Former Barnes & Noble Flagship Store To Become a Massive Food Hall

The Barnes and Noble flagship store on Fifth Avenue in 2010. Image Credit: Beyond My Ken via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 3.0

Barnes & Noble’s former flagship store in New York City is getting a makeover—its first since the location shuttered its doors in 2014 after 82 years. Replacing the many books, magazines, and music will be an enormous food hall filled with draft lattes, a speakeasy, and a raw seafood bar, among others, Gothamist reports.

Called Union Fare (after its location near Union Square), the Fifth Avenue space is scheduled to open in several phases this spring, first with a coffee and wine bar serving La Colombe’s draft lattes and other cafe goodies later this month, then with a restaurant on June 1. Finally, a food market will open sometime later in June. The restaurant will have a charcuterie bar and a raw bar in addition to regular dinner service. And according to Gothamist, “There will also be some 'speakeasy-style private event spaces' underneath the restaurant."

This sounds overwhelming and delicious.

[h/t Gothamist]