Peek Inside Downtown Detroit’s New Food Hall

Downtown Detroit diners will soon be able to snack on barbecue, sandwiches, and sushi all under one roof. Anticipated new food hall Fort Street Galley confirmed today that it will throw open its doors on Friday, December 7 in the Federal Reserve building at 160 W. Fort St. Pittsburgh-based food hall developers Galley Group are behind the new project which features four restaurant stalls and a full bar.

Galley founders Benjamin Mantica and Tyler Benson model their halls after tech incubators. Tested chefs and would-be restaurateurs from across the U.S. are invited to apply to open restaurants in Galley food hall spaces and are selected through a competitive vetting process. This summer, eight finalists pitched their restaurant concepts to local judges that included some faces from food media.

Among the lineup of restaurants look out for Allenby, a Middle Eastern-influenced sandwich shop from Selden Standard alums Michael Goldberg and Katie Nelson with options like milk-braised pork belly poutine and merguez sausage sandwiches with harissa aioli, greens, Bulgarian feta, and Hawaii-spiced red onion on za’atar focaccia. Filipino-French restaurant Isla from JP Garcia and Jacqueline Diño will be serving options like bangus croquettes with milkfish, purple yam purée, and banana ketchup aioli and tropical ube cake. Sushi chef Mike Han will be serving a Korean take on sustainable seafood at Pursue. Rounding out the group is James Beard Award winning chef Jimmy Schmidt and Brian Recor’s Lucky’s Noble BBQ, which is attempting to make “healthy” barbecue.

Notably, Marlowe Johnson, formerly of Candy Bar and many other outstanding Detroit cocktail spots, is now leading the bar program at Fort Street Galley alongside head bartender Keenan Plant and Galley Group beverage director Tim Garso. The menu, which can be perused below, features four low ABV draft cocktails and four “charity cocktails” for which a portion of the proceeds will be donated to a charity monthly, and eight additional cocktails including the Swiss Holiday — essentially boozy hot cocoa with fernet meringue, Hennessy, and orange zest. There’s also plenty of beer and wine on hand.

The Fort Street Galley food hall — the fourth Galley location from the developers — seats roughly 225 people with a patio. Kyle Evans, whose work has appeared in a number of projects around the area including Eatóri Market, developed the look for the space which includes lots of arched doorways and a mixture of two-tops and communal tables. Take a peek around the interior and scope out some of the drinks ahead of the opening.

Katie Laskowska/Fort Street Galley

Katie Laskowska [Official photo]

Katie Laskowska [Official photo]

Katie Laskowska [Official photo]

Michelle and Chris Gerard

Michelle and Chris Gerard

Fort Street Galley Bar Menu

Fort Street Galley is located at 160 W. Fort Street; open for lunch, and dinner 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. (bar open until 10 p.m.) Monday through Thursday and Friday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. (bar open until midnight). Brunch and dinner are offered Saturday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. (bar open until midnight); and from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday.

Update: This story has been updated with additional photos from Fort Street Galley.

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