This is our first Best Food Halls in Poland edition, with a few “rotten tomato” awards for venues that tried to steal the food hall buzz, but failed miserably.
Enjoy!
Best Seasonal Venues
Co-Winners: 100cznia & ul. Elektrykow in Gdansk
With its interesting history, gorgeous old town, and picturesque canals, Gdansk already boasts its status as the best summertime destination within Poland. To top this off, Gdansk can also lay claim to having the best summertime food, beverage, and live music combination in 100cznia and Ulica Elektrykow.
100cznia – Creators: Kuba Łukaszewski Alicja Jablonowska
Street Vibe: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Music: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Food: ⭐⭐
Drink: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Family Friendly: ⭐⭐
Ulica Elektryków / W4 Food Squat – Creators: Kuba Reza (Crane Agency) and Arkadiusz Hronowski (Sopocka Odessa).
Street Vibe: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Music: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Food: ⭐⭐⭐
Drink ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Family Friendly: ⭐
Honorable Mention:
Nocny Market
Conceived 5 years ago as one of the first outdoor food markets in Poland, founders Katarzyna Dziedzic, Piotr Dorak, and Mateusz Kuwał took a massive risk by renting space on the old Warsaw train station and populating it with delicious Asian cuisine, hip music, and fun drinks. Year-in and year-out, this is the summertime destination for Warsaw’s foodies to enjoy delicious street food served by some of the best street food vendors the capital city has to offer.
Street Vibe: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Music: ⭐⭐
Food: ⭐⭐⭐
Drink ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Family Friendly: ⭐⭐
Best Indoor / Outdoor Venue – OFF Piotrkowska – Łódź
At the end of the 19th century, Franciszek Ramisch built a cotton weaving and spinning mill here. Now over 20 restaurants and bars await hungry foodies in Lodz. We are most impressed with how the creators retained the glory of the historic buildings and created an impressive modern dining and drinking destination located just um…. „off” Piotrowska street, Lodz’s famous bopping high street.
Street Vibe: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Music: ⭐⭐
Food: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Drink ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Family Friendly: ⭐⭐⭐
Best Mix of Culture, Food Market & Restaurants – Hala Gwardii
Located next to Warsaw’s only functioning city-center fresh food market, Hala Mirowska, Hala Gwardii is a natural location to promote new restaurant concepts. The project sought to copy the iconic Time Out Market in Lisbon, but due to a short-term lease, it has never really attracted a successful evening dining/drinking crowd. However, what Hala Gwardi lacks in panache it makes up for it with a successful calendar of cultural events and food festivals to satisfy the local city center residents.
Street Vibe: ⭐⭐
Music: ⭐⭐
Food: ⭐⭐⭐
Drink ⭐⭐
Family Friendly: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Best Design – Elektrownia Powiśle – Warszawa
Unfortunately, the launch of Elektrownia Powiśle coincided with the first COVID-19 outbreak, so it obviously hasn’t yet had an opportunity to reveal its full potential to Warsaw foodies. But we strongly believe that this gorgious premium-positioned food, drink and music emporium will thrive in the years to come.
Street Vibe: ⭐⭐⭐
Music: ⭐⭐⭐
Food: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Drink ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Family Friendly: ⭐⭐⭐
Best Social Media Presence – Hala Świebodzki – Wrocław
Visibly incorporating the same DNA as Nocny Market from Warsaw, this upstart food hall in Wroclaw actually calls itself a ‚bar and food court.’ Boxing well above its weight class (unlike „Food Hall” in Galeria Polnocna), Hala Swiebodzki is the first true (albeit small) food hall in Wroclaw. The young founders renovated the hall to include six street food vendors and a bar with a spacious outdoor dining/drinking area along the old train tracks. What this food hall may lack in capital, it wins with a creative social media campaign incorporating fresh, fun, and effective digital communication. Covid clipped this butterfly’s wings in 2020, but we will watch with curiosity if this hall will emerge as a true player on the competitive Wroclaw dining scene.
Street Vibe: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Music: ⭐⭐⭐
Food: ⭐⭐⭐
Drink: ⭐⭐⭐
Family Friendly: ⭐⭐
Best Food Hall Overall – Stacja Food Hall
Soon after its opening in July 2019, Stacja Food Hall in Galeria Metropolia quickly became the most favourite spot for social dining in Gdańsk and the Tri-City area. An ambitious 2,500 square meter project on the +2 level in a failed shopping center, Stacja Food Hall boasts almost 20 international food vendors, three large bars, and a culinary studio. The founders were careful to recruit the best local chefs and entrepreneurs ensuring a ‚high-touch’ food experience at very reasonable prices. The curators supported these talented food vendors with the best bartenders in the Tri-City and filled the event calendar with food festivals, live music, stand-up comedy, and vintage clothing festivals. We look forward to seeing even more innovative ideas from this trend-setting food hall.
Street Vibe: ⭐⭐⭐
Music: ⭐⭐
Food: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Drink ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Family Friendly: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Rotten Tomato (biggest failure) Awards go to:
“Food Hall” Galeria Polnocna
Just by calling myself Robert Lewandowski does not mean that I will automatically be able to create magic with a football at my feet. Here, too, is theft in extraordinary proportions. Other than the fact that you can purchase a really bad hamburger here, there is nothing about „Food Hall” that represents a true food hall. Located in the failed Galeria Polnocna center in Warsaw, this project represents all that is wrong with (normally successful) creative theft in the food industry. The focal point of the design is a burger grill with shipping container cladding. But, don’t be fooled. This venue mainly offers pre-made canteen-type food kept warm under heat lamps. It took all of my strength to remain in the venue to digest all that is wrong with the bad actors in our industry. Avoid this place like it has Covid-19.
Batory Food Hall
Everything went seriously wrong for this small Food Hall located in central Gdynia. After a mildly optimistic start, Batory Food Hall struggled early to attract Gdnyia foodies to arrive, have fun, and stay long. The founders initially erred by picking vendors who could not deliver authentic street food. Then, they surrounded the food hall with chain concepts KFC and Sphinx completely ruining the food hall vibe. In addition to bad food Partner decisions, the owners failed to execute comprehensive social media communication and complementary events. The bar here never worked. Due to a series of errors, Batory failed to create a local community, which resulted in over 50% of tenants pulling out of the project even before COVID-19 hit Poland. This place offers a great exercise in how to not create a successful food hall.
