Pizitz Food Hall

The Pizitz Food Hall is a publicly-accessible food court with multiple independent food vendors, two full-service restaurants, and a bar which is located inside the renovated Pizitz Building on the southwest corner of 2nd Avenue North and 18th Street. It opened in February 2017 as part of a $70 million renovation of the former department store building by Bayer Properties.

The idea of a "public market" as part of the renovation was announced by Bayer executive David Silverstein in April 2014. In January 2016 the proposed market was announced as a "food hall", inspired by popular destinations like Faneuil Hall in Boston, Massachusetts; Gotham West Market in New York, New York; Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia, Pennsyvlania; Ponce City Market in Atlanta, Georgia; and Bayou Secret's St Roch Market in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Pizitz Food Hall is complemented by a basement-level two-screen cinema operated by the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival.

In cooperation with REV Birmingham's CO.STARTERS small business program, Reveal Kitchen, one of the twenty-four 150 to 330 square-foot market-type stalls will become available to prospective entrepreneurs for four to six months terms to maximize opportunities for experimentation. The initial list of tenants and food concepts was "curated" by Tom Walker and Sam Heide of Bayer Properties in collaboration with Scott Doty and Jessie Merlin of the restaurant review weblog "What to Eat in Birmingham". Appleseed Workshop provided design services for the food hall's stalls. Yellowhammer Creative designed the project's logo and signage.

Tenants

• Stalls
  • Reveal Kitchen, culinary incubator by REV Birmingham
    • Tropicaleo (February-August 2017)
    • Bitty’s Living Kitchen by Kimberly Brock (August 2017-January 2018)
    • The Preservery by Andrea Foster (February-October 2018)
    • JuicedUP Essentials by Kelsey Gardner, Jessica Maciel and Nicholas Blackmon (November 2018-)
  • Alabama Biscuit Co. by Jonathan and Merideth Burch, second Birmingham location (April 19, 2017-)
  • The Standard, burgers and hot dogs by Matt Ralph (May 16, 2017-)
  • Busy Corner Cheese & Provisions, cheese and sandwich shop by Brian McMillan (February 15, 2017-)
  • Eli's Jerusalem Grill, Israeli cuisine by Eli Markshtien, second Birmingham location (February 2017-)
  • Ichicoro Ramen, Latin-infused ramen by Noel Cruz, second location (February 22, 2017-)
  • Lichita's, ice cream and paletas by Eloy Perez Garcia (February 15, 2017-)
  • MO:MO, banh mi and dumplings by Abhi Sainju (April 10, 2017-)
  • Ono Poké, poké by Vinh Tran (February 16, 2017-)
  • Revelator Coffee Co., second Birmingham location (February 16, 2017-)
  • Silver Kati, Indian street food by Kishore Kotian (January 2018-)
  • WaffleWorks, Southern-infused Belgian waffles by Dan and Audrey Roberts (February 15, 2017-)
• Full service
  • Ghion Cultural Hall, Ethiopian cuisine, second location (March 2017-)
  • The Louis, full-service bar (February 17, 2017-)

Former tenants

• • Dosa, Indian food (announced, never opened)
  • Fero, modern rustic Italian by Akhtar Nawab and Matt Wagman (July 8, 2017-October 2018)
  • Choza Taqueria by Akhtar Nawab, second location (February 16, 2017-early 2018)

References

• "The Pizitz Food Hall: the dawn of Birmingham’s new foodie age" (January 18, 2016) What to Eat in Birmingham
• Godwin, Brent (January 22, 2016) "Pizitz to bring new food concept to Bham." Birmingham Business Journal
• Zimmerman, Eilene (July 21, 2016) "The Many Faces of Innovation in U.S. Cities" The New York Times
• "Drumroll Please: The Unveiling of the Pizitz Food Hall Stall and Restaurant List" (September 9, 2016) What to Eat in Birmingham
• Godwin, Brent (September 9, 2016) "Here's which tenants will be at the Pizitz Food Hall." Birmingham Business Journal
• Carlton, Bob (February 15, 2017) "Get a taste of Birmingham's Pizitz Food Hall, which opens today." The Birmingham News