What Is a Shared Kitchen? Union Kitchen’s DC Guide to Shared, Commercial, and Commissary Kitchens
Last updated: September 1, 2026. Reviewed by Barney Rubin, Union Kitchen food safety expert (certified GMP, HACCP).
About Union Kitchen is Washington, DC’s certified shared commercial kitchen where food businesses produce from first batch to full scale — packaged brands, meal delivery, and everything in between.
If you are trying to figure out the differences between a commissary kitchen, a commercial kitchen, or a ghost kitchen, start here. This guide walks you through each type of facility, what certified and licensed means, and the best fit for the various types of food businesses.
To kick things off, a shared kitchen is a licensed facility that more than one food business uses to make product for sale. Union Kitchen is that facility: 30,000 square feet at 1625 Eckington Place NE in Eckington, next to NoMa. Tours take about 45 minutes and are available every day of the week.
What a shared kitchen is
A shared kitchen is a health-licensed food and beverage production space. People also search for it as a commercial kitchen or a commissary kitchen when the space is built for wholesale production. Members book equipment and produce under their own food business licenses. The building already has the infrastructure you need: sinks, cold storage, docks, and certifications a buyer or DC Health inspector expects.
You move into a shared kitchen when a home kitchen is no longer legal or large enough, and before you sign a lease on a facility of your own. The shared kitchen allows you to avoid the unpredictable expenses of your own production space like utilities or equipment repairs. Union Kitchen is built for that stretch: first batch to full scale, in one licensed commercial kitchen in Washington, DC.
Who a shared kitchen is for
A shared kitchen is for food businesses that need licensed production, not a dining room or kitchen table.
That includes packaged food brands and CPG companies (snacks, beverages, sauces, frozen and refrigerated foods), meal delivery and meal prep operators, caterers who need a licensed prep site, and founders taking first wholesale accounts or selling at farmers markets or events.
Union Kitchen offers production space that is gluten-free certified, USDA-meat inspected, and FDA-approved. This means it can service almost any category of food products. Most members are making everyday packaged brands or meal delivery product.
A simpler commissary kitchen can be enough if you only need a pass-through address for a food truck. A ghost kitchen is enough if you only need a line to cook someone else’s restaurant menu for delivery apps. Packing cases for stores or routes is shared-commercial-kitchen work.
Shared kitchen vs commissary kitchen vs ghost kitchen
A shared kitchen or shared commercial kitchen is built for businesses that manufacture and pack food to sell. This would also include meal prep companies. Members hold their own food business licenses, book shared equipment, and leave with cases or pallets of finished food products.
A commissary kitchen is often a support site: parking, ice, a three-compartment sink, and a place a food truck checks in. Some commissary kitchens are also full production facilities. Many are not. If the listing does not mention cold storage, docks, DC Health licensing, and manufacturer paperwork, treat it as a depot, not a place to produce your food.
A ghost kitchen is a delivery-only cooking line, usually for restaurant menus on apps. It is built for tickets, not for labels, case packing, or a Whole Foods audit walkthrough.
Union Kitchen is the first of those three: Washington, DC’s certified shared commercial kitchen. Meal delivery groups and packaged brands use it when they need real production. A ghost-kitchen stack alone is the wrong building.
What “certified” and “licensed” mean here
Certified means the commercial kitchen already holds the inspections and third-party credentials a retailer, farmers market or event organizer will ask about. Union Kitchen is USDA-certified, FDA-certified, gluten-free-certified, and Whole Foods–approved. Staff on site work to GMP and HACCP practice and hold these certifications. DC Health inspects members in this facility.
The building being licensed is not the same as your product license. You file your own DC Health and business licenses. Union Kitchen provides the certified shared commercial kitchen, the occupancy paperwork, and the inspection walkthrough. Full order: Licensing a food business in Washington, DC.
What Union Kitchen is, in short
Union Kitchen is the licensed commercial kitchen those definitions point to in Washington, DC. Shared equipment, cold storage, docks, and office space live in one Eckington building. Membership is monthly and sized by equipment days — details and current tiers are on the membership section of the homepage.
Union Kitchen is the licensed facility where you produce. First Run is the playbook that runs with it. First Run is a food and beverage accelerator in Washington, DC and the official accelerator partner of Union Kitchen. It meets you at the idea stage and builds the brand with you. 90 days to shelf. 90 days to prove it's ready to scale.
Brands that produced here and worked through First Run include Snacklins, Jesse & Ben’s, Caribe Juice, Maspanadas, Woodfire, and Vegetable & Butcher.
See the Union Kitchen production facility
A 45-minute tour of the Eckington commercial kitchen is the fastest way to match the production space to your needs. Weekdays and weekends. Bring your questions.
FAQ
What is a shared kitchen? A shared kitchen is a licensed commercial facility where more than one food business produces product for sale. Union Kitchen is Washington, DC’s certified shared commercial kitchen for that work — packaged brands, meal delivery, and everything in between.
Is a shared kitchen the same as a commissary kitchen? People use both names. A commissary kitchen can be only a depot for trucks. A shared commercial kitchen is a production facility with equipment, cold storage, docks, and manufacturer licensing. Union Kitchen is the production version. Ask which one you are booking.
Is a shared kitchen the same as a ghost kitchen? A ghost kitchen is built for restaurant tickets on delivery apps. A shared kitchen or commercial kitchen is built for businesses that pack product for stores, online, or routes. If you need cases and labels, book the commercial kitchen.
Who can use Union Kitchen? Packaged food brands, CPG companies, meal delivery and meal prep operators, caterers, and other food businesses that need licensed production in Washington, DC. USDA, FDA, and gluten-free credentials are on the building for the buyers who ask.
Do I need my own license? You file your own DC Health and business licenses. Union Kitchen provides the licensed commercial kitchen, occupancy paperwork, and inspection walkthrough. DC licensing steps.
Do I have to join First Run? Kitchen membership is production space on its own — first batch to full scale in the certified shared commercial kitchen. First Run is the optional 90-day accelerator if you also want help getting that product onto retail shelves. Book a kitchen tour for space; apply to First Run only if you want the program.
Where is Union Kitchen? 1625 Eckington Place NE, Washington, DC 20002, in Eckington near NoMa. Tours are 45 minutes, by appointment, weekdays and weekends. Book a tour.