Gotham West Market, a food hall that had been around for 11 years, will close at the end of the year. Following the closure of the Market Line earlier this year, it’s the latest harbinger that the glory days of food halls are behind us.
At its peak, Gotham West Market — a more than 10,000-square-foot food hall in Hell’s Kitchen on 11th Avenue — was considered one of the city’s leading food halls (or, according to the claim on its website tagline, the city’s “best”).
In 2017, Eater critic Ryan Sutton declared that the must-have slice of the year wasn’t at a standalone pizzeria, but rather at Corner Slice, a food hall vendor inside Gotham West Market.
It was also home to buzzy stalls like Ivan Ramen, Little Chef from Saltie’s Caroline Fidanza, and an outpost of Court Street Grocers. The market received two stars from Pete Wells in 2014.
But over the past couple of years, Gotham West Market had seen better days, with the exodus of Ivan Ramen in 2020 and Corner Slice moving to the New Jersey suburbs a few years later.
As Crain’s New York Business reported, just five food stalls remain, half the capacity of its early years: among them are Della’anima, an Italian food stand, La Palapa, serving Mexican food, and Gorin Ramen, a Japanese stall, according to the publication.
The food hall did not give a reason for the closure in its Instagram announcement: “Future plans for the space are to be determined, and we will share updates as soon as we have them,” the post states.
However, across the board, food halls almost universally have struggled with retention issues — and that was long before COVID, which brought in its own challenges, including a changing customer base as office attendance shifted.
In 2022, the Deco, a Manhattan food hall located in the Garment District, held its last service. Then, in 2023, Williamsburg Market shut down with “zero notice.” The subterranean level of Essex Crossing, the Market Line announced its closure in February of this year.
This spring, Urbanspace, a company with numerous food halls in New York, was said to be coming to an end, as new owners took hold. Meanwhile, the chef-driven Wonder, with big-money backing and plans is expanding to 100 locations by next year. Will it stick as its peers shutter?
