The Loop Is Getting Yet Another Food Hall For The Lunch Crowd

By Stephen Gossett in Food on Sep 14, 2017 6:20PM

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Loop lunchers will soon have another food-hall option at their disposal, with the upcoming Forum 55 set to bring ten vendors and a marketplace downtown next month, at 55 E. Monroe St.

The food-hall frenzy has of course hit multiple Chicago neighborhoods in recent years. (It's even getting play in New York Times trend pieces, god help us.) But the craze remains perhaps most potent downtown, for the obvious reason that there's so much traffic, with spots like Revival Food Hall, Latinicity and the announced Wells St. Market.

Forum 55 is actually setting up shop inside what used to be a food court—which will surely provide more grist for agnostics who think the "hall" craze is merely clever rebranding subterfuge. But F55 looks to set itself apart from the pack on a few fronts. The Tribune notes that the hall will apparently feature one of the biggest salad bars in Chicago, full of local and regional produce (Windy City Harvest, Falling Waters Farms, MightyVine). And it will also feature an incubator aspect, called Apron Exchange, which provides resources for food businesses owned by women and minorities.

More vendor details will be made known next week, but we know so far to expect stalls that focus on deli fare, pizza, breakfast and sushi. Forum 55 will be open for breakfast and lunch, but not dinner.

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