The Federal Galley in Pittsburgh
Got an announcement today that there's another new food hall/incubator/accelerator planned for downtown Minneapolis. The Galley is planning to launch in The Nordic building which is under construction at 729 Washington Ave. N., taking over that big parking lot that was next to The Freehouse.
The Galley Group already runs similar food halls in other cities (a couple in Pittsburgh, one in Cleveland, Detroit, and one opening in Chicago this summer) and the release notes that they are not just a food hall, but also a restaurant accelerator. They provide nearly 100% of funding for chefs to launch a new culinary concept inside the space. What?
I chatted with a rep who works with the Galley Group. "You know that start up costs for restaurants are insane, you need about $450K minimum to open and that's just impossible for some people. Our founders Ben Mantica and Tyler Benson wanted to find a way to help those who had great ideas with little capital."
Communal dining areas.
The way it works, is that Galley takes the 8,700 sq. ft. space and builds out four kitchens and a communal sitting area centered around a full-service bar. Those four kitchens are up for grabs, through an application portal that opens today. "We are looking for new concepts that haven't been done in the city, but if a chef owns an American bistro and has always wanted to open a taco shop, that would be game." Once your concept is selected, The Galley will pay for and help you with your space, overhead, marketing, pr, concept design, logo creation and front of house staff. You come with the ideas, the food cost, and the line cook labor cost, which could all be around $5-10K they figure. Also, you don't pay rent, you just pay a shared revenue percentage.
The four concepts must all be counter service, so you'll order and pay, then wait for your food to be brought to you. "But we want it to be as close to a real dining situation, so we have real silverware and plates, no plastic, and we'll have people bringing you the food, filling water glasses, clearing plates and keeping the space nice. The bar will be full service with craft cocktails, and run by the The Galley," the rep noted.
And as in incubator, the expectation is that you will cull fans and then fly out on your own. The initial lease is about 1 year, and then the application portal will open again and another round of concepts will be brought to life. The Galley holds no rights to the restaurants once they leave the building. "We are all about supporting restaurants and want them to be successful wherever they land".
The portal is open, you feeling like this is your destiny? They're hoping to open the space this summer, so get crafting on that concept.
