Macs & Stacks leads latest wave of ghost kitchens around Loudoun

As regular readers know, we’ve been writing about “ghost kitchens” or “virtual restaurants” for some time now. They’ve been all the rage during the pandemic as many well-known restaurant brands as well as local favorites have tried to expand their revenues by creating separate menus and brands, but only offering them through delivery and sometimes carry out. So The Burn has gone hunting for some of the latest concepts to come to the area.

Please note — depending on where you are located in Loudoun County or surrounding counties, you may or may not be in the delivery zone for these restaurants. Folks in the Sterling area definitely have an advantage as they can sometimes get deliveries from restaurants in Herndon and Reston that other parts of Loudoun cannot.

MACS & STACKS
Macs & Stacks, a virtual kitchen based at Bar Louie in One Loudoun, bills itself as “a melted cheese joint.” And indeed, the menu at Macs & Stacks is filled with a variety of gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches, as well as load tater tots with chili and cheese. It’s delivery zone seems to much

THE RUB
The Rub Chicken & Beer is an Alexandria-based restaurant focusing on the super trendy chicken sandwich craze, but they apparently have a virtual kitchen at Maker’s Union Pub in the Reston Town Center and folks in the Sterling area can get The Rub delivered there.

EUGENE’S SAUSAGE & FRIES
Eugene’s Sausage & Fries, originally founded in Haymarket, is slowly expanding in the region and recently brought their signature sausage dishes to the Aslin Beer Company location in Herndon, which according to DoorDash, delivers to the Sterling area as well.

CONVICTION CHICKEN
Conviction Chicken is a ghost kitchen concept coming out of TGIFridays locations, so in Loudoun, it’s available in Leesburg as well as Sterling and South Riding (via the Herndon location). As you might guess, the menu is filled with wings, chicken sandwiches and chicken tenders.

FIRE ASS THAI
One more delivering to the Sterling area as well as the South Riding area — Fire Ass Thai, a virtual brand coming from Tara Thai at the Worldgate Center in Herndon. The name alone is worth trying it out if you live in the delivery zone.

HOOTIE’S CHICKEN TENDERS
For folks in the southern part of Loudoun County, like South Riding and Chantilly, they can apparently get deliveries from Hootie’s Chicken Tenders, a virtual brand coming from the Hooter’s location in Chantilly.

These virtual restaurants — and a variety of others — are available on delivery services such as DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub and Postmates.