The 17 Most Anticipated Food Halls in the USA

Location: Prudential Center, Back Bay
Projected opening: Late 2016

Mario Batali and team recently opened their first Boston restaurant, Babbo, and now they're planning an epic three-story, 45,000-square-foot Eataly outpost for the Prudential Center. Per Eater Boston, the building's previously modest food court shuttered to make way for the gigantic project, which — in addition to the usual wonderland of Italian imports and wine — will also include a rooftop restaurant, a microbrewery, and a cooking school.

Image credit: Eataly NYC/Facebook

Location: 108 N. State Street, The Loop
Projected opening: October 2015

Chef, restaurateur, cookbook author, and Top Chef Masters alum Richard Sandoval is bringing a Latin-focused food hall to the Block 37 mixed-use development, which occupies an entire city block within Chicago's downtown Loop. Sandoval has described the project as "similar to Eataly," but with Latin food. Expect 12 different eateries, a tapas restaurant, coffee and wine bars, and fresh produce, plus a lounge, an event space, and a culinary center offering cooking classes.

Image credit: Latinicity/Facebook

Location: 125 S. Clark Street, Central Loop
Projected Opening: Unknown
Vendors: To be announced

A historic 1907 bank building on Clark Street is being transformed into "chic industrial" office spaces, and the ground floor of the 20-story structure will be occupied by the Marketplace. Expect 10 food stalls featuring fast-casual concepts by "many of Chicago's most respected chefs and restaurant groups," plus an "artisanal coffee lounge" and a vinyl record store. No specific concepts have been confirmed yet, but Michelin-starred Chicago chef Jared Wentworth (Longman & Eagle) has officially signed on. The project has recently hit some construction delays and the current opening date is unknown, but stay tuned to Eater Chicago for updates.

Image credit: Courtesy of the National

Location: Midtown
Projected Opening: 2016
Vendors: To be announced

The latest city with food hall-shaped stars in its eyes is Detroit. Plans were revealed earlier this month for a 10,000-square-foot project that will include five restaurants, two bars, and retail and art gallery space, all constructed from shipping containers. A location hasn't yet been closed on, but once the property is acquired, construction is expected to take between six and eight months. The company is currently on the hunt for restaurant concepts "that offer good food, variety, simple menus, and mid-range affordable food (between $8 and $14) with a local following" to populate the ShipYard.

Image credit: Detroit ShipYard

Location: 10250 Santa Monica Boulevard, Century City
Projected Opening: Mid-2017

Rumors swirled for years suggesting LA would get its very own Eataly, and the giant Italian food emporium is finally slated to land in 2017 as part of a major expansion project at the outdoor Westfield Century City mall. The 60,000-square-foot Italian food bonanza will span three floors, incorporating a rooftop restaurant, a microbrewery, and a cooking school, in addition to the slew of imported foods, wine, charcuterie, and mini-eateries that Eataly has become known for. (No word yet on whether or not Los Angelenos can expect their own Nutella bar, though.)

Image credit: Courtesy of Westfield

Location: 230 Park Avenue, Midtown Manhattan 
Projected Opening: September 2015
Vendors: A.B. Biagi, Amali, Bangkok Bar, Delaney Chicken, Dough, Hong Kong Street Cart, Maiden Lane, Mayhem & Stout, Mimi's Hummus, Ovenly, Red Hook Lobster Pound, Sigmund's Pretzels, Takumi Taco, Toby's Estate Coffee

Yet another food hall for the Grand Central area, this one will occupy 12,000 square feet of the landmark Helmsley Building. Per Eater NY, it'll include "20 vendors, a whole lot of communal seating, and a mezzanine area," with confirmed tenants including the much-talked-about Delaney Chicken from BrisketTown's Daniel Delaney; also on board is Ditmas Park hummus specialist Mimi's, A.B. Biagi gelato, Mexican-Japanese fusion Takumi Taco, lobster roll purveyor Red Hook Lobster Pound, and more. It's been rumored that one still-unidentified stall could be beloved Brooklyn restaurant Roberta's, but that has yet to be confirmed. And to keep things fresh, "there will also be several rotating booths, which will host local chefs and out-of-towners for shorter stints," says Eater NY.

Image credit: Devra Ferst/ENY

Location: 89 E. 42nd Street, Midtown Manhattan
Projected Opening: Early 2016
Outlets: Five food pavilions, cocktail bar, fine-dining restaurant

Noma co-founder Claus Meyer is bringing a food hall and an accompanying restaurant to Grand Central Station's Vanderbilt Hall early next year. The concept is still unnamed for now, but project manager Dahlia Runco has promised that "both will be Nordic-inspired, without pushing the Nordic agenda too much." All food pavilions and a bar will be operated by Meyer's team, rather than bringing in outside vendors; expect coffee, fresh-pressed juice, pastries, sandwiches, salads, and a cocktail bar. According to a PR rep, there will also be a fine-dining restaurant with "a menu steeped in the New Nordic cuisine philosophy."

