Food Halls Are Reinventing How the Philadelphia Region Eats Together
A ’90S MUSIC PLAYLIST pumped through the speakers at The Market at Liberty Place in Kennett Square on a Saturday morning this past winter. Songs by TLC, Ben Folds Five, and Vanessa Williams floating through the air seemed appropriate. After all, today’s food halls are cooler, hipper versions of the oh-so-popular ’90s mall food courts, with infinitely better-quality food. But while traditional mall food courts are in grave trouble, food halls are on the rise, and the Philadelphia region has gained a few recently.
The region also has some long-standing food halls. The Market at Liberty Place, located in the heart of Kennett Square with dozens of other shops and restaurants, is one of them.
“Liberty Place was pre-trend. It’s been established,” says Staci Anderson, Kennett Square resident and creative director and partner at the Philadelphia marketing firm Swell. “It’s like a very small Reading Terminal Market, charming, authentic, and you get a sense that these are small businesses.”
Philadelphia’s Reading Terminal Market is one of the country’s oldest public markets, technically more than a food hall, housing a farmers’ market and more. But many of the market’s visitors treat it like a food hall, meeting up with others, each person grabbing food from their chosen ready-to-eat vendor, then meeting up at the tables in the middle of the market.
That’s one of the draws of a traditional food hall for Anderson and her family.
“Everyone gets something from a different place,” she says. “The kids can get pizza, I can get salad, and my husband can get Korean food.”
Her family, or anyone who heads to the food hall in Kennett Square, can choose from gourmet burgers from Double AA Burgers; crispy Nashville chicken sandwiches or strips from Kennett Chicken; or pizza, pasta, or cheesesteaks from State Street Pizza and Grill. Mexican and Mediterranean cuisine can be found at Kaboburritos, Ji In Korean Eatery offers Korean classics, and Liberty Place Pub will shake up a cocktail, pop open a beer, or pour a glass of wine to go with any of the food offerings such as a glass of Josephine sparkling wine from 1723 Vineyards in Chester that pairs excellently with chicken strips and fries from Kennett Chicken.
For a good cup of coffee and the best breakfast sandwich Anderson has ever had in her life—a bacon, egg, and Swiss on a croissant—that can be found at Mary Pat’s Provisions.
“It’s the Beyonce of breakfast sandwiches,” she says. That’s high praise for a simple sandwich, but excellence like that can be found at many food halls, as well as a variety of cuisines.
Today’s modern food halls offer more than just an opportunity for groups to dine together while everyone gets to choose the type of cuisine they prefer. They’re entertainment venues and meeting places, too.
Anderson says she knows of book clubs, knitting clubs, and puzzle clubs that meet at Liberty Place. And her father-in-law and his friends meet there once a week for breakfast. A chalkboard on the market’s wall lists the live music acts that play every Friday and Saturday night.
The “State of Food Halls 2026” report compiled by New York’s Colicchio Consulting notes that for food halls, entertainment programming “has become a core driver, transforming food halls into the type of cultural hub that attracts diverse audiences.”
New Hope’s food hall, Ferry Market, started a weekly Dinner Club this year, a sit-down dinner experience featuring dishes created by the chefs from the market vendors. The first round of dinners was held on Thursday evenings for $45 a person, plus tax and gratuity.
The Dinner Club joins karaoke and trivia nights at the market, which is a great place to grab a quick breakfast, lunch, or dinner from one of the 13 vendors that range from a coffee stall to Latin American cuisine, pizza, and sushi—and more—while visiting the popular river town. They can also grab a drink at Ferry’s End Bar. Located on Main Street, it’s in the center of New Hope’s shopping and dining district.
The locations of these two established food halls are no mistake: A position with plenty of foot traffic is important to their success.
So is a bar program, according to the “State of Food Halls” report. Ridge Hall in Ambler is anchored by Twisted Gingers Brewing Co.’s Industrial Lounge. Visitors to the food hall can bring food from the vendors into the space, where they can sit at the bar, a table, or in a cozy lounge while sipping on beer, cocktails, house-made hard seltzers, or wine. Or, they can take a drink from the lounge out to the food hall and enjoy it with food from one of the many vendors.
“The concept of Ridge Hall was to bring restaurants and chefs from neighboring towns and Philadelphia that are really known,” says Binoy Cherion of Brand Optics, who works with the food hall’s owners.
One of those chefs is Chad Rosenthal, who beat Bobby Flay on “Beat Bobby Flay,” appeared twice on “Food Network Star,” and has been on other Food Network shows. He now owns Mary, an intimate 39-seat BYOB in Ambler, named one of the top 15 steakhouses in the region by The Philadelphia Inquirer. He also chose to open up a stall at Ridge Hall, Mary’s Chicken Strip Club. Rosenthal started his career in BBQ, and he considered a BBQ concept for the food hall. But ultimately, he went with chicken.
Gather AFood Hall brings global flavors, a full bar, indoor and outdoor seating, events and more to West Philly’s Schuylkill Yards.
“I have a pretty cheffy recipe, and I brine the chicken overnight,” he says. The buttermilk fried chicken can be served in a sandwich or in strips, accompanied by fries. It’s a simple concept that’s working, in part because “it’s easy to keep consistent.”
Rosenthal opens Mary’s Chicken Strip Club on Friday through Sunday, even though Ridge Hall is open every day but Monday, because the food hall isn’t busy enough, yet, for him to open the other days.
“When we’re bringing in fresh chicken on a Tuesday, and it’s not busy until Friday, it just doesn’t make sense,” he says. Many of the food hall’s other vendors are open through the week, and visitors can find lobster rolls at Char, burgers and dogs from Lucky’s Roadside Stand, pho from Pho Mi Please, and much more at Ridge Hall.
There’s more evidence that food halls are on the rise in the Philadelphia region. Last October, the six-vendor Gather Food Hall opened in the historic Bulletin Building in Schuylkill Yards in University City.
“It has a very different vibe,” says Anderson, who has met clients there for lunch. “It’s new and shiny and a little bit more appropriate for its location.”
From her perspective, Gather is geared more toward professionals to come together and dine, while still offering a wide range of food options like its contemporaries in the suburbs. And like its contemporaries, it also has a bar, Bulletin Bar, a “space for connection and conversation,” according to its website.
Across the bridge in Medford, NJ, locals are gathering at the recently opened The Feed Mill Eatery on Main Street, with six concepts ranging from the popular sandwich shop Crumb to a German eatery. Meanwhile in Chinatown, a black-owned food hall is taking shape spearheaded by the efforts of Levell “Garci” Peterkin at Chinatown Square, which is anchored by Carter’s Steaks by Garci.
CHECK OUT THESE FOOD HALLS BY YOU
THE FEED MILL EATERY
57 N Main St, Medford, NJ
856.316.4676
instagram.com/thefeedmilleatery
FERRY MARKET
32 S Main St, New Hope
267.832.6801
theferrymarket.com
GATHER FOOD HALL
3025 Market St, Philadelphia
267.222.4330
gatherfoodhall.com
THE SQUARE FOOD COURT
1016 Race Street, Philadelphia
instagram.com/thesquarephilly
THE MARKET AT LIBERTY PLACE
148 W State St, Kennett Square
610.925.3411
themarketatlibertyplace.com
READING TERMINAL MARKET
1136 Arch St, Philadelphia
215.922.2317
readingterminalmarket.org
RIDGE HALL
15 S Ridge Ave, Ambler
484.238.0299
ridgehallambler.com
