What's the Difference Between a Food Hall and a Food Mall?

As Keg & Case takes off, we review the difference between the terms.

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You’ve heard the term “food hall” buzzing on your feeds, haven’t you? Suddenly, the whole country seems to be smitten with them. Here in town, Keg & Case, on West Seventh, opened big in September, and The Dayton’s Project food hall, in downtown Minneapolis, should open mid-2019. (We’ve been told to expect big-name local food makers and maybe a cooking school.) Malcom Yards Market, near Surly Brewing, and Graze Provisions & Libations, in the North Loop, remain on deck.

It’s a trend, for sure. Combine our love of local food with the current zen for fast casual eating in a labor-crunched market, where big footprints make less economic sense for small businesses . . . and you get food halls! 

But what, really, is a food hall? What makes it different from a food court? 

Andrew Zimmern, who is curating The Dayton’s Project food hall, told me, “A food court is, to me, an assemblage of vendors selling cooked or prepared foods. Much like the Mall of America’s third floor. A food hall is more comprehensive, offering all kinds of things: people selling produce, butchers selling fresh meat, fishmongers with fresh fish, as well as other eclectic booths that are food-related. From someone selling edible plants, or a place to get your knives sharpened, to a barber shop, even.” 

That’s helpful. But it seems some developers want to splash the term over anything and everything. So when your Aunt Sally invites you to her new neighborhood “food hall” for lunch, how will you know if she actually means a kiosk next to Panda Express? Try our handy-dandy test!

Destination: Keg & Case

Question: Does it have independent businesses selling prepared foods and ingredients? For example, mushrooms to buy at Forest to Fork and Revival’s hot ham ’n’ cheese sandwiches to eat? That’s a food hall.

Destination: U.S. Bank Stadium

Question: Does it have independent businesses selling food under contract to one company, and there’s also a large green area in the middle where millionaires in tight white pants give each other concussions? That’s not a food hall.

Destination: Midtown Global Market 

Question: Does it have a mix of independent counter-service and full-service eateries, plus ingredient sellers, within a bigger complex? That’s a food hall.

Destination: Rosedale Center’s Revolution Hall 

Question: Does it have lots of concepts (pizza over here and sushi over there), but instead of being run by independent owners, it’s all one parent corp, and one central prep kitchen? And it’s in a mall? Next to a Lids? That’s not a food hall.

Destination: Trader Joe’s 

Question: Does it live on the ground floor of an apartment building where your junior colleagues live, selling prepared foods and ingredients, plus clip-art tote bags? That’s not a food hall.