Basically a modern day food court.
Food halls are food courts’ younger, much hipper sisters.

Instead of having to choose between Panda Express, Sbarro or Chick-fil-A, you would be faced with picking between Roost & Ramen, Kream Coffee Culture, or Field to Farro (no, these are not real spots, but you get the picture).

But the idea of community seating and having plenty of food options is definitely the same.

A food hall is typically a mix of local artisan restaurants (instead of several chains), butcher shops + other food/brewery-oriented boutiques – all under one roof (but usually not connected to department stores in a traditional mall-like setting), and typically located in big cities.

The food hall movement in the U.S. started with NYC’s Eataly, a high-end Italian food hall started by Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich in 2010. Since then, more + more food halls have popped up across the country, as close to us as Greenville's Gather GVL and Charleston’s Workshop and Garco Mill.

Food halls provide a common area for local restaurateurs to try things and get started, while not having to bear the full burden of their own stand-alone brick and mortar. Kinda like a food incubator, of sorts.

Is Columbia ready for a food hall? Many cities with food halls are major tourist destinations (NYC, DC, LA, ATL, etc.), but, like we mentioned, smaller cities are getting them, too. Plus, innovative additions like this could help drive tourism + attract more talent. (I mean, Columbia was just named the #2 most popular city for millennials-movers in 2017 – right behind #1 Seattle. Take that, NYC.)

And if we got one, where do you think it would go? A few ideas that come to mind for me:

Convert one of the old buildings in the BullStreet neighborhood. Hello, SOCO neighbor.
I’m sure Cottowntown has an old warehouse that would be ideal.
We heard a local developer just purchased the building where the recently-closed Speakeasy was in Five Points – maybe a little indoor/outdoor food hall action along Saluda Ave.?
The building where Jillian’s used to be in the Vista would be a prime location.
Devine Station coming to Devine St. has 5,000 sq.ft. of retail space built into it…
I’m always looking to for ways to make Lexington cooler, and the land is there to build from the ground-up.

So 👏 many 👏 options. 👏 What do you think? Drop us a note in the comments section.

Who would you want to see behind the counter?

- With the closings of the Tallulah + Oak Table, Cola has a lot of culinary talent available right now – maybe they can band together and create a chef-driven food hall?
- @AvocadoToastSC definitely needs their own brick and mortar
- Chef Sarah Simmons, currently of The Cafe at Richland Library (and formerly of RIse Bakeshop in Five Points), needs more side hustles, amirite?
- The guys of 2Fat2Fly temporarily closed their restaurant on Bluff Rd. because it was time for a change. I think we know just the change of scenery they need.
- What other local chefs/restaurateurs/food pop-ups could fill a Cola food hall?

Need some visual inspiration? Click here or on the blue button below to see a list of the most drool-worthy food halls in other cities – with #goals photos, of course. 👇

Ponce City Market | Atlanta

Make latin sandwich shop El Super Pan your first stop; the steamed coconut bun with chipotle tofu is life changing.

Urbanspace | NYC

I tried my first sushi burrito at Hai Street Kitchen; IMO, this is the Times Square of food halls.

7th Street Market | Charlotte

When I lived in Charlotte, this was 5 blocks from my apartment – and I practically helped pay the rent at Not Just Coffee (their caramel + dark chocolate latte syrups are house-made) + Local Loaf (order the cheerwine chicken biscuit).

Liberty Public Market | San Diego

Two words: Arancini balls – fried rice balls stuffed with things like mozzarella cheese or italian sausage, with a whole egg crate of sauces for days.

The Source | Denver

I’ve yet to make it to Colorado, but the tacos + ceviche cups from Comida look like they’d be worth the trek across the country. Also, another New Belgium location in here – and that’s a big deal since the only others are in Fort Collins, Co. + Asheville, N.C.

Legacy Hall | Plano, TX (near Dallas)

Y’all, this is described as a “3-story restaurant wonderland.” 22 different chefs (food ranging from bahn mi to lobster rolls), vendors, bars (one is sponsored by Titos) + it’s a music venue. Plus, CAE just made it easier to fly to Dallas, so we see a weekend getaway in your [and our] future.

Workshop | Charleston

Workshop's style is that restaurants are meant to be temporary (typically food trucks looking to try out a brick and mortar). So try Pink Bellies + Spanglish Cuban Kitchen while they’re there.

Gather | Greenville

Our sister team in GVL says Spartanburg ice cream sandwich shop Rocky Moo’s is opening there soon and a Hendersonville chicken + donut shot, HenDough, will join it.

So now that we’ve hopefully got your mind flowing with ideas (and probably your mouth watering), let us know what they are:

Where would you put a food hall in Cola + what do you want in it? Respond to this email or this moring’s Instagram post. Someone’s always watching; you never know who might see this email and make our ideas into reality.

And as we talk about national food trends, we pour one out for the late chef and worldwide food influencer Anthony Bourdain, who died last week. Thanks for being a food visionary.

–Sam

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