--- title: "Ghost Kitchen & Dark Kitchen Closing Checklist" canonical: "https://peakscaleops.com/checklists/ghost-kitchen-closing-checklist/" --- > Source: https://peakscaleops.com/checklists/ghost-kitchen-closing-checklist/ [Checklists](/checklists/) / [Ghost Kitchen & Dark Kitchen](/checklists/ghost-kitchens/) / Closing - Complaints, Ratings & Tomorrow's Menu # Ghost Kitchen & Dark Kitchen Closing Checklist - Refunds, Ratings & Menu Sync Closing a Ghost Kitchen & Dark Kitchen is a data job before it is a cleaning job: **pull today's refunds and error adjustments per brand, categorise every complaint, reply to every review, and reconcile the 86 list (items marked sold out) on every platform**. These 9 checks also audit each virtual brand against the platform's listing rules. They also reset shared surfaces between brands. Evidence behind them includes DoorDash's 14-day self-service window for disputing an error adjustment. It also includes Uber Eats removing 8,000 virtual restaurant listings in five months. And a Yelp study found one extra star moved independent restaurant revenue 5–9%. [Run this checklist - free](/run/ghost-kitchens/?list=closing) [Download PDF](/checklists/pdf/peakscale-ghost-kitchens-checklists.pdf)[Download Excel](/checklists/excel/peakscale-ghost-kitchens-checklists.xlsx) The checklist · 10 checks ### Handle complaints while it still counts **1\. Pull today's refunds, error adjustments and 1–2 star reviews from every platform, for each brand** On DoorDash, you can only dispute charges yourself for deliveries from the last 14 days. After that, you must go through support. Other platforms do not publish a similar time limit, so check your own merchant agreement. Either way, only your own same-day packing log can win a dispute. A lost dispute can cost up to 100% of the subtotal plus tax. **2\. Sort every complaint into a category: missing item, wrong item, wrong extra, cold, late, seal or spill** The mix of complaints tells you which safeguard failed. 66% of customers blame the restaurant either way, so you need the real cause, not just the blame. **3\. Reply to every rating and complaint on every platform before you close the shift** For an independent brand with no shopfront, the rating is the shopfront. In one Yelp study, gaining one star in rating raised independent restaurant revenue by 5–9%. ### Get tomorrow's menus right **4\. Reconcile the 86 list (out-of-stock list) back to live on every platform and set anything still out for tomorrow** An item left 86'd overnight is lost revenue you won't notice. An item wrongly marked live becomes tomorrow's cancellation. Cancellations averaged 2.97% of orders. **5\. Check each virtual brand against the platform's listing rules: how different the menu is, item count, and share of hot items** Uber Eats removed 8,000 virtual listings in five months. DoorDash requires the menu to be at least 50% different from other menus at the same address. A brand that fails these rules gets delisted, with no warning. **6\. Check each brand cleared the platform's minimum weekly order volume, and act on the ones that didn't** Uber Eats requires at least 3 orders a week to keep a brand listed. A brand with no orders quietly loses its kitchen space when it is delisted. ### Close the kitchen down **7\. Seal, date and label chilled and prepped stock by brand, then store it. Keep refrigeration ON.** Shared cold storage between brands is where labels get lost and allergens get mixed up. If stock is not dated and labeled, throw it out. **8\. Deep-clean shared assembly and packing surfaces between brands before close** In one sensor study, gluten test results were higher at dinner than breakfast (34% against 27%), though the study does not explain why. A shared surface that is never cleaned carries yesterday's allergen into tomorrow's free-from order. That part is under your control. **9\. Restock the packing bench, seals, labels and printer roll for tomorrow's open** A packer who has to improvise at opening will skip checking the ticket. Mistakes start with the missing seal, not the missing item. ### Hygiene & Safety **10\. Sanitize prep boards, utensils and bins at the end of the shift.** Leftover food debris on tools breeds bacteria overnight. ## Frequently asked questions **How long do you have to dispute a delivery app's order error charge?** On DoorDash, the delivery must have occurred within the last 14 days for a merchant to raise the dispute themselves. Beyond that, you have to contact DoorDash Support. Errors a customer reports 72 or more hours after delivery are not charged to the merchant at all. The charge itself is 25% to 100% of the applicable item price plus tax. A wholly wrong order is charged at 100% of order subtotal plus tax, after commissions are taken out. Note this is DoorDash's published rule. Uber Eats, Deliveroo and Just Eat do not publish equivalent windows. Check your own merchant agreement, which changes more often than the law does. That short self-service window is the entire reason to pull refunds and error adjustments per brand at close, rather than at month-end. A same-day packing log is what wins the dispute. Nobody reconstructs one two weeks later. **Why do virtual brands get removed from delivery platforms?