C3 To Launch Food Halls In NYC, Atlanta at Brookfield, Simon Property Locations

“We spent the last year expanding our delivery-only concepts and closed out 2020 with close to 200 digital kitchens, 15 brands, 1,200 employees and 1.1 million meals served.”

Food and beverage platform C3 will open two outposts of the lifestyle food hall Citizens in New York City and Atlanta this year and next. 

A 40,000 square foot Citizens will open in New York City at Brookfield Properties Manhattan West this summer, and a 24,000 square foot location will open in Atlanta at Simon Property Group’s Phipps Plaza in 2022. Additional locations will open thereafter in Seattle, Miami, and California. 

C3 has strategic partnerships with Brookfield Properties and Simon Property Group, which is also a minority investor in the company. 

The Citizens concept brings C3which was an early adopter of the ghost kitchen conceptinto the experiential, brick-and-mortar market. The food halls will feature C3 brands including Krispy Rice, Umami Burger and Sam’s Crispy Chicken, and the Manhattan West location will feature three dining concepts in partnership with Spanish chef Dani Garciaand Los Angeles-based sushi chef Katsuya Uechi.

Each location will offer pick-up and meal delivery through the new CITIZENS GO app, and each Citizens will operate fast casual concepts out of a dedicated ghost kitchen.

“We spent the last year expanding our delivery-only concepts and closed out 2020 with close to 200 digital kitchens, 15 brands, 1,200 employees and 1.1 million meals served. Now with Citizens, we’re bringing our brands into the experiential space, partnering with Brookfield Properties and Simon to open within two of the most highly anticipated developments in the country,” says C3 founder and president Sam Nazarian. 

The Manhattan West location is being billed as a “true day-to-night destination” that will include up to nine separate food hall kiosks and a range of fast casual options ranging from modern American to Asian-fusion, as well as a boutique wine shop with interactive classes for guests, an EllaMia café and a central bar serving pastries during the day and craft cocktails into the evening. 

“We’re thrilled to welcome Citizens’ elevated culinary concepts to Manhattan West, introducing New Yorkers and visitors not only to a brand-new dynamic neighborhood, but a new way of thinking about fast casual dining revolutionized by the team at C3,” said Jason Maurer, SVP of Retail Leasing at Brookfield Properties. 

The Atlanta location, which is anticipated to open at the end of 2022, marks C3’s first expansion into that metro. 

“Citizens Atlanta is redefining what it means to dine in the retail space, transforming food and beverage from an afterthought to the main attraction,” says Patrick Peterman, SVP of development at Simon Property Group. “Through this partnership, Citizens Atlanta is further transforming Phipps Plaza into Buckhead’s premier luxury shopping, dining, entertainment and hospitality destination.”