Columbus’ newest food hall, The Little Grand Market, to open in Grandview this August

Photo rendering of The Little Grand Market’s interior. The food hall — located at Grandview Crossing — is set to open on Friday, Aug. 16 at 6 p.m. Credit: Courtesy of Meyers Associates

It may not be little, but it sure is grand. 

Columbus’ newest, 20,000-square-foot food hall and market, The Little Grand Market — located at Grandview Crossing Way  — is set to open Aug. 16 at 6 p.m.

The food hall will have 10 chef partners upon opening: Los Agavez Taqueria, For the Love of Dough, Grant’s Pizza, Just Chicken, Seoul Food on the Go, Pablo’s Havana Cafe, Taesty’s, Frascati Market, Common Rice and Lan Viet, plus the coffee shop and bar Bada Bean Bada Booze. 

Co Ingersoll, senior vice president of brand experience at Thrive Companies  — a Columbus real estate development and management firm — and leader of The Grand Little Market project, said along with the 10 chef partners, the market will also feature its own bar. Aptly titled The Little Grand Bar, it will headline a menu of seasonally rotating wines, draft beers and cocktails. 

“We’re going to have an assortment, similar to our vendors, that will hopefully have a drink for everyone,” Ingersoll said. “We’re going to have wines that are selected by our general manager, local beers that will be on tap and we also pride ourselves on having great cocktail options.”

Ingersoll said the goal from the start was choosing a wide variety of vendors that ensured all customers could find something to enjoy at the market. 

“We had a form that possible vendors could come to our website and fill out and include information about who they were and what they would be providing and then, with that, we really tried to create a market that had something for everyone,” Ingersoll said. “We wanted to create a central spot in Columbus that could serve people with all kinds of food tastes and backgrounds.”

Loren Snow, owner and founder of For the Love of Dough, said when he heard about The Little Grand Market, he immediately knew it was the perfect location for his first-ever storefront. 

“The Thrive team’s vision is to not only build a food hall, but to actively work with the community to make this a place for everyone,” Snow said. “It’s a more community-oriented food hall than any of the other ones I’ve seen, and we thought it just seemed like a great opportunity to be a part of that and to grow our brand.” 

It all started during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Snow said, when he and his friends weren’t able to visit bars anymore and discovered a newfound hobby in baking. 

“I had attempted to make an Oreo-peanut-butter-chip brownie but I am awful at making brownies, so I ended up turning it into a cookie, and my friends kept asking for it,” Snow said. “The word of mouth spread, and so we started to do pop-ups downtown on High Street from around 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. just selling our cookies on the street.” 

In the three years since then, Snow said he has taken For the Love of Dough to numerous farmers markets around the city, but now feels that acquiring a more permanent residence for his business is the correct move forward. 

“It is exciting for us to be able to call a place home, especially within the city of Columbus,” Snow said. “To be a part of a community like Grandview just speaks measures to what we really want to accomplish. It allows us the space and the time to get more creative because right now everything that I do is out of my apartment.” 

Snow said the expanded menu that will be available at The Little Grand Market will include For the Love of Dough’s famous Big Poppa cookies, flavored milks and edible cookie shots — served with milk, vodka or Kahlua — as well as ice cream sandwiches, sundaes, milkshakes and protein shakes. 

D’Andre Martin, owner and founder of Just Chicken, said though he has previous experience with food halls  — having locations open at East Market in Columbus, Solaire Social in Silver Spring, Maryland and most recently at Monarch Market in Charlotte, North Carolina — The Little Grand Market location and team were a perfect fit for a brand-new venture. 

“The location and the people that are running it are both amazing,” Martin said. “With their experience, their knowledge and just everything they have to offer, I would have gone anywhere with this team.” 

Martin said he and his friend Mike Johnson were inspired by their kids’ love for Chick-fil-A and Raising Canes, but they knew they could do it better. 

“We figured we could create something that was similar but do it better, so we came up with our own recipes and our own sauces,” Martin said. “All our ingredients are fresh and everything is made in-house every day. It’s simple, but we’ve put a lot of work into it and perfected it.”

Martin said the menu at The Little Grand Market will include chicken tenders and sandwiches — notably made using focaccia buns and rolls from Grandview’s own Stan Evans Bakery — along with Just Chickens’ four signature sauces: Just Sauce, Just Ranch, Just Honey Mustard and Just Heat. 

Having started the business in Columbus, Martin said it means a lot to him to have the opportunity to open another location in his hometown. 

“The Grandview community is such a supportive community,” Martin said. “To be able to share all the hard work and love we put into our food with this community means a lot.” 

Being one of Columbus’ fastest-growing neighborhoods, Grandview was the perfect choice for the project, Ingersoll said.

“It’s on an extremely important corridor to the city of Columbus and it just seemed like a natural fit to bring everyone together,” Ingersoll said. “We obviously think this place is grand, being in Grandview and so close to Downtown, it just all aligned and we were able to settle into this location.”

On Saturdays from April to December, The Little Grand Market will host its own farmers market, Ingersoll said. The first will be held opening weekend Aug. 17 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

In addition to hosting live bands and vintage markets year round, Ingersoll said a patio space will be opened for the warmer months. There is also a three-acre park located just outside the patio seating space, which Ingersoll said will allow patrons to take drinks out to the park as well. 

“We definitely have a lineup that will keep people engaged throughout the day,” Ingersoll said. “People will be able to come and grab your produce and some food, and look at some vintage clothing, and then also hang out, and grab lunch and watch a Buckeye game or a Columbus Crew game.”

Ingersoll said the project wouldn’t have been possible without help from Columbus’ other food halls, which have paved the way for The Little Grand Market. 

“We’re so appreciative of Cameron Mitchell and what they’ve done with Budd Dairy,” Ingersoll said. “We’ve been able to ask them for insights on things that did and didn’t work, and we’ve really been appreciative of that.” 

One day, Ingersoll said she hopes The Little Grand Market will live up to the landmark status that The North Market and Budd Dairy have been able to achieve. 

“North Market is a staple of the city. When you think about Columbus, it’s hard not to think about North Market,” Ingersoll said. “The hope is that we will become a landmark for the city too.”

The Little Grand Market’s regular operating hours will begin Aug. 17.  Specifically, the market’s vendors will be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday-Wednesday and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday-Saturday. 

The Little Grand Bar will be open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday-Wednesday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Thursday and 11 a.m.-midnight Friday-Saturday. Bada Bean Bada Booze will be open 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday and 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. 

Ingersoll said potential visitors can join the market’s VIP list — which gives patrons the chance to receive information about exclusive giveaways and promotions, as well as updates on new menu items and special invitations to future events at the food hall — for free via email. 

For more information on the market and how to sign up for the VIP list, visit The Little Grand Market’s website.