‘Street market’ idea comes to life
With 10 eateries, Budd Dairy Food Hall launches in Italian Village
Budd Dairy Food Hall is capitalizing on a growing trend: offer a diversity of vendors featuring mostly simple, inexpensive fare and a spacious, cafeteriastyle place to sit and grab a drink.
The food hall, part of the locally based Cameron Mitchell Restaurants’ portfolio, opened Wednesday at 1086 N. Fourth St. in Italian Village.
The first-floor center of the space is occupied by Comfort Kitchen, Boni: Filipino Street Kitchen, Borgata, Cousins Maine Lobster, Cluck Norris, Modern Southern Table and Stauf ’s, bookended by Pokebap and Tacos Rudos. A frequently rotating pop-up space, called the Hatch, is now occupied by the Cheesecake Girl.
While it sounds more food court than business incubator, the concept is popular in international cities where guests can find a variety of cuisines and a place to sit, said Krizzia Yanga, owner of Boni: Filipino Street Food.
“The food hall is kind of like a street market,” said Yanga, who also owns Bonifacio near Grandview Heights. “It’s just a place where you experience a culture.”
Vendors have a small space and generally a limited bill of fare, so they can put out food quickly.
“Obviously we need to be creative with our menu,” Yanga said.
A newcomer to the Columbus food scene, Uli Cruz thought the food hall sounded like a good fit for Tacos Rudos, a fresh-mex startup he founded with his sister, chef Ana Cruz, and Junior Martinez.
He vied for an end unit, which has more seating, so he could flaunt homemade tacos, tortas and homemade tortillas.
“From the beginning we wanted to stress the brand,” Cruz said. “We make everything from scratch.”
The food hall takes over the 18,000square-foot former Budd Dairy Co., which originally served as a bottling plant, buyer and distributor of milk.
The space offers a cross between rustic and modern, with shiny white tiles, lots of natural lighting and two bars. A rooftop patio soon will have its own bar, too, general manager Jeremy Hughes said. The basement area is used by private businesses, Hughes said.
It seats 300, or 500 when COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.
He said there are many original fixtures scattered throughout the building, which opened in 1916.
“We got to bring it back to what it was originally,” he said, adding that Budd Dairy closed in 1967.
Steve Gibson, a regional director of Cluck Norris, said vendors try not to step on each other’s toes by offering the same fare, so he doesn’t offer chicken wings.
It’s the first public location of Cluck Norris, which has been building its brand inside local Rusty Bucket Taverns, which owns it. Gibson said the concept is trying to make a name for itself with crispy fried chicken sandwiches, tenders and a pork tenderloin sandwich.
“It’s only five items – pretty simple,” he said of the menu. “We can rock ‘n’ roll it pretty quickly. I think
people like that.”
Dishes at some places might seem a little upscale. Modern Southern Table is selling scratch-made low-country shrimp, New Orleans-style gumbo and Louisiana blackened fish. The most expensive single serving is $15.99 for craband-shrimp gravy over rice.
“I don’t consider us a soul food place or Creole place,” said owner Sadaya “Daisy” Lewis, who previously owned a restaurant by the same name in Zanesville but didn’t like the commute. “I consider us a Southern place.”
Budd Dairy is open 4 to 11 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. Fridays, 11 a.m. to 1 am. Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays and closed Mondays. For more information, call 614-5052630.
New look for Tucci’s
The dining room at Tucci’s, closed
since April 5 for a remodeling project, reopens Friday at 35 N. High St. in Historic Dublin.
The interior will have all new features, including furniture, flooring, lighting, artwork, restrooms, open kitchen, bar countertop and wine racks, said owner Craig Barnum, also founder of CLB Restaurants, which includes Matt the Miller’s Tavern.
“The whole theme is much lighter, open, brighter, fresh,” Barnum said. “The old concept was maybe a steakhouse kind of look.”
Meanwhile, there is seating at the allseasons enclosure – imported from Germany last year – on the 65-seat patio.
Once warm weather returns for good, the enclosure’s sides will be removed for the season, Barnum said.
For sale: Kilwins franchise
The Short North location of Kilwins, an ice cream and chocolate shop at 662 N. High St., is closed for good.
Shuttered last March because of COVID-19, Kilwins’ franchisees Ernie Malas and Bobby Carpenter planned to reopen post-pandemic but decided against it.
They decided to put the franchise up for sale, which is being brokered by Randy Sokol of Sokol and Associates.
Fare noir
Black Box Fix, to offer Creole- and Cajun-style cuisine, will open its first central Ohio location on May 1 at 4037 Fenlon St. in Easton Town Center.
With two locations in the Cleveland area, Black Box Fix will bring gourmet sandwiches and street food, such as its signature “OMG Philly” and the new “Crabby Catfish” sandwich.
onrestaurants@dispatch.com