Some familiar names in Richmond dining are heading to the Southside as Manchester’s food hall welcomes in a round of new tenants.
TBT El Gallo and Greek on Cary are preparing to open in the Hatch Local food hall at 400 Hull St. The taqueria and Mediterranean spots are replacing previous Hatch residents Odyssey Fish and Sincero, respectively.
Hatch Local is an offshoot of Hatch Kitchen, a food-and-beverage incubator that started as a shared commercial kitchen in Clopton Siteworks in South Richmond in 2018. Hatch is co-owned by Lynx Ventures, which developed Clopton Siteworks and built The Current, the $68 million mixed-use project in which Hatch Local operates.
The food hall opened last year with nine vendor stalls across 9,000 square feet, and the incoming arrivals of TBT and Greek on Cary mark the first new additions to the Hatch roster since its opening. The plans were confirmed by Lynx co-founder Bernard Harkless and Hatch marketing director Jordan Hanna.
TBT is taking over a space left vacant by Odyssey Fish, which moved out of the food hall to pursue a brick-and-mortar spot in the West End.
Carlos Ordaz-Nunez started TBT as a pop-up in 2020 and quickly moved into the former Naked Onion building for his first full-time restaurant. He said he first connected with Hatch shortly after opening when he had an equipment malfunction at his Fan restaurant. Hatch was able to help him out and keep the business rolling while he got repairs.
Carlos Ordaz-Nunez (BizSense file photo)
“The people at Hatch helped me bail water so my dreams wouldn’t drown and die right away,” Ordaz-Nunez said.
For his food hall iteration, Ordaz-Nunez will use the name TBT Gallito. The name translates to “little rooster,” a play on the fact that the food hall stall is even smaller than the 700 square feet TBT occupies in the Fan. Ordaz-Nunez said Gallito will have a similar menu to El Gallo.
“We’re going to bring our core menu – our top six tacos and the burritos we’re known for,” Ordaz-Nunez said. “But we’re also going to rotate the other third of the menu.”
Last spring Ordaz-Nunez was working on expanding his restaurant with a second location in Willow Lawn, however he said that deal fell through.
A crowdfunding campaign through WeFunder, which allows people to invest in companies in exchange for a slice of equity, allowed Ordaz-Nunez to raise over $104,000 for the Willow Lawn expansion. He said that money hasn’t been pulled out of investors’ accounts but he can still access it for another full location, which he’s planning to pursue in addition to the food hall move.
Meanwhile Greek on Cary will take a stall in Hatch Local occupied by Mexican concept Sincero. Sincero is leaving to focus on finding its own permanent spot, Harkless and Hanna said.
Greek on Cary has operated in Carytown since 2012. Owners Alex Konstantinidis and Cam Layton weren’t available for comment by press time.
Hatch Local was the first modern food hall to open in the city.
TBT Gallito is planning to open in late June, and Harkless and Hanna said they anticipate that Greek on Cary will open in July.
The other tenants at Hatch Local are Fat Kid Sandwiches, Cambodian concept Royal Pig, juice bar The Beet Box, friend chicken spot Buttermilk and Honey, and burger joint Bully Burger. The food hall also has a Hatch-run bar.
Harkless and Hanna said that in lieu of charging monthly rent to its vendors, Hatch takes an undisclosed percentage of sales. Since opening, Hatch has made a number of changes to its operations, including offering optional table service, printing menus as an alternative to QR codes, and shuttering the Hatch-run coffee bar in the food hall.
“We’re talking to a couple coffee places to bring their brands to the hall to do coffee and some breakfast options,” Harkless said of the coffee bar space.
Hanna said Hatch is trying to let the food hall grow by being adaptable. That’s the same approach taken with the broader Hatch Kitchen business, and over the years the company has added a warehousing and logistics division, a corral for food truck operators and other operations across its 80,000 square feet in Clopton.
“We don’t want to be very rigid with it,” Hanna said. “We’re trying to be flexible.”
