Food Halls: Sweeping the Nation With Fresh Food

nat rosasco • September 8, 2016

The concept of food halls has been taking hold in the United States, growing out of the ashes of the once-popular food courts. Already prevalent in other countries around the world, food halls take the fast-food eateries and plastic chairs found in food courts and bring them to the next level. In fact, food halls are becoming the ideal space for hungry lunch-goers and restaurateurs alike.

Historically, food markets are nothing new. Harrod’s in London and Östermalm Food Hall in Stockholm, both established in the 19 ^th century, are simply two examples of food halls that have long provided shoppers with fresh, local food. This is exactly what consumers in the U.S. are currently searching for. They yearn for healthy food choices, paying careful attention to quality, where their food comes from, and what goes into the ingredients. By steering wide and clear of the usual greasy food court offerings, food halls are up to the challenge of satisfying consumers’ concerns.

Hand-rolled ricotta gnocchi with tomato, basil, and mozzarella di bufala at La Pizza & La Pasta in Chicago’s Eataly

Furthermore, food halls create a financially safe venue for new restaurants. Real estate services company UCR recently posted an article on this topic and quoted Sasha Levine, one of the lessors of a Dallas food hall, The Market. Levine explained:

Food halls are a smart investment for entrepreneurs because they act as incubators where you can try out a concept and grow your business and customer base before moving to a larger space or expanding…Startup and overhead costs are usually lower than street retail and tenants have the ability to co-exist with larger local brand names that already have an established customer base.

Food halls also allow restaurateurs the opportunity to reach new customers who they might not otherwise reach due to the high costs at upscale restaurants. In a recent CBS news article , Andrew Knowlton, the executive director of Bon Appetit, said, “‘This is a way for them to get that same great taste from that same great chef at, you know, a one-hundredth of the price.’”

Many food halls have also placed an emphasis on reclaiming historical buildings for their sites. Ponce City Market in Atlanta was once a Sears warehouse and store, while San Francisco’s Ferry Building Market Place was a ferry station in the 1800s. Developers will often update the inside of a building, but preserve the historical exterior. In the above-mentioned UCR article, Levine also stated, “Food halls try to stay consistent with their local, community preserving ideals by rejuvenating the history of neighborhoods.”

Legacy Food Hall, opening fall 2017 in Plano, TX

The list of food halls is growing with new openings all around the country. Along with Eataly , Chicago French Market , and Latinicity , which are already Chicago staples, Revival Food Hall, opened last month, housing over a dozen vendors. A new food hall is also set to open in the loop next spring with the consulting help of Jonathan Fox, the owner of Firecakes Donuts. Additionally, Jack Gibbons and Randy DeWitt, partners of Front Burner Restaurants, plan to open Legacy Hall in Plano, Texas in the fall of 2017. Inspired after exploring Foodhallen, a food hall in Amsterdam, Gibbons and DeWitt are transforming a 55,000 square foot space into a full-on entertainment center. Legacy Hall will have over 20 food vendors, a brewery, and even a stage area for live music. Having so many great food options in historically preserved spaces, at a lower price point is a win-win for everyone.

Need some furniture for your next food hall or restaurant project? Contact us today so we can get started!

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Inventory Sale

By nat rosasco • January 22, 2019

Reclaimed Table's huge selection of one-off, custom table tops are being sold at deep discounts at our Villa Park showroom. Find the durable tables you need for your next project, at prices you won't come across again!

Client Feature: Oak Tables & Benches for Navy Pier's Centennial Vision

By nat rosasco • July 17, 2018

Chicago’s iconic Navy Pier has always been a popular attraction since it opened just over 100 years ago in 1916. It currently welcomes 9 million guests per year. As explained on the Navy Pier website, the Pier was designed by architect Charles Sumner Frost and was originally based on architect’s Daniel Burnham’s “the People’s Pier” in his 1909 Plan of Chicago . It was originally known as “Municipal Pier,” but was renamed in 1927 in honor of the World War 1 Navy personnel who were housed there. As we blogged about a couple of years ago , Navy Pier has been undergoing renovations in honor of its “Centennial Vision” to reimagine and enhance the pier. While updating the pier with new programming and a greener landscape, this vision has also been attracting more local eateries ( like Tiny Tavern ) and shops, creating a space that’s more inviting to local Chicagoans. After providing pieces for the first phase of the remodel last year, we were pleased to continue to be part of this project for the recently completed phase two. Partnering with Gensler, we provided white oak tables and benches near the main entrance and for the brand new, 200,000 square foot Family Pavilion that features over 50 businesses. Fortunately, these pieces were created not only with their visual aesthetic in mind, but also to impressively withstand this sort of high traffic area. We also built the reclaimed red and white oak blade signs flanking all of the restaurants and shops, which creates a unified look within the complex. Much like the Pier, these signs have an interesting, rich history behind them. The red and white oak wood used to make the signs were actually horse fences on a farm in Mercy County, Kentucky that dates back to the late 1800s. Mercer county was one of the first settlements in the state, and the farm itself, Shawnee Springs, was originally over 2,000 acres. In the 1970s the farm was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. We knew the Navy Pier project was the right one for this specific wood-- historic wood for an historic landmark. (See our other applications of reclaimed red and white oak Kentucky horse fence here .) Check out photos of our tables, benches, and signs at the recently updated and unveiled Pier below. And if you’re in the Chicagoland area, you can check them out for yourselves in person, along with a whole host of entertainment on the Pier. Interested in some durable tables and benches for a high-traffic area? Contact us here to get started on your next project.

Aging Booker's Bourbon: Finding the 'Sweet Spot' for Flavor

By nat rosasco • June 18, 2018

When it comes to aging bourbon, Booker’s small batch bourbon has the process literally down to a science. Currently produced by the Jim Beam distillery, it was Jim Beam’s grandson, Booker Noe, who founded this brand in 1992 with bourbon from barrels he personally selected. According to the Booker’s Bourbon website, Booker was actually raised at a Kentucky distillery and brought his family’s six generations of master distillery knowledge to his bourbon batches. How does Booker’s perfectly age their bourbon? As we pretty much all know, bourbon ages in wooden barrels. When the weather becomes hot and humid, like it does during those sticky Kentucky summers, the wood expands and absorbs the bourbon, allowing for a chemical interaction between the bourbon and the wood. In colder weather, the wood contracts and the bourbon escapes the barrel’s walls. This interaction changes the spirit’s taste and color. The longer bourbon is in the barrel, the smoother the taste, (up to a certain point, that is). Barrels are kept in rackhouses where temperatures can easily be regulated. Rackhouses were originally built out of stone with several wooden floors and an exposed dirt basement to control humidity and large temperature swings. The windows were designed to keep the buildings well-ventilated.