A new 25,000 square foot food market is opening today, April 27, at Phipps Plaza.
Citizens Market, which comes from a partnership between global experience company Legends and the food tech platform C3, was developed by businessman Sam Nazarian.
The food hall features C3 brands, including Umami Burger, Sam’s Crispy Chicken, sushi concept Krispy Rice, Sa’Moto, coffee shop Ella Mia, sandwich shop Cicci De Carne, Mediterranean Soom Soom, and El Pollo Verde.
“A lot of times, food halls, they’re individual operators. A lot of them are local, which is fantastic and great, because you get to experience a lot of great things,” said Legends Vice President of Food Halls Kevin Sbraga. “But the experiences can be very different. The service styles can be very different, the design is very different, the layout is very different. With us, we’re all operated under one umbrella. We’re all the vision of C3.”
A Citizens Market that already exists in New York uses a ghost kitchen format, which focuses solely on delivery and carry out without the dine-in experience. According to Sbraga, the Atlanta market might incorporate ghost kitchen concepts, but that would happen further down the road.
“There’s eight magnificent brands that we’re launching with, plus an indoor/outdoor bar,” Sbraga said. “We really just want to knock that out of the park and do a great job with that before we take on too much.”
The menus at Citizens’ restaurants were created by chefs such as Japanese Chef Masaharu Morimoto, Andalusian Chef Dani García, and Pastry Chef Cindy Kruse.
“The brands that we’re delivering don’t exist in this market. These brands aren’t here,” Sbraga said. “We’re excited to be a part of this market and add to it.”
The food hall is part of a larger expansion effort at Phipps Plaza. The Nobu hotel and restaurant opened last year, and the manufacturing company Novelis recently relocated its global and North American headquarters to Phipps Plaza.