New Food Hall On Tap In St. Joseph

(KNSI) – A long-vacant corner on the west end of downtown St. Joe now bustles with activity.

Construction crews are quickly adding trusses in a bid to enclose what will become House Food and Tap by early November. When complete, three commercial kitchens and a coffee roaster will be ready to serve up some deliciousness for every palate.

Owner Craig Hern says the concept was developed after he and his wife conducted a community survey. “I think the hardest thing was understanding how do you get all these different ideas into one building. And then that’s really what, after a lot of research, we discovered the food hall, and we’re just calling ours, I guess, a micro food hall. And then just seems to be just a great fit.”

Craig’s wife, BriAnne, tells KNSI News the strategy allows for tight collaboration between the owners and tenants and among the tenants themselves. “It’s just really become this beautiful tapestry together of all these backgrounds. I think the more diversity that we bring into this, the better this whole plan has become. It’s just been great. People’s strengths are building off of each other. They’re building friendships together and supporting one another.”

BriAnne says the stakeholders have all met during what she calls a series of vision sessions to help create a space they can thrive in. The tenants were all chosen after an interview process that tested whether they could work together as a team. BriAnne points out that one restaurant is run by someone new to the industry whereas another was founded by Mateo Mackbee, who owns Krewe. Now trying out a new format, he brings a deep well of experience to the project for others to lean on.

A tap wall will feature dozens of beers, and in a rare show of cooperation in the pop business, fountains of Coke and Pepsi products will be available.

All tenants have a three-year lease with the building. Craig wants it to be a tough decision whether they’ll leave once the term is up.

The micro food hall is being credited with allowing Eminent Coffee Roasters to speed up its expansion into St. Joseph. Owner Josh Kaeter told the Greater St. Cloud Development Corporation that he initially thought that might take seven years or more to make happen. The Herns say it embodies what they hoped to accomplish.

The couple did their homework, but this is still a grand experiment for them. When asked who they’d expect to open a food hall, a school principal and a salesman are not who people typically think of. KNSI News asked BriAnne about what advice they’d given to someone getting into development for the first time.

“My advice is that this has got to be a project of the heart, not the pocketbook. You have to know that you are doing this because you love your community and you truly want to make it better.”

House Food and Tap will hopefully open in early March 2025 on the corner of Minnesota Street and 2nd Avenue Northwest.

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