The Midwest’s Largest Vegan Food Hall is Opening in Chicago
Set to open later this month, XMarket Vegan Food Hall will initially feature six restaurants, as well as a grocery store and a wine bar.
Credit: PlantX
The Midwest’s largest vegan food hall is set to open in Chicago.
XMarket Vegan Food Hall will initially feature six restaurants that span world cuisines and include everything from deep-dish pizzas and hot dogs, to tacos and sushi.
Located in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood, the 6,500 square-foot food hall will also feature a central bar complete with bar food and vegan wine pairings, as well as a bodega-style grocery store with a plant-based cheese monger.
"Chicago has emerged as one of the largest vegan and health-conscious communities in North America, making it an ideal location to introduce our all-in-one vegan food hall concept," said Lorne Rapkin, the CEO of PlantX, a e-commerce site who is behind the new food hall.
Among the six initial restaurants available at the food hall, is Chicago favorite Kale My Name. The brand already has another physical location in the city, and is popular for its empanadas, cauliflower wings, and tequeños (Venezuelan cheese sticks).
A selection of dishes from Kale My Name. Credit: Kale My Name
Another vendor at the food hall will be Bloom Sushi, who bring a traditional Japanese dining style which includes Chicago’s first vegan omakase - a Japanese concept that puts trust in the chef to craft dishes that are tailored to the day’s fresh produce and the diner’s budget and taste preferences.
Hotdogs, a staple of the Chicago food scene, will be showcased by Chicago Not Dogs, who put a plant-based spin on popular Chicago delicacies like Italian beef, fried chicken, and of course, hot dogs.
Credit: Chicago Not Dogs
Rounding out the food lineup is vegan taco joint El Hongo Magico Taqueria, and Kitchen 17, who will provide Chicago comfort food like their signature deep-dish pizzas. And finally, there’s also Asian eatery 2d Restaurant, which will serve Asian treats including Japanese mochi donuts, Vietnamese coffee, Taiwanese fried chicken sandwiches, and boba tea.
XMarket Vegan Food Hall’s grand opening is set for October 5th.
And that’s not all for Chicago: the leading cultivated meat, poultry, and seafood company, UPSIDE Foods, has just announced plans to build its first commercial-scale factory in Glenview, Illinois. It's set to produce millions of pounds of cultivated meat each year - real meat that’s made from animal cells rather than requiring an animal to be farmed and slaughtered. Read more here.
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The footage was reportedly recorded at Marshall BioResources in North Rose, New York, where up to 22,000 dogs - mostly beagles - are being bred for animal experimentation.