Big changes are coming to downtown Miami’s food hall. Here’s what to know

If you’ve been to Julia & Henry’s, the downtown Miami food hall, you may have noticed what seems like an ominous change.

There are no more vendors on the third floor. In fact, at the moment, the third floor is blocked off.

There is, however, a reason for this: the food hall, which opened in 2023, is making a big change. Once a space for culinary vendors, the third floor will now be home to Magic City Collective, a new retail experience from the team behind Magic City Flea that has been holding a flea market outside the food hall every Sunday.

The move, according to Daniel Peña, principal of Julie & Henry’s, is the result of the glacial pace of downtown development and the food hall’s desire to give guests more reasons to venture downtown.

“Unfortunately the timing of other downtown development hasn’t developed as expected,” he said. “But whenever we do events, like an ice skating rink or the market on Sunday, we give people another reason to come downtown besides food and drink. So instead of just having Julia & Henry’s being food retail, we decided to include retail from the market outside.”

“The big thing for us is that we really need to give people more incentive to come and offer more than food,” he added. “This is our way of trying to adapt to what the market calls for.”

Peña said that vendors that had remained on the third floor have been relocated to the other floors, with some concepts consolidated together. There are currently 17 vendors listed on the food hall’s website, plus the second-floor vending machine for Fookem’s Fabulous, which dispenses the brand’s Key lime pies to go.

The three bars remain as well: Boxelder, which features craft beer; La Epoca wine bar; and The Lasseter, which serves cocktails. On the rooftop, the upscale Italian restaurant Torno Subito from Chef Massimo Bottura remains open.

Peña said that because the physical changes to the third floor will be minimal, the new flea market should be open in the next couple of weeks — just in time to avoid Miami’s searing summer heat and sudden thunderstorms. Items available will include records, clothing, books, fashion, home goods, jewelry, art, ceramics, candles and more.

“A permanent place outside during the summer would probably be hard,” Peña said. “These guys have done a fantastic job curating the market. It should be very cool.”

Julia & Henry’s

Where: 200 E Flagler St., Miami

Hours: 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday; 11:30-11 p.m. Saturday; 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Sunday; now closed Monday

More information: juliaandhenrys.com