White Castle shuts down virtual kitchen until Spring due to overwhelming demand

ORLANDO, Fla. - Well, it was fun while it lasted. 

White Castle announced on Thursday that just two days after opening its virtual kitchen, the company must pause operations due to the overwhelming demand of Orlando eaters. 

"We are going to pause operations at our virtual kitchen in Orlando until after our full-service restaurant location in the O-Town West development opens," White Castle said in a statement Thursday. "The overwhelming number of orders for White Castle has been humbling and reinforces we made the right choice to choose Central Florida as the site for our next permanent destination Castle. Because of the relatively small size of the virtual kitchen and the incredibly high number of orders, running the virtual kitchen isn’t currently sustainable."

White Castle says it plans to resume operations in the Spring when its full-service restaurant opens near Disney World. 

Many customers were left frustrated, and hungry, after eagerly ordering on Tuesday, the first day the ghost kitchen opened, only to have their orders canceled because they could not be fulfilled.

One FOX 35 viewer said she ordered at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday when online ordering began through Uber Eats. After waiting two hours, she was notified that it was canceled. 

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The company resumed online ordering on Thursday at 10 a.m., but for on-line pick-up orders only. Around noon, they sent a statement saying they would have to cease operations until Spring. 

White Castle launched its virtual kitchen located near John Young Parkway and Colonial Drive ahead of the opening of its stand-alone restaurant that will open near Disney World this spring.