Food hall forecasted to open soon at West End's Lee + White district

West End’s evolving warehouse district expects to open the next BeltLine-adjacent food hall in a matter of months, and plans are becoming clearer as to what exactly will be on the menu there.

Ackerman & Co. and MDH Partners, developers behind the 11-building, adaptive-reuse Lee + White venture, report this week the project’s long-discussed food hall component will now open in early 2023. Expect 19 vendors, a central bar, and no shortage of Westside Trail frontage.

The food hall component will also directly connect to Lee + White’s Central Lawn, a public gathering and event space that's claiming a portion of the district’s vast parking lots.

Officials announced four new concepts Wednesday for the food hall portion, expected to diversify offerings at the Southwest Atlanta district more known for its array of brewery options today.

Those include Costa Coffee, a rapidly expanding concept based in the U.K., plus Mexican eateries Cielito Lindo taqueria and Crème de la Crepe, and California-based Sweet Red Peach bakery.

Previously signed food hall tenants, also expected to debut early next year, include Gekko Hibachi & Sushi, Honeysuckle Gelato, Lake & Oak BBQ, Mochinut, The Original Hot Dog Factory, and Pastaholics.    

In the meantime, Lee + White expects to debut a brightly painted, shipping-container village near the food hall project in November. The goal with that component is to provide an “affordable opportunity for startups and small businesses seeking brick-and-mortar space to sell their products,” per this week’s announcement.

Ackerman teamed with MDH Partners in 2019 to buy Lee + White for $40.3 million. The roster across the existing 426,000 square feet of spaces includes three breweries (the recently expanded Monday Night Garage, Best End, and Wild Heaven), a distillery (ASW), plus Boxcar restaurant, Hop City beer store, Honeysuckle Gelato, Doux South Pickles, and the Westside’s first rock-climbing gym, The Overlook.

Here's an overview of the latest Lee + White food hall concepts, as described by project reps this week:

Costa Coffee: Known as the U.K.’s favorite coffee shop, Costa Coffee will open in a prominent 1,647-square-foot space in the food hall at the entrance facing White Street. Founded in London in 1971, Costa has nearly 4,000 stores globally, including about 2,500 outlets in the United Kingdom. [Expect] a full-service café at Lee + White, offering signature coffee blends, barista-crafted beverages, a fresh bakery on site, and chef-driven made-to-order breakfast and lunch options.

Choosing Atlanta for the launch of its U.S. expansion, Costa opened its first café in August at the CODA mixed-use development at Tech Square and a second Atlanta location at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School earlier this month.      

Sweet Red Peach: Based in Inglewood, Calif., the family-owned bakery based in Inglewood is opening its first East Coast U.S. location at Lee + White. The bakery is known for its mouth-watering peach cobbler, sweet potato pie, cupcakes and banana pudding, and an array of cakes including German chocolate, carrot cake, red velvet, and coconut-pineapple.     

Mexican concepts: Bringing two concepts to the food hall, the expanding family-owned business that launched Crème de la Crepe at Marietta Square Market is opening its second Crème de la Crepe at Lee + White along with Cielito Lindo, specializing in Mexican street food. 

Crème de la Crepe will feature breakfast, savory, and dessert crepes, with varieties including Philly cheese steak, pizza, and veggie lovers crepes, and dessert crepes such as French Riviera with cinnamon apples, walnuts, and caramel. Cielito Lindo will serve authentic Mexican street food, and feature tacos, tostadas, flautas and quesadillas with fillings including pollo asado, carne asada, al pastor pork, barbacoa beef, and nopal (grilled cactus), and churros and Mexican rice pudding for dessert.

• West End ATL news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)