Restaurants aren't just about food: they're about experience, connection, and community. Ghost kitchens may have provided a band-aid solution for keeping restaurants afloat when in-person dining wasn't an option, but in the process, they lost what makes dining meaningful in the first place.”

The quality of the food coming out of ghost kitchens was also noticeably worse than the quality in sit-down restaurants. Uber Eats delisted around 8,000 of these restaurants in 2023 due to quality control standards. It turns out, operating countless kitchens can create major sanitation problems, as prepping sushi in one corner and burger meat in another doesn’t bode well for food safety protocol.

Ultimately, many franchises concluded that customers wanted in-person experiences post-COVID, with ghost kitchens feeling like a cheap, corporate alternative. But some of these franchises and ghost kitchens still exist on apps like Uber Eats and DoorDash.

We’ve reached out to Elle via TikTok direct message, and Uber and Denny’s via email for comment. We’ll let you know if either party responds.

@misselle17