Chris Foran

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Crossroads Collective, the much-anticipated east side food hall, will have its grand opening Dec. 17, after a string of soft openings the weekend before.

Invitation-only previews of the new dining space are planned for Dec. 13 and 14, with another soft opening event on Dec. 15, with invitations for the latter available later on Crossroads Collective's Facebook page and Instagram account (@crossroadsmke), according to Tim Gokhman, director of New Land Enterprises, which owns the building at 2238 N. Farwell Ave.

New Land announced in May plans to convert the building at Farwell and North avenues — best remembered as the former Oriental Drugs building, which in recent years has been occupied by several restaurants — into a food hall, a popular dining trend across the country. Unlike a shopping mall food court, a food hall's tenants typically are local food providers, with menus of made-from-scratch offerings.

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Gokhman also confirmed two additional tenants for Crossroads Collective: Beerline Cafe, a vegetarian restaurant that also has a location at 2076 N. Commerce St.; and Heaven's Table BBQ, a barbecue catering business.

They join a lineup that also includes Falafel Guys, Laughing Taco, Scratch Ice Cream and Frida, a soup-and-sandwich restaurant from the owners of Tess. The food hall also will have a "secret" speakeasy-style bar, called Shanghai.

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