Perfect spot for a group lunch. Pretty quiet for a Wednesday lunch rush. The food was good and there was something for everyone.

As much as I loathe the need to use this phrase, I suspect Hayden Hall, at the time of this writing, is a case of wasted potential. This situation is not entirely their fault, but they can take steps to usher in the change that will stop this wasting of potential. But why? Well: I've found there's a new BC/AC when it comes to time: Before COVID & After COVID. There are some AC changes that come with the territory, in this case I am referring to The Loop. While I've been in the city barely a year (as of this writing), I am told the Loop used to be much more vibrant BC. Now, locals come to the Loop to work, tourists come to see The Bean, and as night falls, the area becomes quiet, save for the El rumbling above. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, though! While there have been some mainstays that remained, the Loop seems to be slowly rebounding! Momento Cantina, for example. It is more gathering, eating, "third" places, if you will, that can help revitalize the area. Hayden Hall has a bar that looks like it hasn't seen a drop of liquor in five years, and there's also a deli-slicer pristine enough to be a museum piece and very unlikely to have seen a single slice of cheese. All of these are going unused, and HH closes at 3pm... People buy their food at lunch, and right back to work. Meanwhile, if the bar, deli-whatever-have-you, not to mention the hall itself were open late, people would have more incentive to not flee the Loop when the clock strikes five! It's a situation where it seems as though everyone is waiting for the area's nightlife to come back, but also waiting for someone else to extend their opening hours. If it's everyone's responsibility, it's no one's, a story going back to Biblical times, at least. As for the current state: The selection of restaurants isn't great, with six-ish restaurants plus a salad bar almost hidden, tucked away in the corner (with an outdoor patio behind it, to boot). It would be immensely helpful to have some website or at least social media page with a listing, and maybe online ordering, but that is apparently asking too much in 2025. Given the small selection, I do like how they are presented, where you can walk by in a straight line, see the menus, make a decision, loop around what your stomach or heart craves Nothing is cheap at present day, but I find the prices are comparable, if not a little less than some of the competition in the immediate surrounding area. My favorite part of the hall though is the vibe. I think the best way to describe it is to say it reminds me of Bioshock (without the being of underwater, decay, or splicers). Shall we say, a quirky, vintage, art deco, if that makes sense? The space is also very open, comfortable, and immaculately clean. Final Verdict: I know I spent a long time waxing poetic about the possibilities for Hayden Hall, and the disappointment that it isn't yet living into them. At the same time, I appreciate the need to judge a place by what it is, not what it was or could be. With that said, though the selection is limited, Hayden Hall is an excellent choice for a workday lunch, especially given the beautiful scenery and how welcoming the space is to individuals or groups! read more

Toured this building as apart of Choose Chicago Open House program. Actual Hayden Hall resident food establishments were closed on Sunday. However, I got to see the dining areas, utilize the bathrooms and see the lineup of restaurants. I would definitely grab food here and maybe even work from here. So many cozy seating areas. Would love to come back and patronize this establishment. read more

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I'm so glad this food hall reopened!!! Budlong, krafted burger, and lucky kat poke now serving 11am - 3pm. Plenty of seating spots. There's also a coffee shop on the first floor in the corner. I hope more vendors settle in! read more

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[At opening morning Feb 3, 2020] This brand new Food Hall in the loop in big red skyscraper (the former "CNA building") with windows that look out at the L trains as they pass! Oh, and there's weird little monkeys. Touchscreen ordering is powered by GrubHub--you swipe your card to start, touch your order, and add your phone number. The systems texts you when it's ready to pick it up. And nifty: shows current "wait times" at each stall in case you're in a hurry. No idea how accurate that'll be, but it's cool. The food hall really is large: multiple "zones" most of which are open seating. "Dusty-rose-red" plush chairs and long blue benches line the floor-to-ceiling windows which sit at the same height as the L tracks. Great spot to watch the CTA trains round the SE corner of the actual "Loop." Food includes nine upscale food stalls, including BBQ, salads, casual seafood, sandwiches, etc. This isn't upscale to the level of Time Out Market's chef-driven plates (and chef-driven prices)--thankfully Hayden Hall is a little more affordable for the lunch crowd. Gene's sausage for $6.75, brown rice Bi Bim Bop for $10, Italian hero sandwich for $12. There are two higher-end choices too: the prime middle zone is full service Ada St. restaurant with cloth napkins. Suspender-wearing bartenders stand under a warm-wood trippy bar umbrella. Yes, there are water stations. Ha. (some other recent openings have overlooked this handy necessity). For the deep dive--look closely at the murals on the walls. "Hayden Hall" is named for Sophia Hayden--the first female architecture graduate of MIT, and the designer of the Woman's Building at Chicago's 1893 Columbian Exposition. You can spot her name while walking up the main staircase, and food hallway's bright murals are tributes to more women-carved stone figures like rabbits and white stags. I'm digging this place--the vibe will switch well for business lunch crowd, daytime coworking, to evening drinks, or full dinner. read more

