This is a fairly new "food hall" in Rock Hill...and well, for starters, I'm glad this little town actually has one now!
To start on a good note, this place definitely has some merits...with its comfy patio seating area. Unfortunately, since it's so hot right now, nobody was able to enjoy their outdoor accommodations. So...this review is based strictly on the indoor portion.
I must get frank. I thought the place could have been much nicer if the floorings were done. The way it is, it's very raw, rough...industrial (??). The place is spacious enough, with some cool architectural points (high ceilings, floating windows??), but something about the place just doesn't feel sleek and sophisticated...rather, clunky. I don't know, I've seen some super-snazzy food halls throughout U.S...and this one is quite modest at best. Also, on a super-hot day (90+ degrees!), they had this one big window open...so on one side of the food hall, it was too hot/humid. WHY did they have the windows open on a day like this?!? Ridiculous! One more thing. The place isn't "distributed" well (I can't find the right word!)...in that one half of the place has all the windows, and all the action (bar, band, etc.etc.)...and the other part is all blocked in (with no winows, no decor, no action). However, the part that was blocked in was much cooler (in temperature!), so that's where we chose to hang out. Again, the vibe was kinda weird...just "clunky" all over. Definitely not one of the better food halls I've seen. Even my husband agreed that he expected more...better...nicer.
BTW, not sure if it's only on weekend nights, but they did have an acoustic guitar player near the bar area. However, you really can't hear the music that well if you're seated on the other half of the food hall.
There's about half a dozen vendors. Not many, but a good, diverse selection. BTW, the name of each vendor was not displayed well enough. The names were just subtly embedded into the walls...barely visible when walking by. Why, I wonder?? Anyway, the one that I chose to try was the Naroodle Chibi (Japanese, of course!). My husband tried Chilango (Mexico, always his Go-To!).
Sadly, my husband hated the tacos from Chilango. I agreed with him...the tacos were toy-sized, and looked terrible. I asked him if they tasted as bad as they looked...and sadly, his answer was "YEP". Never again. Fortunately, I liked my choice a bit better. Naroodle had a VERY limited menu. Only 2 appetizers (chicken or veggie gyoza), and 4-5 types of ramen. No Bao Buns, nothing else! They DID, however, have this super-cute Teddy Bear bottled Thai Tea!! LOVED this lol! I went with their most unique BBQ Ramen...very Southern fusion, I guess. It was fairly good, with an unusual BBQ taste...my first "fusion" ramen! I also tried their veggie gyoza. It was O-Kay...but not even close to being as good as the version I tried in GA recently (at Slurpin' Ramen). Honestly, my favorite part was their Teddy Bear Thai Tea! I must admit, however, that it wasn't as sweet as most Thai Teas...and could have been served a bit colder as well. Maybe I should have done a separate review for the Naroodle Chibi??
In any case, I liked the foods O-Kay at Naroodle Chibi...but they were just passably good. Again, my husband thought the tacos at Chilango weren't even passable. Despite the underwhelming foods (both taste and presentation - in paper/plastic get-ups!), they were WAY overpriced.
We also tried ice cream at The Local Scoops, another one of their vendors...and well, here, the prices were a bit more reasonable. However, I didn't quite love it. The ice cream had a thick, super-sticky consistency...and well, just not that delicious (to me, anyway!).
Overall, I just didn't think anything we tried were too impressive. We did agree to return and try them at least one more time in the future...if for anything, to check out their nice outdoor patio scene. Am thinking THAT may be the big redemption for this place...given the "clunky" indoor space and the way-too-pricey-yet-underwhelming foods we tried. I'm hoping I can upgrade this review on my next visit...when we can actually sit outside, and enjoy their patio scene. read more