Jeff B.
Yelp
(Visited 06/14/18 TH @ 5:00pm): Los Angeles is sadly decades if not hundreds of years behind the "food hall" concept; and a "corporation" one at that didn't make it cool!
The Corporation Food Hall has been open no more than one year as of this review, and I honestly had no idea of it until a couple friends wanted to meet for dinner at one of its vendors, South City Fried Chicken. The proliferation of food halls in recent years has been dizzying and expansive in their reach across the eating landscape. With the death of shopping malls and their beloved food courts where everyone congregated, hung out, and ate usually unmemorable but quick food (I loved Sbarro's!), this latest iteration seemed to be the hottest fad in Los Angeles. Would I have the warm fuzzys with this gathering of restaurants under one roof as I did with its forbears of my youth!?
VENDORS
A collection of seven eateries with a varied range from of course a coffee joint (Bardonna), Southeast Asian (Buddha Belly), Italian (Funculo), BBQ (Pig Pen Delicacy), Mediterranean (Soom Soom), Southern Fried Chicken (South City Fried Chicken - bill was $17.49 with pending review), and Mexican (Tacos Tu Madre). Towards the back, there appeared to be a new tenant (bar!?) on the way.
SERVICE
There was no one there to welcome you (no biggie), but once I entered and walked my way throughout the hall, each vendor gladly greeted me but sadly didn't entice me to try any samples of their cuisine as you would in food halls around the world and even on the East Coast of the U.S. The marketer in me felt this was a lost opportunity to gain a customer.
PARKING (Varied; n/a this instance)
I went Metro on the Red Line to the Pershing Square Station which was no more than a 10-minute walk away. Otherwise, there was minimal metered street parking with audacious time limits and a plethora of paid parking lots with obscene rates found all over the area.
ATMOSPHERE, DÉCOR, AMBIENCE
A cavernous boxy layout that extended towards the back, you had one vendor outside of the actual hall (Bardonna) at the front and six other vendors (three on each side) inside the hall with electric neon signage while the aforementioned proposed vendor along the very back wall https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=BtKwudoT0SayX73asXp9gg&userid=8jVT2inwc8GIQ6sH2UG9Vw. Each storefrontage was basically a 10'x20' open-kitchen stall, and decent communal dining both inside (right down the middle aisle that split the vendors) and outside on the front patio along Spring St. https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=kPCEj9Q4azB37xSGjPxUrA&userid=8jVT2inwc8GIQ6sH2UG9Vw. Each stall had various decorations posted to their respective walls but collectively made the place look like a flea market. A minimal amount of natural lighting came through the front large glass windows and doors https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=YVyM3W9nBtiBoZjhrpqhmw&userid=8jVT2inwc8GIQ6sH2UG9Vw while medium-wattage electric ceiling lights filled in the rest. There were a couple muted TVs while loud rock & roll music played in the background.
ATTIRE
Totally casual, so I would normally be in a t-shirt, boardshorts, and flip-flops.
OVERALL
I wasn't impressed by Corporation Food Hall which assuredly placed me in the minority. Although the restaurant mix was diverse, I felt they were nothing special, charged way more than what their food was worth, and had no interest to return. I found decent value based on the prices, service, and experience noted above (TOTAL paid experience was around $17.00 BEFORE any discounts/tip). And, all businesses accepted my credit card of choice...AMEX! 2.5 STARS