Food halls and food street to bring new cuisine to Houston

By Christina Tan     1/15/19 9:36pm

A Rice Village food hall, downtown food hall and a Bellaire Boulevard food street will join the ranks of Houston’s expansive culinary scene, bringing both nationwide favorites like boba shop Chatime and locally-sourced food stalls within a 10-mile radius of campus. 

Rice Village Food Hall

According to Paper City Magazine, the company behind New Orleans-based St. Roch Market will replace currently abandoned Rice Village Arcade property with a brand-new food hall. A newer concept to the restaurant scene, food halls combine the well-known communal aspect of food courts with an emphasis on local, artisanal shops and markets. Such halls match increasing consumer expectations of fresh, locally-sourced food while reducing costs for restaurants who might otherwise struggle to maintain full-fledged spaces. 

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With a 4.5/5.0 rating on Yelp, St. Roch Market is beloved in New Orleans. It features cuisines like cold-pressed juices, Haitian street food and New Orleans seafood. 

St. Roch Market’s press contact Luciana Salame said that the company was not ready to give more details on the Houston project, but will increase communication when development begins. Due to an ongoing lawsuit about the St. Roch Market name, Will Donaldson, a company principal, told Eater Houston that the Rice Village market will not bear the same name. The unnamed food hall will join the likes of Finn Hall, mentioned recently as a Houston highlight in the New York Times’ 52 Places to Visit in 2019. 

Downtown Food Hall

Too impatient to wait for a Rice Village installment? Another 35,000 square foot food hall named Understory will take residence in the downtown tunnels, according to Eater Houston. The hall will include a full-service restaurant, seven food stalls and a cocktail bar. Designed by architect Michael Hsu (responsible for Uchi and Local Foods), the hall will also include a large “gathering place” staircase connecting the street with the downtown tunnel system. 

Bellaire Food Street

A food street will arrive on Bellaire Boulevard as part of a Chinatown expansion, according to Eater Houston. The street will feature nine eateries, seven of which have already been confirmed. All nine will be open by summer 2019, with some opening before then. The street, which is essentially a long, horizontal plaza, will include well-known boba chain Chatime, South Korean coffee chain Tom N Toms Coffee and Beard Papa’s cream puff chain. It will also include a local Houston fast-casual style restaurant, Wai Station. 

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