** Mostly for duplicate menus and too few orders. Brands get no warning before they are removed. Uber Eats removed 8,000 virtual restaurant listings between March and July 2023, in a duplication crackdown. It requires a minimum of 3 orders per week for a listing to stay live. DoorDash requires virtual brands to show 50% menu differentiation from other menus at the same address. It also requires a minimum of 8 items, and at least 50% hot or prepared items. Auditing each brand against those rules at close is cheaper than discovering a brand has been delisted. **Is it worth replying to delivery app reviews and complaints?** For an independent brand with no shopfront, the rating effectively is the shopfront. So yes. A one-star increase in Yelp rating caused a 5–9% increase in revenue for independent restaurants. The effect was close to zero for chains. That study is for sit-down restaurants and covers Seattle revenue from 2003 to 2009. Treat the number as a general trend, not a forecast for delivery apps. The complaint mix is worth as much as the reply. 24% of consumers hit by an incorrect order request a refund, 20% stop reordering, and 17% post a review. 66% blame the restaurant rather than the courier. So categorising each complaint as missing item, wrong item, cold, late, seal or spill tells you which control actually failed. ## More Ghost Kitchen & Dark Kitchen checklists [Receiving Goods, Packaging & Seal Supplies](/checklists/ghost-kitchen-goods-in-checklist/)[Opening - Stations, Online Storefronts & Menu Launch](/checklists/ghost-kitchen-opening-checklist/)[Packing Orders, Labels & Tamper Seals](/checklists/ghost-kitchen-order-packing-checklist/)[Courier Handoff & Pickup-Time Promise (SLA)](/checklists/ghost-kitchen-courier-handoff-checklist/)[Keeping Food Hot, Cold & at the Right Temperature for Delivery](/checklists/ghost-kitchen-food-temperature-checklist/)[Weekly Checks](/checklists/ghost-kitchen-weekly-checklist/) One free app has all of them: [open the Ghost Kitchen & Dark Kitchen Checklists app](/run/ghost-kitchens/) - offline, no account, add it to your home screen. ## Sources Every statistic on this page comes from public inspection and food-safety data: - [Intouch Insight 2025 Third-Party Delivery Study](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/intouch-insight-study-c-stores-narrow-the-gap-with-restaurants-for-key-metrics-in-third-party-delivery-study-302555812.html) - [Restaurant Dive on eduMe survey](https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/study-diners-are-dependent-on-food-delivery-but-are-sensitive-to-order-inaccuracies/623372/) - [FSA - Allergen information for non-prepacked foods: key findings](https://science.food.gov.uk/article/142304-allergen-information-for-non-prepacked-foods-key-findings-from-consumers-and-food-service-workers) - [DoorDash Merchant Help - What are Order Error Adjustments?](https://help.doordash.com/en-us/merchants/article/what-are-order-error-adjustments) - [Intouch Insight - KPIs for online food delivery](https://www.intouchinsight.com/blog/kpis-for-online-food-delivery) - [Intouch Insight press release, 18 Sep 2024](https://www.intouchinsight.com/press-releases/doordash-leads-thirdparty-delivery) - [DoorDash Merchant Learning Center - How to reduce avoidable Dasher wait time](https://merchants.doordash.com/en-us/learning-center/avoidable-wait) - [Lebwohl et al., Am J Gastroenterology 2019](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190405170447.htm) - [Retail Brew on US Foods](https://www.retailbrew.com/stories/2023/02/15/many-delivery-drivers-admit-to-taking-food-from-orders-and-tamper-evident-packaging-could-keep-them-out-of-the-chicken-nuggets) - [Otter data release via Business Wire](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240311195405/en/Mexico-Restaurants-Lose-up-to-4-of-Their-Online-Orders-Due-to-Cancellations) - [Foods](https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/14/15/2605) - [Restaurant Dive](https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/reefs-ghost-kitchen-expansion-mired-in-permit-health-inspection-infractio/610853/) - [Nation's Restaurant News](https://www.nrn.com/delivery-takeout-solutions/uber-eats-has-already-removed-8000-virtual-restaurants-its-system-amid) - [Luca, Reviews, Reputation, and Revenue](https://www.hbs.edu/ris/Publication%20Files/12-016_a7e4a5a2-03f9-490d-b093-8f951238dba2.pdf) - [Lincolnshire County Council trading standards](https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/news/article/132/indian-restaurant-fined-for-selling-allergen-free-curry-containing-peanuts) - [FSA - Consumer needs and food hygiene ratings online](https://science.food.gov.uk/article/123520-understanding-consumer-needs-in-relation-to-food-hygiene-ratings-in-an-online-food-ordering-environment) - [Sheffield Hallam University](https://www.shu.ac.uk/news/all-articles/latest-news/dark-kitchens-2) - [NC State study via Quality Assurance & Food Safety](https://www.qualityassurancemag.com/news/many-meal-kit-deliveries-contain-perishable-food-items-above-the-recommended-temperature/) - [FSA sampling survey via Food Safety News](https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2026/07/fsa-survey-reveals-authenticity-and-allergen-problems/) - [DoorDash merchant blog](https://merchants.doordash.com/en-us/blog/how-to-increase-restaurant-sales) - [University of Sheffield / NIHR research via PA](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/dark-kitchens-represent-15-uk-135019717.html) - ['Going dark or under the radar?', Food Control 2025, via Food Safety News](https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2025/02/study-assesses-food-safety-challenges-with-dark-kitchens/)