Basil Thai restaurants transitioning to delivery-only model, renting kitchen space

Basil Thai Cafe in Upper Arlington—part of the Basil restaurant family—will likely reopen next month, but when it does the popular eatery will experiment with new operational methods.

Located at 3706 Riverside Dr. inside the Golden Bear Center, the eatery should be up and running in delivery-only format by the middle of December. 

Basil Thai Restaurant, located in the Brewery District, is open but also featuring delivery service only. 

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According to Basil owner Rhome Ruanphae, both Basil locations will also look to rent out their brick and mortar kitchens to pop-ups and ghost kitchens on a short-term basis.

“Basil has been crazy busy with delivery, but we’re in an interesting position now: We have room to open up our kitchen to other business partners,” Ruanphae said. 

The Upper Arlington Basil will reopen with a concise menu of favorites at first, which will free up more kitchen space for a potential partner.

Ruanphae believes the service would be unique due in part to its flexibility, as pop-up partners would be able to sign on to short-term agreements that work for both parties.

“A lot of people today are hesitant to sign a 10, 15 year lease for a restaurant space,” he said. “Even ghost kitchens and pop-ups, for a lot of them, year-long leases are a big commitment.”

Ruanphae plans to implement a kitchen-sharing model to allow both parties to operate out of the Basil kitchen at the same time. 

“Say someone has a new burger they want to try out, we would relinquish part of our kitchen for a week, two weeks; however long the event is,” he said.

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