Standing out for its shiny new facade and golden-lit aisles among warehouse buildings that probably haven't changed much in decades, it's easy to see why Union Market is called a "foodie getaway." They're probably referring to more than just the location, since it's also trying to carve out a niche type of food options, mainly artisanal grocery items and small-scale restaurants. After hearing about it for the past few months as a unique place to shop and eat, I checked it out last weekend.
Union Market just opened this
past September near Florida Avenue and 5th Street NE in a building
originally built in 1967 as an indoor food market and used for several
decades as a wholesale food retail space. It has now been revitalized as
a food market, event space, and series of restaurants, all contained in
the wide aisles of the industrial space.
Walking up to the Market gives you a sense of its history, since it was actually not on Florida Avenue, but behind several rows of other warehouses.
Inside, my first impression was that it was a welcoming space with wide aisles consisting of different small vendors - either stands or counters selling grocery items, or small restaurant counters. I really liked the concept of different small restaurants in one place, but that is something I'll have to come back for next time; when I went, I was actually assuming that it was much more of a market, and was hoping to find some unique and hard-to-find cooking ingredients. There wasn't as much of that as I would have hoped, although I was able to find some spices for Thai cooking that I looking for.
All in all, there was a lot more there than I had time to try, and since it's only been open a few months, I will definitely try and go back sometime. When I was there, the woman I bought spices from said that they are planning to eventually open a beer garden on the second floor, which would be a cool addition. But to give you a better sense of what you'd find if you went, a partial list of businesses I saw:
- Diner restaurant counter
- Wine bar
- Home decor and specialty food items shop
- Spices shop
- Meat counter
- Korean taco counter
- Hot sauce kiosk
- Artisanal honey kiosk
There were a
few things that I felt could be improved. For one, I felt like the
market part could have been expanded and could have had more unique
options. It's not necessarily that unique to sell artisanal
cheese; there are a lot of places in DC where you can buy that. But I
think if they had expanded options, it would make it more worth it to go
there. It would also be interesting to get away a bit from the typical
"foodie" options of fresh ingredients and lots of meats and cheeses, and
have unique options in terms of ethnic foods or other food ingredients
that are hard to find at typical grocery stores.
All in all, though, go if you get a chance! But if you go, maybe just don't buy into the developer's description (bordering on condescending to the neighborhood?) of the adventure that it is to go there because of the neighborhood it is in:
"Located in the middle of a patchy wholesale district where few shoppers have tread for a generation, getting there is part of the adventure... McLean thinks people are willing to pay extra for the story they can tell about exploring an industrial district of Washington in search of a foodie paradise" (Washington Post).
You don't really experience the industrial district, since Union Market is completely different than all of those types of businesses that are around it, other than the fact that the building its in used to be a part of that. Developers have to make up a story I suppose. But I'm looking forward to seeing what else comes to this space in the name of good food!
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