Madison K.
Yelp
It's here! Providence's own food hall, Track 15, has arrived at the station- literally, because it's at the old Union Hall train station. Food halls are essentially fancier food courts, and this one is as trendy as any other one I've been in around the country. What's cool is that it's in the train station, so think brick walls and wooden tables and metal chairs. The menus above each restaurant look like train timetables, and if an item is sold out it'll say "departed" which is so cute. There are currently 7 restaurant options and a bar. There's a pizza place called Mother's (the pizza looked really good), a Mediterranean option, an Indian option called Little Chaska (from the talent at Chaska and Kabob and Curry), Dune Brothers Seafood, tacos at a place called Dolores, a burger place, and an Italian place called guisto.
First off, everything looked amazing. We walked around to read each menu before making our decision as these aren't posted online, and watching people walk around with their trays of food was also impactful. My cousin and I both decided on Dune Brothers, which I've always wanted to try, and it was fantastic! My cousin loved her fish sandwich, which she got with Old Bay fries. I had the clam cakes and chowder, which was also delicious. Definitely one of the better chowders I've had in a while! The clam cakes were crispier than what I'm used to but still good- and when you dipped it in the tartar sauce it really elevated it. Their tartar sauce was soooo good! It was very lemony, and I'll be thinking about it for a while!! Oh, and if you want water, you can grab some at the bar. They had pitchers out with empty glasses if you just wanted water!
So how it works is you walk in, look around, and when you decide what you want to eat you just order it from that counter. You can then go find a seat somewhere, there are long communal tables and some smaller ones, and they'll text you when your food is ready, and you go back to the same counter to get it. Then enjoy! A staff member bussed our table for it, but if she wasn't around you'd just go to the trash and return the tray there, I believe.
Now, parking is paid at one of two locations. The garage under the hotel next door or at the surface lot next to the place. You can get parking validated for both and get a discount of $5 I think it was for 2 hours. I chose the garage, which was a bit hectic. We had to drive all the way to the bottom to grab one of the last spots there. The guy who parked next to us thought we weren't even allowed to park there because a paper taped to a column read something like "Attention! This area is monitored hourly. If you are found in this area the police will remove you." seeing as it didn't say "no parking," I took it to be a warning to loiterers. The other guy, however, got nervous and left to park somewhere else. The garage is staffed though. The exit to the garage takes you right to Track15's entrance though! To validate parking, there are kiosks at the doors in the food hall. You have to scan your parking ticket on an iPad, and then scan it again on a different screen to pay for it. Although you could probably do that second step when you pull out of the garage. Probably.
Anyways, I'm glad Track 15 is finally here and I can't wait to return to try the other vendors! I hope as it gets warmer, they partner with some sort of ice cream truck to park outside. There's no dedicated sweet treat vendor inside and I think that's a must! Although the pizza place did sell ice cream and the Italian place sold tiramisu... I think more is in order as it gets warmer!