Some Big Boy restaurants will offer Olga's classic items for pickup, delivery

Fans of Olga's Kitchen outside of metro Detroit will soon have a new option to order as the longtime restaurant chain teams up with another longtime and iconic Michigan brand.

Olga's Kitchen, known for its signature gyros on its famous Olga bread, has partnered with Big Boy, home of the Big Boy burgers and Slim Jim sandwiches, as a host kitchen.

Classic Olga's items, like the original Olga's and their famous Olga's snackers, will be available to order online and made in the kitchens of three, outstate, Big Boy restaurant locations.

Ryan Jones, vice president of operations at Olga’s Kitchen, said the locations are new areas for the more than 50-year-old metro Detroit-born chain.

Jones said they've been looking for a Michigan partner to host and execute their brand and Big Boy "felt like a natural fit."

A host kitchen, unlike what's known as "ghost" or "virtual" or "dark" kitchens where a kitchen makes food for other brands for delivery only, teams up with other restaurant brands to make their menu items.

"There's more of a sense of transparency as far as where the food's coming from," Jones said. "There's nothing secretive about it."

But don't get too excited that you can head to a local Big Boy restaurant, sit down and enjoy an Olga's sandwich.

There's a caveat.

The initial three locations are outside of metro Detroit and located in Battle Creek, Midland and Muskegon.

While Olga's is partnering with those three Big Boy locations to host and make select Olga's items, the items are pickup or delivery only. You can't dine in on Olga's orders at the select Big Boy restaurants.

Customers place Olga's Kitchen orders through the website for pickup at Big Boy host kitchen locations or order for delivery through third-party platforms such as DoorDash.

The Big Boy location receives the order where its employees make the Olga's order and it's available for pickup at that location, though you won't see any Olga's signage according to Big Boy's, or delivery.

"You have pretty much every option with the exception of dining in the restaurant," Jones said.

More: Doyles Irish pub, latest addition to St. John's Resort, set to open Monday: Go inside

The Big Boy restaurant host kitchen rollout is July 10 for the Midland location, followed by Muskegon on July 17 and July 24 for Battle Creek Big Boy.

Olga's Kitchen, owned and operated by Livonia-based TEAM Schostak Family Restaurants, has partnered with three other host kitchens.

There's the Applebee's (also operated by TEAM Schostak in downtown Detroit at the Millender Center) and two other restaurants in Ohio.

Jones said the three current host kitchens do well realizing added consistent and supplemental sales from their product partnership.

"We have so much brand equity locally, in northeastern Ohio and in Michigan, that people know our brand," he said. "There's a serious demand for it in parts of the state where we don't have a brick-and-mortar restaurant."

For the host partner, Jones said there are no royalties involved and called the process seamless for its partners who order the Olga products from food distributors.

Customers will not see Olga's signage either.

"We continue to strive to maximize our business, and part of that is adding in strategic host kitchen partners, like Olga’s, where it makes sense to do so, " Frank Alessandrini, vice president of operations at Big Boy said in an email to the Free Press.

The three locations, Alessandrini said, were chosen as "high-traffic-potential areas for a host kitchen to thrive in."

"We are very excited about two great Michigan Brands coming together," Alessandrini said. "There is more in store for the partnership, and we are looking forward to the first step being a very successful launch of these host kitchens."

Olga's is confident with the Big Boy partnership, Jones said, because of its more than a dozen locations.

"We are starting with three to see how it goes, but we are very confident that they're going to do significant sales and will be on board with opening additional ones in other locations that they have. "

Olga's Kitchen is owned and operated by Livonia-based TEAM Schostak Family Restaurants, whose restaurant operations also include Applebee's, MOD Pizza restaurants and Wendy's locations across Michigan.

Contact Detroit Free Press food writer Susan Selasky and send food and restaurant news to: sselasky@freepress.com. Follow @SusanMariecooks on X (formerly Twitter.) Support local journalism and become a digital subscriber to the Free Press .

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Some Big Boy restaurants will offer Olga's classic items for pickup, delivery