The Garden

Downtown Pensacola food hall ranks popular for local consumers and entrepreneurs

A close cousin to the cafeteria and inspired by the nearly bygone era of the mall food court, the dining hall boom has carved out space for communities to gather and for local entrepreneurs to thrive. 

“You really get the gamut in the food hall environment,” says Michael Carro, managing partner at The Garden at Palafox + Main in Pensacola. “A place like The Garden has a natural draw of people. So, once they get there, they get exposure to all businesses, even if they went there for somebody else’s product.”

Food halls were noted as one of the fastest-growing food and beverage trends in the U.S. even before the COVID-19 pandemic. A 2020 study by Cushman & Wakefield identified 223 food halls in operation and more than 165 in development. 

Carro conceptualized the downtown Pensacola open-air dining experience, originally named Al Fresco, in 2010. The space offered an outdoor, uncovered patio featuring vendors operating out of on-site Airstream-style food trucks. Al Fresco closed for eight months in 2020 and reopened with a fresh face and name that July. 

“We were able to take everything off the property and completely reimagine it into what you see today as The Garden,” says Carro.

The makeover and expansion added more vendor spaces, an enhanced flow, and a covered roof. Today, The Garden is home to 11 vendor spaces across five kiosks, four Airstreams, the bar, and an interior restaurant.

“At any given time, there’s always going to be one or two tenants rotating in and out,” says Carro, “That’s by design. It allows tenants to try out concepts.”

Carro points to George and Luba Lazi, owners of Pensacola’s George Bistro. Before opening their second restaurant venture, Pearl & Horn in 2024, they brought the concept to The Garden. 

“It was such a success that they went from a very small space to a 7,000-square-foot building where they’re having phenomenal success,” Carro says. 

The spectrum of experience across business owners at The Garden has created a community for entrepreneurial feedback.

“Your neighbors are in the same business line as you,” Carro says. “And I have found that most restaurant owners are really open to assisting their brothers. They really want to see each other succeed.”

Some, like the Lazis, have used The Garden as a test kitchen, some treat the food hall as a stepping stone to establish a customer base before moving onto a food truck or brick-and-mortar location, while others enjoy the stability of the rental space and its low barriers to entry. 

Bluefin Poke owner Bom Barnard has thrived in the food hall setting for six years.

He first opened his business at a dining hall in Spanish Fort, Alabama in 2019. As his lease neared an end, he sought a more coastal location for his traditionally Hawaiian poke bowl business. 

At The Garden, Barnard says he’s got everything he needs. Small but mighty, his 100 square feet of kiosk space is sufficient for his create-your-own-bowl menu style. 

“The cost is matched perfectly with the sales, labor, and the rent and everything, for the small kiosk,” he says. 

While the Airstreams are capable of producing a wider variety of food options with their full kitchens,
The Garden provides kiosk vendors
with optional communal kitchen space with ice machines, refrigerators,
and cooktops.

“You have a lot of flexibility,” notes The Garden’s Carro. “And you can also stay focused on really perfecting a narrow product line. As opposed to how some restaurants have a book as a menu, you can really stay focused in that specific lane.”

Barnard says, in Pensacola, he’s homed in on his demographic—the young professionals lunch crowd. The combination of fresh, quality food, fast service, and a casual atmosphere make Bluefin a popular weekday pit stop.

“They like to go to one spot where they can drink, get food, or have a snack,” Bernard says. 

While the pre-established customer base has been a top benefit for Barnard, he also appreciates the marketing efforts that come with being a Garden tenant. A marketing fund pools money across the 11 businesses to cover event expenses and advertising initiatives like live music, trivia nights, weekend DJ sets, and social media coverage. 

Bo Hamilton, owner of Ox Kitchen, appreciates the responsibilities owned by The Garden. 

“That’s the biggest benefit,” Hamilton says. “You’re not maintaining a dining room; you’re just handing food out a window. It’s a much simpler operation.”

Hamilton opened his restaurant’s first location at a food hall in Fairhope, Alabama in 2017, which he upgraded to a brick-and-mortar location in 2021. Having experienced a good start in food halls, Hamilton expanded his business to Florida, opening in an Airstream at The Garden. 

The dining hall demographic differed in Pensacola from Fairhope, carrying an expanded traffic clientele with locals, tourists, military personnel, and college students. 

But being close to the beach comes at a cost. 

“Fairhope was a whole lot cheaper but also did not have a very established customer base,” Hamilton says. “We really had to build that customer base on our own. Whereas Pensacola has a more established customer base, but it’s very expensive.”

But he notes, location remains king in attracting business. 

“The more foot traffic, the better.”