Image credit: Rasmus Shou/Eater

Location: World Trade Center, Lower Manhattan
Projected Opening: First half of 2016
Vendors: Beer Table, Devon & Blakely, Eataly, Epicerie Boulud, Fika, Joe, Jones the Grocer, K. Minamoto, La Colombe, Lore Wine & Spirits, Nunu Chocolates, Pret a Manger, Treat House, Wasabi Sushi and Bento

The World Trade Center development will be a veritable mecca for the food-obsessed, with a whopping 120,000 square feet devoted to food and drink, says the NY Post. A second Manhattan location of the Italian food emporium Eataly is slated to occupy the entire third floor of 4 World Trade Center, and it's not the only market that's signed on; two floors below that will be the even larger Australian high-end market Jones the Grocer. Also on board for the WTC complex: a third location of Daniel Boulud's grab-and-go uptown market Epicerie Boulud, Swedish cafe Fika, Nunu Chocolates, sandwich shop Devon & Blakely, Philly coffee roaster La Colombe, Japanese sweet shop K. Minamoto, coffee shop Joe, chain lunch spot Pret a Manger, craft beer shop Beer Table, and Rice Krispies treat bakery Treat House. Outlets are slated to begin opening in the first half of 2016.

Image credit: 4 World Trade Center

Location: Flatbush Avenue and Willoughby Street, Downtown Brooklyn
Projected Opening: Spring 2016
Vendors: Arepa Lady, Cuzin's Duzin, Eight Turn Crepe, Fletcher's Brooklyn Barbecue, Forcella Pizza, Pain d'Avignon, Pierogi Bar, Ample Hills Creamery

Mixed-use development City Point is planning a gigantic, 26,000-square-foot basement-level food hall that will house "anywhere between 35 and 55 food vendors," reports Eater NY. (It's rising from the ashes of the former Dekalb Market, an outdoor shipping container market that was pushed out to make way for the new development.) In addition to the confirmed vendors listed above, there may even be an outpost of the legendary Katz's Deli serving as an anchor, though it's not yet confirmed. A developer tells Commercial Observer that the market will be "less fancy than Hudson Eats and more like Grand Central Market in downtown Los Angeles." Beyond the food hall, City Point will also include two full-service restaurants, a grocer, and an outpost of Austin-based cinema Alamo Drafthouse.

Image credit: Courtesy of City Point

Location: SW Naito Parkway at Morrison Bridge, Downtown
Projected Opening: Spring 2018
Vendors: To be announced

In the making for over a decade now, plans for the long-awaited James Beard Public Market are finally taking shape; renderings from Norwegian design firm Snøhetta — which helped design the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in NYC — were released earlier this summer. Named in honor of the Oregon-born culinary icon, Eater PDX describes it as a "year-round, indoor-outdoor, waterfront-adjacent stage for Portland's finest local food and drink." It will include "stalls for at least 90 vendors, plus teaching kitchens, event space, and full-service restaurants." Says Eater PDX: "The market, which will flank the Morrison bridge like two wings, will no doubt be a new iconic landmark downtown: guest seating will spill out onto the sidewalk when the sun is out, market stalls will line a pathway to the outdoor market arena. Inside there are soaring, exposed-steel-supported natural wood ceilings. There will even be rooftop terrace access, complete with views of the Willamette River and Mt. Hood in the distance."

Image credit: Snøhetta

Location: 400 Fairview Avenue N, South Lake Union
Projected opening: Fall 2015
Vendors: Meat & Bread, Caffe Ladro, Juicy Cafe, more TBA

Food halls are red-hot in Seattle: Fresh on the heels of Chophouse Row's summer debut comes news of the Hall at 400 Fairview, a South Lake Union office tower that will also be home to offices for companies like Tommy Bahama. Eater Seattle says to "expect high, open ceilings in the new small-scale shops, which [developer] Skanska says are designed to capture the spirit and energy of an open-air market." Confirmed tenants include a second Seattle location for Vancouver-based sandwich shop Meat & Bread, local coffee shop chain and roastery Caffe Ladro, and juice and smoothie spot Juicy Cafe. Stay tuned for more restaurant tenants; there will also be beer and wine shops and a flower shop.

Image credit: Courtesy of Skanska