A food emporium in the heart of San Diego’s Little Italy community has been named among the top 10 best new food halls in the United States, according to USA Today.
After only six months in business, it seems the site has already made a mouthwatering mark: it recently ranked No. 7 among USA Today’s “10Best Readers’ Choice Awards,” in the category of “Best Food Hall.”
Food halls from across the country were nominated by a panel of food editors and contributors for USA Today and 10Best.com. For four weeks, people voted on the picks until the 10 best were named.
The LIFH – operated by the local hospitality group Grain & Grit Collective – features six food stations offering everything from tacos, pizza, Italian food, seafood and sandwiches to Japanese and Asian comfort food.
One of the stations – Not Not Tacos – is the work of San Diego-based TV personality Sam “The Cooking Guy” Zien. As the name suggests, Zien is whipping up all kinds of creative tacos there such as “Sam’s Meatloaf” taco featuring chipotle apricot glaze, green onion, lettuce, Monterey jack, sour cream and crispy onions.
Little Italy Food Hall
Well, it's not not a taco, right? The Korean Short Rib Taco at Not Not Tacos, Sam the Cooking Guy's food station at the Little Italy Food Hall.
The other food stations are Mein St. Asian Kitchen, Single Fin Kitchen, Ambrogio15, Roast Meat & Sandwich Shop and Wicked Main Lobster.
The LIFH also features a central bar cranking out craft cocktails, local craft brews and wine. As of last month, patrons walk around the 11,000-square-foot Piazza della Famiglia with that drink in hand.
Little Italy Food Hall
A craft cocktail at the bar, the center of the Little Italy Food Hall.
Another cool feature of the food hall is its mobile outdoor chef’s area where pop-up cooking demonstrations are held, sometimes by Sam the Cooking Guy himself.
The LIFH features Happy Hour Monday through Friday, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., with deals on some dishes like sliders and Temaki (Japanese handrolls). Happy Hour at the bar goes until 7 p.m. The food hall is free to enter, but bring money to buy some snacks.
By the way, other food halls that made the cut on USA Today’s “10Best” poll are, in order:
Keg and Case West 7th Market (St. Paul, Minnesota)
Legacy Food Hall (Plano, Texas)
Morgan Street Food Hall & Market (Raleigh, North Carolina)
Finn Hall (Houston)
La Centrale (Miami)
Riverside Food Lab (Riverside, California)
Little Italy Food Hall (San Diego)
Auction House Market (New Orleans)
Revolutsia (Wichita, Kansas)
Pythian Market (New Orleans)
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The Little Italy Food Hall is situated next to the 11,000-square-foot Piazza della Famiglia on West Date Street between India and Columbia streets.
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The Maritime-themed food hall will boast six locally-driven food stations, a mobile outdoor cooking station and a full bar with local craft beer and cocktails. The Bar at LIFH will highlight some of the vast supply of craft brews San Diego has to offer, red and white wines from around the world, and an assortment of Italian-inspired craft cocktails.
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Two brothers from the New England shoreline are bringing a slice of Maine to Little Italy. The restaurant is newer to San Diego but Wicked Main Lobster has already become a popular spot at Liberty Public Market and the farmer's markets the eatery frequents.
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Wicked Maine Lobster will feature seafood-centric bites popular on the East Coast at their LIFH station -- like creamy Maine lobster rolls, mac & cheese peppered with fresh lobster and hearty clam chowder bowls.
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This culinary concept, created by the brains behind Zen Modern Asian Bistro in Carmel Mountain, is one of two Asian-cuisine vendors to be recently added to the LIFH family.
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Mein St. Asian Kitchen will feature offerings described as Asian-style comfort food. Guests can expect stuffed dumplings, juicy wings and the ever-so-popular boba milk teas to grace the menu.
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Quindere spent time in Japan where he learned to appreciate the simplicity of the Donburi dish and has worked alongside culinary masters in the U.S., like celebrity chef Nobu Matsuhisa and Michelin-starred chef Jeff Ramsey.
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San Diego-based television cooking personality "Sam the Cooking Guy" is behind this taco-centric spot coming to LIFH.
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Not Not Tacos will feature tacos made with "genre-bending" ingredients not typically found in tacos, like meatloaf, salmon and pastrami. This is the restaurant's meatloaf taco.
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The shrimp taco from LIFH's Not Not Tacos.
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A sign next to the Not Not Tacos menu is perfectly "Sam the Cooking Guy." LIFH will capitalize on San Diego's sunshine with frequent outdoor cooking demonstrations featuring the hall's chefs, including Sam Zein.
With an outdoor patio perfect for San Diego sunshine, guests can learn how to make (and likely sample) signature creations at these outdoor cooking demos.
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