Atlanta’s STHRN Hospitality to run Chicago’s Revival Food Hall

Order’s up!

And you can put a hospitality management outfit from Atlanta down as the new operator of the Revival Food Hall in the National Building in the Central Loop.

STHRN Hospitality recently agreed to the deal with Dusseldorf, Germany-based landlord Commerz Real. The new arrival — which oversees similar operations in its hometown as well as Los Angeles, Cincinnati and other cities — has already assumed control of operations at 125 South Clark Street, with “boots on the ground” for meetings with the 14 vendors at the ground floor food hall, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The arrival of STHRN Hospitality came just two days after word surfaced that 16” on Center, which pioneered the Revival Food Hall, planned to exit operations.

16” on Center attributed the move to the slow rate of return to office among Loop workers, a lagging pace that has trimmed customer traffic, along with an unwillingness of Commerz Real to adjust lease terms. The locally based 16” on Center said it plans to focus on its food hall in the Old Port Office building in the West Loop.

Kelly Campbell, a partner in STHRN Hospitality laid out plans to retain existing vendors under a new brand name to be announced in the near future.

“We’re in place; we’re ready to support,” Campbell told the outlet. “The biggest thing [customers should know] is that the tenant Revival was replaced, but all the stalls are remaining the same, and there will be no interruption in business. They’re a bunch of small businesses and great people, and we want to make sure people have the right information.”

Sam Barron, now a STHRN Hospitality vendor as the longtime operator of The Fat Shallot, said he appreciates the way the Atlanta crew has taken hold of the challenge. Barron also said customer traffic levels are sufficient and trending upward.

“Revival before COVID was bonkers in a good way, packed to the gills Monday through Friday as fast as you could get food out, so it’s never like it was before saleswise, but the downtown presence has certainly recovered where we can have a viable, bustling business in the Loop again,” Barron said.