Food hall
Food and drinks retail area
A food hall is a large standalone location or department store section where food and drinks are sold.
01Overview
Unlike food courts made up of fast food chains, food halls typically mix local artisan restaurants, butcher shops and other food-oriented boutiques under one roof. Food halls can also be unconnected to department stores and operate independently, often in a separate building, or repurposing a building formerly used for something else.
The number of food halls in the United States grew by 37% in 2016 and has spread across the country. Advocates state that it provides a third place for gathering, can function as a business incubator, and are part of a trend towards more experiential retail experiences tailored to a given community, in contrast to traditional food courts with national chains which are deemed inauthentic.
The term "food hall" in the British sense is increasingly used in the United States. In some Asia-Pacific countries, "food hall" is equivalent to a North American "food court", or the terms are used interchangeably.
A gourmet food hall may also exist in the form of what is nominally a public market or a modern market hall, for example in Stockholm's Östermalm Saluhall or Mexico City's Mercado Roma.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Food hall”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Confectionery counter, Harrods Food Hall, London.jpg by Anna Anichkova, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Mercado Roma (39701016555).jpg by Nan Palmero from San Antonio, TX, USA, CC BY 2.0
Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.
