Broadway Food Hall To Open This Fall

It’s still a few months away from opening, but the Broadway Food Hall in downtown Urbana is beginning to take shape.

The food hall at 401 N. Broadway Ave. will be the first of its kind in Central Illinois, and will be host to five different restaurants and a small bar, all under one roof.

All of the restaurants will be housed in one building, with 10,000 square feet of communal dining area. Seating will mostly be at long wooden tables.

The food hall will be located in the former Four Seasons Garage Sales building, which is undergoing an extensive renovation.

Downtown Urbana developer Matt Cho is managing director of the food hall, which he described as similar to a food court, but with some noticeable differences.

“A food hall is more downtown focused, with less franchised restaurants,” he said. “There’s a local aspect to it; It’s more modern.”

Plans call for five different food concepts ranging from sushi, salads, sandwiches and breakfasts. There also will be a bar offering local craft beer and wine.

The food hall will be available as an event venue for weddings, receptions or holiday parties on weekends and evenings.

The opening date is still a work in progress, but Cho vows it will occur this fall. Hours will be from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The food hall will have an occupancy limit of 450 people and will focus on catering to the large number of office workers who work in downtown Urbana.

“Urbana has a lot of office workers,” Cho said. “And there’s lots of choices. Sometimes people can spend fifteen minutes trying to decide where to go. A food hall helps make that decision a lot easier.”

Besides the table seating, there will also be a lounge area offering more comfortable chairs in the southwest part of the building. The restaurants will be located along the interior north side of the building.

Cho said he and the other two building owners are investing more than $1 million in the project. The Urbana City Council approved a $345,000 development agreement for the project in June 2015 that will use tax increment financing funding for incentives.

The food hall has a website, www.broadwayfoodhall.com.