Ghostburger began as a ghost kitchen in August 2020 running out of Espita, a Oaxacan restaurant in Shaw. It originally launched as a “pandemic pivot” to keep the doors open and our team employed through the first pandemic winter. It began with humble goals: Make enough extra revenue to not have to lay anyone off and make it through the colder months when nobody would use our patio. Humble goals or not, the first week launched with a bang and it quickly became a DC staple.

Ghostburger is a story about the history of our team. Most of our owners grew up in or around Philadelphia, so sandwiches are in our soul. Lika any good Philadelphian, we’re all pretty opinionated as to what makes a great sandwich as well. That passion extends to burgers, too. You’ll see touches of our former restaurant, Espita, all over the menu since we originally cribbed as many ingredients as we could from our old menu when developing the Ghostburger menu.

You can see our founders in every element of the menu. Chef Ben’s relentless pursuit of the perfect burger and sandwich. Josh’s passion for wings & crazy pursuit of “deliverability”. Kelly’s insistence on amazing vegetarian / vegan options and a positive work environment. James settling for nothing less than an excellent cocktail list, even at a lower price point. As Ghostburger evolves, you’ll see the ideas of our team shape the restaurant as we believe in empowering creativity.

In September of 2022, we decided to let Ghostburger take center stage. Ghostburger ceased to be a ghost kitchen and opened its first, very pink, standalone burger and sandwich joint in Shaw at 1250 9th Street NW.