Legacy Hall
7800 Windrose Ave.
Plano 75024
972-846-HALL
To see the full list of food stalls and the stories of the local chefs and restaurateurs behind them: http://legacyfoodhall.com/food-stalls
The wait is over.
Legacy Hall – an upscale fast-casual food hall featuring 22 restaurants and six bars – made its debut on Dec. 6.
At 11 a.m. people were poking their heads in and beginning to wander, explore and see what the buzz was about, but by 1:30 p.m. all seats were taken as the visitors to Legacy West came to see, smell and taste all that Legacy Hall had to offer.
Dedicated to offering the best food from local North Texas artisans, the three-story, 55,000-square-foot European-style food hall, brewery and live music and entertainment venue is located at 7800 Windrose Ave. in Plano.
According to Legacy Hall event coordinator Courtney Garza, the main goal of owners Jack Gibbons and Randy DeWitt was to bring a European-style food hall stateside with some North Texas twists. The hall was designed to be an experience, a kind of food theater showcasing the sights, smells, sounds and tastes of the cuisines through open kitchens that allow patrons to watch their meals being prepared, cooked and served.
“What’s kind of cool is all the kitchens are open kitchen style, so that means you get to watch and be a part of the food theater that is seeing how they craft your food and seeing the style of cooking,” Garza said.
Gensler Architecture and Design designed Legacy Hall, which features raw wood, concrete, steel, modified shipping containers, exposed ductwork, conduits and pipes in the building structure and aesthetics, as well as what Garza calls a “vintage, modge podge feel” with varied styles of seating and lighting throughout the building.
Fort Worth will get its own food hall in the first half of 2018. Food halls are a trend that developers have starting opening in the past several years. The plan is to lure shoppers with local, artisan restaurants and other creative food-oriented shops to create a social atmosphere that attracts customers for the retail offerings as well as the food.
Legacy Hall opened with 20 of its 22 food stalls ready to serve up varied foods ranging from Neapolitan pizza, gourmet burgers and Baja-style tacos, to shawarma, yakitori and bao steam buns, all
at a reasonable price.
“No matter what walks of life you come from, or where in the world, you’re going to find something that’s familiar to you here that you’re going to enjoy,” Garza said.
The first floor hosts most of the hall’s eateries, a wine bar and marketplace, and a craft cocktail bar called Bar Main.
All eateries were chosen by Legacy Hall staff and come from the North Texas area. Each had a successful brick-and-mortar store, food truck or food stall location prior to coming to Legacy Hall. All the bars, however, are new concepts by Legacy Hall that offer many specialty drinks one can’t find anywhere else.
“All of the food vendors either already have a brick-and-mortar or food truck or something. They are highly curated and vetted in the DFW community for already being great for their cuisine or culture,” Garza said.
The second floor holds the main seating area, a single food stall — Sea Breeze Lobsta’ & Chowda’ House — and the premiere indoor/outdoor drinking location, Good View Bar. In March, patrons at the Good View Bar will be able to walk outside or look out the window at the completed Legacy Hall Box Garden, which will be built from reused shipping containers and will house Carlton Provisions BBQ and a tiki bar, Texas Stillhouse, a bar and margarita cantina. In addition, the Box Garden will host rotating pop-ups and a Hawaiian shaved ice stand. In the center of the outdoor space a 600-square-foot event stage with an LED screen will make this an entertainment destination as well.
Once the Box Garden is complete, the entirety of the Legacy Hall space will be able to accomodate 2,500 people at capacity.
Finally, the third floor is home to Plano’s first craft brewery, Unlawful Assembly Brewery & Tap Room. The brewery has 21 operating tanks used to brew seasonal beers.
Later in December the brewery will begin offering 30-minute brewery tours and a tasting for groups of 20. Starting in January, it will begin canning and distributing its beers. The brewery’s tap room will also be able to host private parties and acoustic live music shows.
The third floor also one food stall, Taproom Eats, which serves food chosen to pair with Unlawful Assembly’s brews.
Legacy Hall offers private and corporate party options as well. The entire third floor may be rented or sections of the second floor can be reserved at no cost.
Legacy Hall follows a cashless dining model, so all the food stalls accept credit, Apple Pay or a “Hall Pass. The Hall Pass is a sort of a debit card that only works at the hall.
Those who only have the cash in their pocket can insert their cash into the “Hall Pass” machine to get a card that can be used for any vendor or bar in the hall and never expires.
For anyone who asks, how is this different than a mall food court, and why does this belong in Legacy West, Garza has an answer.
“I like to say that we are a food court on steroids. Instead of your mall feel it’s not franchises — you’re not going to see TGI Fridays or Chili’s or Chick-Fil-A here, no offense to them, but they’re not local. They don’t have that local touch and understand the cuisines of DFW and know our culture. These vendors [do] … and we made sure we only got the best,” Garza said. “It is fast casual, but it isn’t fast food … and that really sets us apart.”
Legacy West is a 255-acre $3.2 billion development that is home to the new North American headquarters of Toyota and FedEx Office, as well as new regional headquarters of JP Morgan Chase and Liberty Mutual.
Fort Worth’s food hall
Crockett Row at West 7th is adding a food hall, set to open in the first half of 2018.
The 16,000-square foot food hall will be located on the northwest corner of Crockett Street and Norwood Street. The first of its kind in Fort Worth, the food hall will feature a wide variety of cuisines, including anchor tenant Knife Burger by John Tesar.
Crockett Street Food Hall will house fast-casual food vendors in mini restaurant spaces that range from 100 to 1,000 square feet. A collection of 14 local eateries will include a variety of offerings including barbecue, burgers, Mexican, sandwiches, coffee, pastries and doughnuts.
The food hall will have a modern, industrial feel with polished concrete floors, according to a news release. It will feature a full bar and seating for 115 in a centrally-located area. Outside there will be seating for approximately 70 outside on the patios and in the covered paseo between buildings. Crockett Street Food Hall will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and have live music in the evenings.
In partnership with Crockett Row’s leasing team at The Woodmont Company, Hospitality Alliance will manage the space at Crockett Row Food Hall. Hospitality Alliance– which has been involved in the development and opening of some of the top food halls around the U.S., such as Urbanspace Vanderbilt in New York City.
Additional details and an opening date will be announced in the coming months. – FWBP Staff