Saluhall opens 2-story food, meeting space next to San Francisco IKEA

SAN FRANCISCO - In San Francisco’s mid-market neighborhood Thursday, Mayor London Breed welcomed shoppers to a new two-story food and community hall that opened next door to IKEA's downtown location.

The two-story food and beverage hall named Saluhall offers a plant-forward community meeting space that offers everything from breakfast pastries and coffee to soft-serve dessert and has two bars, one on each of the two levels.

The space is designed to serve the community with large seating areas and two conference rooms that can be rented out.

Eleven culinary components make up Saluhall. Included are five local, independent traders inspired by culinary traditions from around the world.

They include Curry Up Now, Casa Borinquena, Momo Noodle, Kayma and La Venganza, most of which offer their ethnic foods at food trucks before landing a space in the modern concourse.

In addition to local favorites, there is a beer bar, a burger bar and a culinary school that will offer programming for all ages in the weeks and months to come.

Saluhall is owned by Ingka Centres, the real estate sister company to IKEA, and IKEA stores anchor each of Ingka Centres’ shopping centers, which it refers to as meeting places.

Raul Medina- the proprietor of La Venganza is excited to offer his food here. Like many offerings at Saluhall, most of his menu is plant-forward.

Medina said, "I’m excited that my amazing neighbor restaurants are all local. The fact that Saluhall is coming in and bringing amazing food to a much-needed area is fantastic. It’s kind of nice to have a one-stop shop for everything, you can literally go to IKEA, get something for the family, go to BART, go back home. It’s great!"

Breed and San Francisco Supervisor Matt Dorsey mentioned at the grand opening how the city’s Economic and Workforce Development division helped hire the new community space.

Over a dozen new employees will make about $20 and many live in the area.

There are over a dozen new employees that are working full-time. The expectation is that as the space grows, so will the opportunities for bringing people together to enjoy the space, the various food and beverage offerings, and the community's diversity.

The space has been in the works for several years. It’s designed to be more than just a food hall, with Elise von Hellion, managing director of the hall, saying it’s a destination for the community.

She said, "We’re hoping to complement Market Street right now. We have so many businesses around here that we’re working with to make sure we can bring people into the city to enjoy this new community space. "

This is the first Saluhall in the world. Leaders from Ingka Centres shared the hope that this concept will be duplicated in other cities in years to come.

In addition to working with community groups, Saluhall’s von Hellion said they will also offer culinary classes in the weeks and months ahead.

Additionally, the site has an entertainment license, so the intention is to offer live music as well as other programming in the months to come.

Partnerships with organizations like the Tenderloin Children’s Center will include cooking classes for children and young people from the neighborhood.

For April, Saluhall will be open from Wednesday through Sunday, from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Later in the season, the days will likely be extended.

Alice Wertz is a freelance reporter for KTVU Fox 2 News. She can be reached at Alice.Wertz@Fox.com