/ Fall 2021
Columbus, Oh
By: Sharon McDonnell, Fodor’s Travel
These new foodie meccas popped up across the country in 2021, with globally-inspired flavors and irresistibly unique eats.
Eating at just one restaurant: So 2020. The future of food is a whole lifestyle experience–lots of culinary choices in one place, a focus on local, independently-owned and artisanal, with entertainment and late hours (sometimes until 1 a.m.). It may seem ironic that so many food halls opened in the past year, from the west and east coasts to the heartland, with over 190 are still in development, according to Cushman & Wakefield, a global real estate firm. But they’re a welcome relief to the recent demand to eat among (gasp) fellow humans. Here are the nation’s top ten new food halls.
At Central Ohio’s first food hall, which opened in April, 10 food vendors offer flavors like Ube Waffle Sticks, Hawaiian poke (from Ohio’s first poke restaurant), Southern gumbo, and fried chicken from a winner of the Food Network’s Food Court Wars and a “Braised and Confused” sandwich of beef, caramelized onions, cheddar, and jicama slaw. Three bars include the buzzy Community Hall with its nine-panel TVs to watch the game, an upscale bar featuring leather banquettes and chairs, and a lounge with exposed-brick walls and leather sofas. Located in the Italian Village neighborhood inside a brick building unoccupied since the 1960s (where Budd Dairy Company opened in 1916), Budd Dairy Food Hall was opened by Cameron Mitchell Restaurants. The group’s 39 restaurants include Ocean Prime, located in 12 states across the U.S.
