South Side’s Hotly Anticipated Food Hall to Open Next Week

The South Side’s hotly anticipated One Eleven Food Hall will open next week in Pullman. Opening day is on Monday, as the project brings together three restaurants to an underserved part of the city. It’s part of a plan to develop the area around the Pullman National Monument, the state’s first national monument.

The food hall was supposed to open this week, but hit a small delay. Two out of the three restaurants, Laine’s Bake Shop and Exquisite To Go, will open for breakfast. Exquisite is a spinoff of Tiffany Mone’t Williams’s Exquisite Catering. She’ll serve breakfast burritos and sandwiches with sausages she made herself. Soup, brisket and chicken tinga sandwiches, plus macaroni and cheese round out her menu highlights.

Laine’s Bake Shop is a bakery that’s supplied items for Whole Foods and Starbucks. Rachel Bernier-Green established her business in 2013, running a small bakery in Morgan Park. In Pullman, she’ll have a large number of items including muffins, cupcakes, cookies, mini pies, and parfaits. She’ll also serve cheesecake jars and coffee from Kusanya Roasters out of Englewood.

The final restaurant is Majani. Tsadakeeyah Ben Emmanuel is the former executive chef at Soul Vegetarian, the 75th Street staple for vegan food. Majani’s food hall menu wasn’t immediately available, but expect a variety of vegan sandwiches, burgers, and gyros.

All three chefs are African American and have international spins on their menus. That helps illustrate One Eleven’s tagline of “creating a diverse dining collective.” Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives is in charge of the project. The nine-year-old group’s goal is to encourage development in underserved neighborhoods.

One Eleven is touting itself as the South Side’s first food hall. Fans of Chinatown’s Richland Food Court may reason differently. Stay tuned for a peek inside one of the most anticipated restaurant openings of the spring.