14 Mill Market is a new food hall opened in a small town–but making a big impact.
It’s a place for morning meetings and evening kickback-and-relax time. You have multiple choices for food and drink, entertainment or peace, and everything you’d imagine in the food hall concept come-to-life.
14 Mill Market is billed as Southwest Missouri’s first food hall, but you’d never know they hadn’t been at it for years. The former mill has a long lineage and is likely quite thrilled with its current iteration. As are its patrons.
The Market, which is host to ten different food concepts, has been developed by Rich and Leah Callahan, “with inspiration from their urban roots and love of travel, combined with what they feel the Ozarks offers best–community hospitality.” The Market is located in, of all places, Nixa, Missouri: population 25,605.
It’s not just dependent on locals, though. The region is both growth-oriented and tourism-focused—after all, nearby Springfield is the original home of Bass Pro Shops, and owner Johnny Morris has invested considerably to bringing new food concepts and culture to the area. Nixa is also within close proximity to both St. Louis and Kansas City, and Springfield is a hub for medical, transportation, and culture.
The outdoor spaces, which include artificial turf for games and this fire pit, are available to rent, as well.
The Market is definitely the place to be, not just for the food options, but also for its full-service bar and outdoor entertainment area, complete with artificial turf and cornhole boards and, in another side area, a bocce ball lane.
You can even rent the space around the fire pit or the full entertainment area for your own party. The food will be right there, from—as for now—the list of places below. Several of them operate in other spaces as well, including offering online sales and catering:
Abby’s Acai Co
D’Vine Deli / Pie Paradiso (pizza)
Liege Love Waffle
Lindsay’s Kitchen
Nacho Ordinary Taco
Mo Slider
Queen City Soul Kitchen
Sno Biz
Fresh Poke
Plus, there is the full Wisner Bar featuring products by 4×4 Brewing.
As for the atmosphere, it’s what you’d expect from a food hall—which is sort of a cross between a mall food court and a cafeteria, where you order from individual storefronts and meet in the middle to eat, all under one roof.
A view down the center of the food hall doesn’t really do it justice–it branches out and covers 12,000 sq. ft. plus the outdoor space.
There are TVs hanging from strategic locations, and fresh flowers at the tables, which are plentiful and well-spaced. Seating inside is a mix of wood-topped tables and comfortable metal chairs with the occasional padded love seat and coffee table arrangement; outside it’s the same with the addition of Adirondack chairs and strands of lights. The soda fountains are centrally located for self-service once you buy a cup.
Workers with “CREW” in white letters visible on the back of their black t-shirts busily wipe down the tables and chairs, ensuring they are ready for the next users. However, no one is hurrying you. There is no one needing to turn the table, no one concerned when you bring food from more than one place to the table. The CREW will even rearrange tables to accommodate your group.
Patrons are a mix of business people coming in and out of meetings (with sides rooms available), work teams with computers in front of them, solo workers huddled over their laptops and tablets, and couples enjoying a leisurely meal with plenty from which to choose. Of course, it’s perfectly OK to wander to each stand and check out what they offer before making your selections and getting down to business!
Through it all is a nice background music vibe, fitting with the concrete floor and open landscape ceiling. Thought has gone into the new buildin, giving it a farmers market feel but with the structure of ordering at a restaurant’s front counter.
A worker at Leige Love Waffle prepares for the growing mid-day crowd.
While it is a newly constructed facility, they’ve paid tribute to the location’s origins, incorporating pieces of the mill into the landscaping.
We can’t leave out the smells. In the early morning there’s fresh orange being sliced, waffles baking, and the beginnings of a spicy scent emanating from the taco stand. Later, the scents mingle more, leaving you with the feeling of a comfortable and cozy kitchen.
This is the Original from Abby’s Açaí Co, with strawberry, banana, and blueberry, but you can also design your own açaí cup ingredients. The coffee and delicious homemade Everything Bagel are from Lindsay’s Kitchen.
There’s no drive through or typical fast food; this is more likely to be local and artisan in nature. Take, for example, Abby’s Acai Co. The star here is the creamy acai covered with your choice of fruit and granola, with a scattering of chia seeds. You feel good eating it, knowing those high levels of antioxidants and phytochemicals are going into your body, but it also tastes amazing.
This one is the Mango from Abby’s Açaí Co, with mango, pineapple, blueberry, granola, and coconut.
Do your tastes run more to the traditional? Get the oatmeal, which is served hot or cold, and full of flavor that is hard to recreate at home. Abby/s Açaí started as a weekend farmers market stand, and the Market location gives it a chance to be found on a daily basis.
Try the oatmeal from Abby’s Açaí Co, with your choice of fruit.
Or try Lindsay’s Kitchen, complete with bagels and breakfast sandwiches, cinnamon rolls and scones, and lots more. By lunchtime they’ve traded out the breakfast sandwiches for sandwiches and salads, and it’s all good. The coffee is bottomless and fresh, too!
In these days of remote work, 14 Mill Market a place to come and stay the day—with more options than coffee and sweet pastries. It’s got an energy that reminds you that life is interesting and that there are still new things to see and do. It’s a call to tourists and to locals alike.
It’s also collaborative. All of these businesses are sharing space, pooling their advertising resources, and working social media to benefit all of the building tenants. It works for the way consumers eat, drink, and socialize in today’s culture.
If this incarnation of the food hall idea is what is happening across the nation, there are a lot more good things to come. For a look at comparison food halls, check out the two below:
8th Street Market in Bentonville, Ark.
And, the largest food hall in the country:
Fifth + Broadway in Nashville, Tenn.
Most photos by Paul K. Logsdon