Umami Moto Will Return

3rd Street Market Hall. Rendering by TKWA UrbanLab.

After a four-year hiatus, sushi and Asian-fusion restaurant Umami Moto will return in 2019.

The restaurant is one of approximately 20 tenants planned for the 3rd Street Market Hall to be located on the first floor of the former Shops of Grand Avenue mall.

Curator Omar Shaikh announced six tenants for the food hall at a press conference last week. Shaikh, a partner at SURG Restaurant Group, dipped into SURG’s long history of operating of high-end restaurants for the seventh announced tenant.

The restaurant group operated Umami Moto until 2015, closing the restaurant to allow its high-end steakhouse Carnevor to relocate to the space at 718 N. Milwaukee St.

He elected to break the news on Twitter, posting “Cant wait for @UmamiMotoMKE to come back to 3rd St Market Hall. Been craving Israel’s masterful sushi. Anyone gonna join me for lunch or happy hour???”

Cant wait for @UmamiMotoMKE to come back to 3rd St Market Hall. Been craving Israel's masterful sushi. Anyone gonna join me for lunch or happy hour???

— Omar Shaikh (@OmarMKE1) December 21, 2018

Israel Cruz, who served as the sushi chef before the restaurant’s closing, will lead the new location.

The proposed food hall, to open in late 2019, will be located underneath two floors of office space in the former mall’s atrium. Compared to food courts with national chains, food halls feature local restaurants with craft food and beverages.

As of early December, Shaikh said letters of intent have been signed for 75 percent of the space. The restauranteur also intends to open a bar in the center of the food hall.

Previously announced vendors include Stone Creek Coffee, chef Yosub Yoon‘s Korean barbecue restaurant Char’d, Milk Can, a new burger and custard place from chef Kurt Fogle, Donut Monster by husband and wife team Jackie and Sara Woods, Waterford Wine & Spirits and Funky Fresh Spring Rolls. A beer hall, with final operators being vetted according to Shaikh, will operate in the former Applebee’s space with an indoor-outdoor design.

The changing downtown mall, which barely resembles the retail center it was even a year ago, will close in early 2019 to make way for construction of the food hall and office space. Demolition work is currently underway.

The redevelopment of the mall into “The Avenue” has an estimated $90 million cost according to project partner Josh Krsnak. The Aggero Group and Krsnak’s Hempel Companies are co-developers on the project, with TKWA UrbanLab serving as the project architect. The final buildout will include a mix of apartments, office space, the food hall and retail space.

For more on the mall’s redevelopment, see our coverage from early December.

Renderings

Mall Photos

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