Food from Pardon My Cheesesteak arrives from Uber Eats in a bag with the restaurant’s yellow logo on it, but the kitchen that makes it could belong to an IHOP, TooJay’s Deli, or another eatery.

Virtual restaurants like Pardon My Cheesesteak allow existing kitchens to add new menus under different names on delivery apps like Uber Eats. They became so popular amid the coronavirus pandemic that Uber said in March it had more than 40,000 virtual storefronts and the company was launching a certification program to improve their quality.

Pardon My Cheesesteak’s parent company, Virtual Dining Concepts, is seeing growing business and expanding internationally, said Orlando restaurateur Robert Earl, a co-founder and shareholder.

“We’re seeing increases in our total volume, and it continues to grow,” Earl said.

But some virtual restaurants owned by other companies are losing thunder, three years after the start of the coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing frenzy of ordering in.

Winter Park-founded Tijuana Flats launched a virtual restaurant called Smack Wings in 2021, but it has since been discontinued. A representative for Tijuana Flats said executives wouldn’t do interviews about Smack Wings and directed the Orlando Sentinel to the brand’s website, which says wings will be available at Tijuana Flats.

Chili’s virtual restaurant, It’s Just Wings, remains available for delivery, but offerings are now also on Chili’s restaurant menu, according to a report in Forbes.

“Several brands after giving it a trial didn’t receive the sales returns and menu mix that they expected, so they have gone on to higher priority projects,” said San Diego-based restaurant analyst John Gordon.

Earl’s Virtual Dining Concepts, meanwhile, provides virtual restaurant menus and brands, often with celebrity partnerships, to existing restaurants. It is part of Uber’s new certified virtual restaurant program.

Virtual Dining Concepts is in more than 3,015 kitchens, with about 4,525 brand locations as some restaurants offer more than one of the menus, said Earl Enterprises spokeswoman Amy Sadowsky.

When Virtual Dining Concepts started, it was focused on smaller restaurants surviving during the pandemic. Earl said the market continues to flourish, but there is now more focus on larger companies.

Take Pardon My Cheesesteak, which launched in May 2022. Its cheesesteak sandwiches and loaded cheesesteak fries are being cooked in IHOP kitchens around Orlando and across the country.

Earl said a lot of people order delivery late at night, so 24-hour operator IHOP was a “perfect partner” for Pardon My Cheesesteak, which gets its name through a partnership with the Pardon My Take sports podcast.

Although Earl can’t name all the chains he works with, he said restaurants are realizing they have extra capacity and are concerned about a potential recession as well as the competitive nature of the business.

“I think it’s fair to say that everyone is looking for more sales,” Earl said.

Virtual Dining Concepts’ MrBeast Burger brand, a partnership with YouTube celebrity Jimmy Donaldson, known as MrBeast, has been so successful that it opened a brick-and-mortar restaurant in New Jersey last year.

“It’s that strong a brand,” Earl said.

As for the state of delivery three years after the start of the pandemic, Gordon said there are different perspectives, adding there is a view it could drop with the projection of a mild recession.

But Uber reported its delivery gross bookings were $15 billion in the quarter ending March 31, up 8% year-over-year.

“I get different stories,” Gordon said. “The fact is that delivery is extraordinarily expensive, though there is a segment of the population, particularly in big urban areas where their car is buried in a parking lot … or where convenience is just such that delivery is demanded and most convenient.”

Earl acknowledges the economy might lead some consumers to opt for cheaper takeout, but he thinks people will keep ordering in.

“My view is that the total market for delivery will continue to grow,” Earl said. “There will be periodic ups and downs.”

Earl noted that curbside pickup is part of his virtual restaurant business.

“A virtual brand is more than just something that’s going to be delivered to your house by Uber and DoorDash,” Earl said.