Finn Hall retools food hall concept with new vendors

Hunain Dada, of Lionstone Investments (director of real estate portfolio management,) Miranda Cartwright with Midway (senior manager for property management,) and David Buehrer are bringing new management and ideas to the downtown food hall, Finn Hall. Buehrer is the project's new culinary director. less Hunain Dada, of Lionstone Investments (director of real estate portfolio management,) Miranda Cartwright with Midway (senior manager for property management,) and David Buehrer are bringing new management and ... more Photo: Marie D. De Jesús, Staff Photographer Photo: Marie D. De Jesús, Staff Photographer Image 1 of / 15 Caption Close Finn Hall retools food hall concept with new vendors 1 / 15 Back to Gallery

A major player in downtown’s competitive food hall scene is getting a fresh new injection of management expertise and culinary firepower.

The food and beverage offerings at Finn Hall at 712 Main will now be guided by David Buehrer, a familiar face on the Houston food scene, who is the owner of Greenway Coffee Company and has launched concepts including Blacksmith, Morningstar, Coral Sword, Prelude Coffee & Tea and Tropicales. The announcement was made Friday by Lionstone Investments, which owns The Jones at Main (708 and 712 Main, in the J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. building), and property manager Midway Companies.

In a re-envisioning of the 20,000-square-foot food hall, which opened in November 2018, Finn Hall’s management team realized a new direction and some exciting culinary muscle was needed. That’s where Buehrer comes in.

As Finn Hall’s new culinary director, Buehrer has already recruited three new concepts for the hall which already includes Amaya Coffee, Craft Burger, Dish Society, Low Tide, Oddball Eats, Pizza Zquare, and Yong. The three new vendors will be:

Lit Chicken: This project brings back together chef Ross Coleman and James Haywood, whose now-closed Kitchen 713 on Washington burned bright for nearly two years, earning the chefs a seminfinals spot on the 2018 James Beard Awards list for Best Chef Southwest. Coleman and Haywood will offer a menu focusing on fried chicken and rotisserie chicken. It will take the space formerly occupied by Mala Sichuan.

Papalo Taqueria: Partners Stephanie Velazquez and Nicolas Vera, formerly of Underbelly Hospitality and Xochi, will serve Mexican street food and Mexico City-style tacos made with house-made corn tortillas from various varietal corn. Papalo will occupy the space that was originally home to Goode Co. Taqueria, which did not renew its lease to continue operating its first expansion of the original taqueria brand.

Pho Binh: A new generation of Houston’s beloved pho empire will make a home downtown with the opening of a new outpost from chefs Di Nguyen and Kevin Pham whose family owns the highly-regarded Pho Binh by Night. Pho Binh will go into the space formerly occupied by Sit Lo.

Lit Chicken and Papalo Taqueria are scheduled to open this week; Pho Binh by April 1.

“We are excited to introduce the new faces of Finn Hall,” Buehrer said. “Finn Hall is not simply a place to eat when you are downtown, it is evolving as a destination for food lovers, served in one of the most remarkable venues in the city.”

Indeed, making Finn Hall a dining destination for Houston food lovers – not just those who work and live downtown – was what prompted Lionstone and Midway to take a new look at the concept. Though Finn Hall was the second food hall to open downtown, it now faces competition from new operators (Shake Shack, Mendocino Farms, both within a block) and other food halls including Bravery Chef Hall, Understory, and Underground Hall (opening in the former Conservatory space) and the promised Lyric Market.

“We realized that we needed to look at it and turn it on its head,” Miranda Cartwright, Midway’s senior manager of property management, said of Finn Hall.

The hall’s original operator is now gone. With Buehrer brought in last fall, Lionstone and Midway sought to revamp the Finn Hall format to make it more profitable to its food and beverage vendors. Buehrer’s new management model cut operating costs for tenants significantly, providing a “more lucrative and appealing restaurant format,” Cartwright said.

Buehrer’s deep connections with the local food scene, also were key, said Hunain Dada, real estate portfolio management director for Lionstone.

“With the proliferation of food halls in the city, we remain steadfast in attracting the best culinary offerings to Houston’s largest, most beautiful food hall,” Dada said. “With his culinary track record for success, there is no one more forward thinking than David to curate Finn Hall’s newest concepts.”

Buehrer isn’t done yet. He is working on bringing in a new operator for Finn Hall’s center bar. He also wants to install a new concept for Swallow’s Nest, the Art Deco cocktail lounge perched above the hall on the mezzanine level.

Greg Morago writes about food for the Houston Chronicle. Follow him on Facebook or Twitter. Send him news tips at greg.morago@chron.com. Hear him on our BBQ State of Mind podcast to learn about Houston and Texas barbecue culture.