What happened to the food hall inside Miami’s Brightline station? Here’s what we know

Citizens food hall at MiamiCentral was supposed to be an oasis of quick eating at downtown’s newest business, leisure, dining and transportation hub.

But now it’s behind bars.

The food hall at the station, which is home to Miami’s Brightline station as well as a stop for Metrorail and Metromover and a future stop for Tri-Rail, is closed.

A metal grate separates would-be customers from such restaurants as Umami Burger, Krispy Rice and Cindy Lou’s Cookies.

In 2021, the food hall was taken over by ghost kitchen company C3, created by Miami developer Sam Nazarian, whose SBE hospitality group founded SLS Hotels and Residences. Brands like 800 Degrees Wood-fired Kitchen, a franchise of the Udonis Haslem-Dwyane Wade-owned restaurant in Aventura, moved in.

Now, everything is on hold. The C3 website is down, and a spokesperson for Brightline confirmed the food hall is closed but said the plan is to reopen it again when the company’s new Orlando station opens. The 37,350-square-foot station, located in Orlando International Airport’s new 80,000-square-foot Terminal C, is expected to open in 2023.

Cindy Kruse of Cindy Lou’s Cookies said via email that the food hall shut down due to low traffic. That could change with the opening of the Orlando station.

When it does reopen, “Cindy Lou’s will definitely be there,” she said, “along with the other C3 concepts.”

This story was originally published January 13, 2023 at 1:14 PM.