Came during a slow period around 3 o'clock. Walked around for a bit before I decided what I wanted. Went with the taqeria option. You see staff members at each stall. The ordering method is kind of unusal. You put your card into a machine and choose what you want off a digital kiosk. They get your phone number and text you when it's ready. The chips and salsa cost $3 separately. Which isn't a big deal but I wasn't given $3 worth of chips. If you go to a grocery store and get a back of tortilla chips or nachos you can get way more for 3 bucks. The burrito was decent. Went with a barbacoa, had some rice beans, lettuce and cheese. So Hayden halls Instagram was advertising a bottomless cocktail deal during their happy hour from 4 to 6. I finish my food at like 3:30 and wait around for Happy Hour to start. It's 4 now so I'm excited!!! One of the bartenders proceeds to tell me in order to get the bottomless cocktail deal it requires food purchase. I was disappointed in this because it's not on the Instagram page for Hayden Hall. Also around the hall they have signs advertising the bottomless cocktail happy hour and it's not on those signs either. It's the establishments prerogative to set promotions and deals and they should be consistent throughout social media channels and personnel how they will honor aforementioned promotions. It looks nice in the hall and there are neat views of the El passing by. read more

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This place is fun! A very spacious, interesting fancy spacey diner vibe. There are about 8 places, and each has a pretty abbreviated menu. All the ordering has to be done through the grub hub interface, which is a bit awkward when you're the only person there and the storeperson is just waiting there for you to put all your info in. I got the blue crab bowl and a salmon hand roll from Anaba. The salmon hand roll was fantastic! The rice was perfectly vinegared, and the salmon was tender and fresh. The crab bowl was ok - the crab was tasty and fresh. I wish there was sushi rice instead of brown rice, since brown rice just is a bit hard and doesn't soak up much flavor. It also wasn't super filling as an entree. In general, I'm not sure if a lot of the food here stood out to me, but I'd try more if I got a chance. read more

Hayden Hall - Crab bowl and salmon hand roll - Food Court Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Pretty interesting new food hall that just opened this week in the southeast corner of the loop, aka the old red CNA building. They have a few kinks to still work out within the individual stalls, but overall this is a fun be ew addition to the food hall movement. I was motivated to come here because Mana Food Bar and their Anaba Handroll restaurants were to be resurrected within this food hall. I miss both restaurants dearly - Mana for having the best veggie slider ever and Anaba for having the best hand rolls in Chicago. I dragged a couple colleagues here and was surprised to see it not obnoxiously crowded on day 3 of their opening The ambiance is nice and open. A traditional look with modern flare. The seating resembles more of a restaurant style seating with individual tables and booths rather than communal or cafeteria style that you normally expect from a food hall. The food stalls are mostly all right next to each other, with a uniform look, rather than each stall displaying theIr own style. This made it a little monotonous to walk down the hall and read menus easily. You order at the stall by swiping your credit card on a screen and putting your order in. Then you either wait around or opt to get a text when your order is ready. I fear this method will be quite chaotic if this place gets more crowded. The number of food options is certainly less than most food halls and the variety was lacking. My only incentive to return are the hand rolls. There's plenty of space to add more options. On the food side, the slider from Mana was almost what I remember but not quite as good. Less crispy and more grainy but the legacy flavor was still there. Hopefully they'll correct that in coming weeks. The hand rolls were delicious, though the stall seemed confused and they didn't have simple ingredient options like green onions. I'll give this spot a couple months to figure themselves out and will certainly try it again. read more

1. Train the staff in the menu choices and customer service 2. Harmonize the pricing... boxed water shouldn't be $3 at one stand at $2.50 at another. read more

Didn't think the Loop needed another food hall but Hayden Hall is worth a visit. Less crowded than other Loop food halls, more affordable and with a nicer, more comfortable interior. Great spot for lunch, dinner or drinks. I've already gone twice (it just opened last week) and I plan to return soon. read more

Very nice place and great vibes! An elevated luxurious feeling food court with affordable meals and delicious cocktails... great vegan and vegetarian options There's something for everyone read more

Such a cool space and vibe. Great choices of food and seating. I'm from out of town (Long Beach) and thought even more of my CHICAGO stay because of this urban, casual chic dining experience. read more

This is such a cute food hall situated in an area of the loop that has been desperately in need of greater food choices. Today I tried Taqueria Decolores. It's good. I had the al pastor burrito and while I think it could have been a little juicier, it was a solid burrito option and I would visit again. I look forward to trying some of the other options and the coffee shop downstairs soon! read more

While they're new and perhaps wait staff is overwhelmed with the volume of customers, beverages are delicious. Management is incredibly accommodating if you want to discuss a grievances, also. I'll return with more coworkers for after work drinks! P.S. they offer gender neutral washrooms in addition to gender specific washrooms. read more

This review is for the main bar happy hour. The space is really great with nice finishes and a fantastic view of the el as it turns the corner on Van Buren. Very cool location! There is nice energy with a decent acoustic that still allows for conversation. Bravo! The down side on the night we went was glacially slow service. We would have ordered more drinks had there been time. But in our two hour outing, we were only able to order two rounds. Maybe that's all we should drink anyway, but the wait was painful. The mixed drinks were ok, but not that carefully prepared and delivered. Some of them came with over the rim spills making the glasses sticky. Martinis sat on the rail for too long resulting in cool down by the time they reached the table. For around $15 a piece, we have had better. The bar and wait service was really overtaxed and it showed. This place had only been open a couple of weeks, so hopefully they can work out the wrinkles. I would still recommend the overall experience, but maybe not on a Friday night. read more