Nestled among new apartment complexes and old grain mills in the Prospect Park neighborhood is the new Malcolm Yards Market, a diverse food hall with nine vendors, a bar, and a self-pour beer wall. Housed inside the historic Harris Machinery Company, the food hall opened its doors to the public on July 30—and according to owner Patricia Wall, it’s already become a hit with customers.
“We’ve had a lot of very complimentary feedback, and people love the building and the architecture, and the design details,” Wall says.
The food hall is a few blocks away from the University of Minnesota Gophers’ Huntington Bank Stadium, making it a convenient place for students to grab a bite or drink before or after a game. Wall says she’s hoping business will increase as U of M students return to campus for the fall. According to Wall, the food hall has attracted a wide age demographic so far.
“It’s everything from young families to older generations, college students, millennials,” she says. “It’s been a complete mix, a very inclusive mix, of people.”
The market features nine food vendors, including Minneapolis favorites such as Del Sur Empanadas, Bebe Zito Ice Cream, and Bagu Sushi. Other food options include Detroit-style pizza, Indian and Nepali street food, Asian fusion cuisine, a vegetable eatery, fast-casual Italian, and charcuterie-inspired bites.
There’s also the Boxcar Bar, which features signature drinks created for each food vendor at the market, along with classic cocktails. And if cocktails aren’t your thing, there’s a self-pour beer wall that also dispenses wine.
While searching for vendors, Wall says she was looking for “gourmet fast-casual” cuisine and was inspired by other food halls she had visited around the country. She met with a number of chefs from the Twin Cities who were interested in pivoting to street-food concepts.
“I just met with people and started putting together the puzzle,” Wall says. “I have partners in Colorado that own and operate successful food halls, and when they would come to town, we would get together with the chefs that I had earmarked and had met with and really liked. We did at least two, sometimes three, tastings of their food concepts and just knew. We just knew right away the ones that we wanted in there.”
Some of the market’s vendors, such as Del Sur Empanadas, were selected through more sporadic methods. “I was following Del Sur Empanadas on Instagram, and I thought their food looked really good. So I went out and tried the food, and loved it,” Wall says. “Then I called them and asked if they’d be interested, and they came down and looked at the site.”
The location of the market was a big selling point for the chefs and vendors that Wall talked to, she says. Both indoor and outdoor seating is available to customers, including two outdoor patios and an indoor room with large garage doors that are opened upon request or when the weather permits.
The location also features a densely populated neighborhood and is right by the Prospect Park light rail stop. “We have a great location to attract many different people, different backgrounds, coming from different places,” Wall says.
The market is part of the Malcolm Yards neighborhood development that Wall and her husband, John Wall, have in the works. In addition to the food hall, there are plans to build two new apartment buildings, including a Section 42 affordable housing apartment building, plus a park and a greenway. Wall says they decided to name the development Malcolm Yards as a nod both to Malcolm Avenue, which crosses through the area, and the railyard that lies behind it.
“I think everyone should check it out,” Wall says of the food hall. “It’s a very convenient, fun, innovative project for everybody.”
The market is open daily at 11 a.m. and closes at 9 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays, and 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. There is a sizable parking lot available to customers, as well as street parking. Hand sanitizer is available for guests and masks are encouraged for those who are not fully vaccinated.