Tameeka Randall and her father, operators of the Baltimore restaurant Next Phaze Cafe, took a step toward fixing the issue of not having any sit-down restaurants in their area by building a 7,800-square-foot food hall, Baltimore Magazine reported.
Randall got the idea when she realized she didn’t want to cook for dinner when she returned home from cooking for her restaurant’s customers. She preferred to go somewhere to sit and eat. The problem is there weren’t many places for her to do that.
She and her father teamed up with six other businesses to launch The Mill on North, located at Walbrook Mill at West North and Braddish avenues. Construction for the food hall already began and is expected to be completed by the spring. Some of the developing patterns are Timonium’s Osprey Property Co. and Coppin Heights Community Development Corporation.
“Does building a food hall solve the problems of West Baltimore? NO,” Dan Ellis, the executive director of Neighborhood, said. “But if you build the housing and the food hall and you do economic development, each of these investments cumulatively makes an impact.”
In addition to Next Phaze’s soul food, the food hall will include a baked potato restaurant called Dancing Potatoes, a burger joint called The Blissful Burger Bar, baked goods from Cupsey Cakesy, a sandwich parlor called D&B Deli, seafood from Dream St. Cuisine, and 3 Chefs’ Caribbean-Style brunch. They also plan on adding a full-service bar.
Management consultant April Richardson described the vendor hiring process as short-vetted, saying they tasted their food and listened to their stories during the interview to ensure they were a good fit for the food hall.
“I’m looking forward to not just offering our food but being part of something to impress the economic state of the community,” Randall’s father, Tony Randall, said. “This project offers that, and we’re just blessed to be part of it.”
The Mill on North is expected to open in 2023.
