Transfer Co. Food Hall — Restaurant in Raleigh

February 22 & 23, 2025 - My wife & I were in Raleigh for our daughter’s wedding . . . we decided to try the food court located at 500 East Davis Street. With 10 food vendors offering an eclectic selection, we highly recommend the Transfer Co. Food Hall !

Everyone’s happy with the diversity of food types, especially if in a group of friends or family 😃👍🏼👍🏼

Alimentary At the Left Bank - Italian deli, fresh meats, local cheeses, vegetables

Bul Box -Asian noodles, proteins Chef Young

Captain Cookie & The Milk Man - baked cookies, and sweets , plus ice cream treats

Yatai - fresh sushi, ramon, quesadillas, Baja style tacos

Mama Crows Burgers & Salads - yup 👍🏼

Che Empanadas - Argentina’s Empanadas

Chhote’s Indian - Vindaloo, masala, naan 👍🏼

Bench Warmers Bagels - All the fixings 👍🏼

Burial Beer Co. - Craft beers on site 👍🏼👍🏼

Dank Burrito- Chef Clarke Merrell homemade salsa, pico, burritos, tacos, and bowls ( Food Truck winner -2014) 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

😃Fun Facts 👍🏼🍤

1925 - Carolina Coach ( Bus) Company

1926 to 1936 . . . Large Garage doing repairs on the busses

1930’s offer service to Fayetteville, Charlotte, and Norfolk, VA

1936 - Trailways merged with Carolina Coach Company

1939 - This garage abandoned, Carolina Trailways moved to South Blount Street

1945 to 1949 - Raleigh used building as maintenance vehicle shop

1950 to 1975 - Sanders Motor Company used location as sales room & repair shop for FORD cars & trucks

1975 to 1995 - City rented space to the Raleigh Rescue Mission

J.W. Stone purchased property in 1980’s as a warehouse

2008 - Raleigh purchased building and surrounding property for future development

2019 - Several investors led by Jason Queen renovated & open the building as Transfer Co. Food Hall

Wonderful place for lunch & dinner! I hear this is a large event...

2/9 UPDATE: Well, we went back, and I had every intention of updating my review, but based on today’s experience, a 1-star is still warranted. Arrived at BW bagels at 800AM on the dot (based on hours posted on Instagram) and we were still 22nd in line. As the minutes passed, the line got longer and longer until it wrapped around the bar in the back. There were many people taking photos because it was, in fact, pretty unbelievable that a space that isn’t even finished could garnish such attention. After the owner’s response from my first review, I thought for sure the service issue would be resolved, even partially, but it wasn’t. There was only ONE cashier and the gentleman in a hat helping her was allowing what appeared to be his friends/family/neighbors to skip folks in line as they came directly to the bar and were given free bagels. They exchanged, “I love you’s” which would have been sweet and not supremely annoying if we, ordinary folk, had not already been waiting 40 minutes to order. Guys. When the line is that long, offering coffee, or having someone walk the line to take orders really would have gone a long way. However, the most obvious fix would be to open a second register. You know, like all the other food hall vendors do. All that being said, the bagels are good. Great and worth the annoyance of a 40 minute line? Absolutely not. Head to Bruegger’s instead.

Oringal review: We came at 950AM and were told benchwarmers only had 20 more bagels left so they were going to run out by the time we made it to the front of the very, very long line to order. Service is incredibly slow and the staff doesn’t seem to care that folks are waiting for food. Hoping service gets better when the...

It's a work in progress. We found the people friendly and there's a better flow than in the other Raleigh food hall where you just can't move for people queuing.

The empanadas at Che were tasty with really nice, light crust. Tried chicken and lemon beef for savory ones and guava and cream cheese for sweet. The cold brew yerba maté was delicious.

Good beer choices both inside and out (out being the Burial outpost). Obviously mostly focused on IPA, which is the current craze, but there were decent saisons, porters and stouts for those who aren't hop-heads :-)

Locals Seafood - we tried the grilled fish sandwich. The bread was ultra soft supermarket-style rubbish and the striped bass that was on it looked more like red snapper to me. The fish was quite tasty, but drenched in tartar sauce. I also wish that folks would not put lettuce in hot sandwiches, it's just not good. Rather use spinach or arugula or put the greens on the side. Plus with all the good bread made locally, there's no excuse for bad bread! Not exciting for an $11 sandwich without sides.

One more issue - every time you pay for food that you order at the counter and pick up yourself, and bus your own table, you are presented with a tip request with the minimum non-custom amount being 15% !!! I'd pay this for actual sit down service if it was decent. Tipping is for service, people.

I think this is an exciting development and can't wait for more tenants to open. This part of Raleigh is looking so much better than it did a few years ago. Cool spot to hang out and have a nice beer with friends, but I'd rather go to a real restaurant for any food beyond a snack. My star rating is for the whole place, not any...