Gigantic New Chinatown Food Hall Will Have a Rooftop Bar Above 11 Different Stalls

The far reaches of Chinatown, bordering the LA River, have become a hotbed of development speculation and food and beverage growth over the past eighteen months, so it’s only natural that the next big thing to land in the area off Spring Street would be a massive multi-unit food hall inside of a retrofitted warehouse.

The newest entrant to the area is to be called BOK DTLA, an apparent nod to the site’s previous use as a poultry processing facility. The whole property spans some 20,000 square feet, and will be divided into multiple different spaces. One is an airy 11-stall food hall, leased with an eye towards local tenants only (think former pop-up spots and other small vendors), all of which sits next to an open commissary kitchen with public bar-style seating and its own patio.

The latter room will be used not only for prep, says a real estate rep, but also for guest chef dinners and other pop-up nights. There will also be room to drink wine and a retail area, thanks to a single ABC license and conditional use permit that allow for one booze license for the entire property.

BOK DTLA also offers room for a standalone restaurant space, again with its own patio, and an upstairs bar and lounge area that looks out over the Los Angeles State Historic Park. Leasing is underway for all of the different facilities, though no names have yet been publicly confirmed.

This far stretch of Chinatown has been rapidly expanding from its light industrial (and underground rave) days to become a destination for all sorts of folks. The biggest landing has obviously been David Chang’s Majordomo, though others like Highland Park Brewery and the new Angeleno Wine Company are also drawing new crowds.

Chinatown’s growth has not come without its fair share of struggles. Earlier this year Roy Choi closed this Far East Plaza location of Chego, and the LA Times recently ran a broad story questioning the role of neighborhood gentrification, but through the lens of the long lines at hit chicken spot Howlin’ Ray’s. Expect an opening for BOK DTLA sometime early next year.

BOK DTLA. 1418 N. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA.

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