Retail

Deciding where to eat out is a conundrum familiar to many an American consumer. The plethora of food-and-beverage concepts now dotting the retail landscape complicate the question. Food halls embody a sort of paradox — they act as a microcosm of all this variety, while simultaneously removing the need to select a single restaurant. As Michael Morris, chief executive officer of Food Hall Co. puts it, consumers “can come in with various different dietary restrictions or desires and find something for everyone.” Nearly five years ago, founders Jack Gibbons and Randy DeWitt of Front Burner Restaurants (also known as FB Society) were approached by a Plano, Texas, developer interested in establishing a food hall. This resulted in the company’s first location — Legacy Food Hall — and the genesis of Food Hall Co. itself.  A food hall located at Fifth and Broadway in Nashville, dubbed Assembly Food Hall, has since joined the portfolio, and though the company’s footprint currently stands at two, Morris says this won’t be the case for long.  Everything’s Bigger in Texas One aspect of Food Hall Co.’s locations that distinguishes them from other food halls is their sheer size. While Morris says that the typical food …