A new report from commercial real estate firm Cushman &Wakefield predicts that food halls—where multiple vendors operatefood stalls within a shared space—are well positioned to pivot andgrow in the aftermath of COVID-19 and are likely to be among thefirst in the restaurant sector to bounce back post lockdowns.

"Against this backdrop, it would seem that socially driven foodand beverage concepts would be the most vulnerable and that the eraof the food hall may be ending abruptly," reads the report. "Yet,as counter intuitive as this may sound, we see a strong case as towhy the exact opposite is true—not just in terms of the ability tosurvive the immediate challenges posed by the pandemic, but toemerge as one of the dominant forces to rebuild the independentrestaurant industry in the post-COVID world."

First of all, food halls are extremely popular with millennialsand Generation Z consumers, who appreciate the social dining aspectthat they offer. A recent survey of people in those categoriesshowed that a much higher percent said they will to return torestaurants as soon as lockdowns end than to activities such asgoing to the movies or the gym. (55% of the millennial andGeneration Z respondents said they would return the restaurants assoon as isolation ends.) Thus, Cushman & Wakefield anticipatespent-up demand from the demographics to which food halls cater.