MrBeast is suing his ghost kitchen partner over “inedible” MrBeast Burgers

YouTube personality MrBeast is suing the company responsible for his branded line of fast food, including MrBeast Burger, citing “inedible” food delivered to customers. The company, Virtual Dining Concepts, partnered with James Donaldson, aka MrBeast, in 2020 to launch the menu from “ghost kitchens,” storefronts with no physical presence whose food is prepared and served at other existing restaurants.

Donaldson’s lawsuit alleges that Virtual Dining Concepts was more concerned with expanding its MrBeast food line than quality control and that the food was bad enough to damage its reputation. MrBeast’s fans have described the food as “disgusting” and “probably the worst burger they’ve ever had,” among other negative reviews cited in the lawsuit. the news was first reported by Bloomberg.

“As a result, MrBeast Burger has been seen as a misleading and poor reflection of the MrBeast brand offering low-quality products to customers that are delivered late, in unbranded packaging, do not include the ordered items, and in some cases were inedible. ”, the lawsuit says. Donaldson alleges that he and his team raised concerns about the food, but Virtual Dining Concepts failed to address them.

Since 2020, Donaldson has used his online fame to promote his fast food line: a Beast Burger restaurant grand opening in New Jersey. drew a crowd of 10,000 people hoping to sample the YouTuber’s food, with Donaldson himself appearing at the opening and promoting it. As of last year, 1,700 restaurants across the country were fulfilling orders for MrBeast Burger. Donaldson is now asking the judge for the right to end the business partnership altogether.

Virtual Dining Concepts did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Donaldson has also parlayed his fame into a marketing channel for other products, from branded basketballs and hoodies to Feastables, a line of cookies and chocolate bars.

So-called ghost kitchens blew up during the pandemic, but have recently taken a hit. Earlier this year, Uber Eats removed thousands of virtual restaurants and tightened its rules, hoping to reduce spam. Questionable quality hasn’t stopped companies from jumping into the virtual restaurant industry, and even TikTok has experimented with online-only restaurants that are actually running out of stock. your local Chuck E. Cheese.