This year alone has seen at least three NYC food halls close their doors, including last week when Harry’s Table, a Cipriani-run Italian food market on the Upper West Side in the Waterline Square complex developed by GID, announced its intentions to shutter and lay off 72 employees.“There`s no shortage of great food and beverage, specifically in New York City,” said Trip Schneck, managing partner and co-founder at Colicchio Consulting, a food and beverage experience consulting firm. “A $23 check average with no alcohol, and the rents that landlords are charging, it becomes difficult to make the economics work.”
Harry`s Table is just the latest example of an NYC food hall opening to great fanfare, only to land in the market with a thud.
The 40K SF Citizens Market Hall in Brookfield Properties’ Manhattan West project said it would close in April. In May, Northend Food Hall in Washington Heights closed just four years after opening, Crain’s New York Business reported.
Food halls offer chef-driven, quick-service restaurant concepts designed to give a more elevated, unique experience than mall food courts populated with national chains like Sweetgreen, Panda Express and Shake Shack. But NYC’s offerings have suffered for a few reasons, Schneck said.
The food hall trend has exploded over the past decade. In 2015, there were 75 nationwide, according to Garrick Brown Real Estate Consulting. By early 2023, the number had nearly quintupled to 343....
RSK: Some quick thoughts here. Food Halls are glorified cafeterias in my mind. They catered to the lunch crowd. Their ambience in the evening is low compared to regular restaurants and if they do not serve alcohol they are doomed....unless a full blown back to the office for workers comes around.
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- - Volume: 25 - WEEK: 36 Date: 9/2/2025 10:17:53 AM -