Fort Street Galley Food Hall Reveals Four New Restaurants Headed to Downtown

Rust Belt food hall developers the Galley Group have finally unveiled the anticipated lineup of food vendors heading to downtown Detroit’s Fort Street Galley in November. The roughly 8,600-square-foot food hall located inside the Federal Reserve Building at 160 W. Fort St. will feature four different restaurants including a Filipino establishment, a Korean-style raw seafood spot, a Mediterranean-influenced sandwich and small plates stall, and a “healthy” barbecue stand.

Each of the vendors won their spots through a competitive application process that culminated in a pitching event hosted in Detroit on July 26. The local judges included food media. Eater’s editor declined the invitation due to conflict of interest. The Galley Group received more than 50 applications by local food businesses and narrowed the field to eight top contenders, according to a release. Judges at the pitching event sampled food from the eight remaining applicants and helped narrow the field to four finalists. Here’s a rundown of Fort Street Galley’s first round of new food hall vendors.

Allenby

Who: Michael Goldberg and Katie Nelson
The Food: Selden Standard alums Michael Goldberg and Katie Nelson will be focusing on sandwiches and small plates with a Middle Eastern influence. Diners can expect options like scratch made sausages, Cuban sandwiches, and pork belly poutine.

Isla

Who: JP Garcia and Jacqueline Diño
The Food: Husband and wife team JP Garcia and Jacqueline Dino are opening a food stall centered around Filipino diaspora cuisine. That means Filipino egg rolls, lumpia, noodle dishes, stews, and other dishes from the Philippines. Chef Garcia will be taking on the savory side of the menu, while pastry chef Diño will handle the desserts.

Lucky’s Noble BBQ

Who: Jimmy Schmidt and Brian Recor
The Food: Jimmy Schmidt, a James Beard Award winner who owned the famed Rattlesnake Club up until he sold his stake in 2010, is returning to the Detroit scene with his long-time colleague and fellow Rattlesnake alum Brian Recor. The pair are bringing “healthy” barbecue with them. The menu will feature Wagyu beef barbecue rubbed in a proprietary spice blend, alongside sandwiches, salads, “protein rich” milkshakes, bratwurst, and hot dogs.

Pursue

Who: Mike Han
The Food: Chef Mike Han tried to open a sustainable sushi bar in Corktown two years ago, but abandoned the project to helm an omakase sushi restaurant in New York last year. Now Han is back in Detroit and putting his skills with raw seafood to work on a Korean-style raw fish restaurant using “seasonal American ingredients.” The menu will be geared towards sushi lovers with a Korean flavor profile and will include options for vegans and vegetarians.

Galley Group/Kyle Evans Design [Courtesy image]

Galley Group models its food halls like tech incubators. Unlike a typical lease that requires down payments, security deposits, and rent, Galley employs a profit-sharing model where around 30 percent of each restaurant’s revenue is returned to the company. Galley also takes care of the build out for the space, the insurance, utilities, and marketing for partnering restaurants. This results in a relatively low cost of entry for the operator — around $7,500 for inventory and labor. (Galley tells Eater that most restaurant owners can break even within a month of opening). The lineup revealed today will have a minimum one-year lease with Galley and the option to extend the lease, move into a brick-and-mortar space, or scrap the concept at the end of the year.

Galley Group/Kyle Evans Design [Courtesy image]

The Fort Street Galley food hall — the fourth Galley location from the developers — will seat roughly 225 people with a patio and a full-service bar offering cocktails and beer. Kyle Evans, whose work has appeared in a number of projects around the area including Eatóri Market, developed the look for the space. Interior renderings provide to Eater by the Galley Group today feature mixed-seating including lounge areas with couches and wooden chairs, four-top tables, and longer communal tables near the arched entrances to the food stalls.

Galley Group/Kyle Evans Design [Courtesy image]

The completed food hall is remarkably still on track to open by mid-November will open for lunch, brunch, and dinner.

Update: This story has been updated to reflect the interior design work of Kyle Evans.

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