Durham Food Hall opens indoor dining, brings hope for local economy
The easing of mask restrictions have local businesses returning to almost normal operations. A food hall in Durham is now welcoming people indoors starting today for the very first time.
The Durham Food Hall opened its doors in May 2020, but indoor dining was nowhere near a possibility at the time. One year later, guests can expect to see spread out tables and limited seating.
"This is a dream come true," Senior Food Hall Director Simeon Humphreys said. "We’ve only opened in COVID operations so that’s all we’ve ever known. And this is really what we want to do. We’re so excited to have people in."
Humphreys said they haven’t been able to celebrate the true fashion of a food hall. While many businesses have been hanging on by a thread this year, Humphreys said the community has helped keep their doors open.
"Durham has open their hearts and there wallets to us quite frankly," Humphreys said. "And we couldn't be more grateful. Even though every vendor in the hall had to change their business model to take out only, people showed up."
Michael Monds opened his new business, Marco’s, at the food hall this month. While facing hardship, he said the financial possibilities of indoor dining bring him hope for what’s to come.
"It’s going to be great for business and we’re just looking forward to picking up our business and doing great business in the year coming up," Monds said.
The hall is operating at limited capacity for now and masks are still encouraged but not required. Durham Food Hall will open more seating in phases each month to give staff and vendors more time to adjust.
Nearby businesses are thrilled about the foot traffic the food hall could bring to Foster Street.
"Definitely having this open for the community will bring back that sense of community in this area as well," said Nathaniel Williams, a leasing consultant with Foster on the Park.
