West Bottoms’ shoppers’ options for food and drinks
Julie Williams opened Chanticlair Farmhouse Bistro on the second floor of Good JuJu last summer.
She had been splitting her time selling vintage stuff as a vendor at Hickory Dickory and running a catering business when Good JuJu’s owners, Pam Kenney and Penny Sweeney, approached her about opening a cafe.
“I didn’t know how it would go at first,” Williams says, “but actually we are very busy. We have a following for our chicken salad and Jack Daniel honey biscuits. And our no-bake cookies sell like hotcakes.”
As the number of West Bottoms flea markets — and the time required to shop them all — has grown, so has the need for places to eat and drink.
Until recently, the warehouse district didn’t have a lot of options, but that’s changing. Several restaurants, bars and coffee houses have opened or are slated to open in the West Bottoms in coming months.
And before that, Monty Summers and Amber Arnett-Bequeaith of Full Moon Productions, which leases warehouse space to the flea markets and promotes the First Fridays events, put out a call to food trucks.
Now, at least a dozen of them show up during First Friday weekends when the weather is nice. They serve Cajun, Asian and Mexican cuisines, and food that can be characterized as either carnival or bar food, such as stuffed chicken wings, hot dogs, barbecue, nachos, pizza, chili, snow cones, lemonade, frozen drinks, coffee cakes and funnel cakes.
Full Moon Productions also arranges for beer, wine and cocktails to be sold beneath the 12th Street Bridge on First Friday weekends. It’s a shady place, she notes, for husbands to wait for their wives and shoppers to rest their legs and listen to street musicians.
In addition to all that, several cafes, snack bars and at least one bar — the Paris of the Plains Saloon at Bottoms Up Antique Market — have sprung up inside several of the warehouses.
Like Chanticlair Farmhouse Bistro, most serve made-from-scratch sandwiches, soups, salads and baked goods in cute, rustic spaces.
Flea market eateries
1285 Hickory St.
Full service coffee shop, serving snacks and wide range of drinks
1323 W. 13th St. (inside Hello Sailor)
Cupcakes, pastries and limited lunch menu
1413 W. 11th St. (inside the Pink Daisy)
Coffee drinks, iced tea and hot chocolate
The Rusty Squirrel Cafe
1413 W. 11th St. (inside The Pink Daisy)
Sandwiches, wraps, salads, soups, desserts
1420 W. 13th Terrace, second floor (inside Good JuJu)
Soup, salad, sandwiches, baked goods
1400 W. 12th St., fourth floor (inside Le Fou Flea)
Grilled chicken panini, pulled pork nachos, chicken salad croissants, and for dessert, Nothing Bundt Cakes.
1320 W. 12th St., third floor (inside Bella Patina)
Breakfast, lunch, sandwiches, soup, baked goods
1300 W. 13th St. (inside Bottoms Up Antique Market)
Sandwiches, salads, baked goods
1300 W. 13th St. (inside Bottoms Up Antique Market)
Burnt ends, BBQ sausage, pulled brisket, pulled pork and jerk chicken
1300 W. 13th St. (inside Bottoms Up Antique Market)
Rustic Vintage Rose snack bar
1405 W. 13th St.
Chips, beverages
Serendipity snack bar
1402 Hickory St.
Biscuits & gravy, macaroni & cheese, meatloaf, other comfort food specials
Nearby restaurants, cafes, bars
1623 Genessee St.
Open lunch Friday only. Southern cuisine, sandwiches, cocktails
1615 Genessee St.
Lunch and dinner, Monday-Saturday. Bar food, cocktails
1101 Mulberry St.
Coffee, open daily
1617 Genessee St.
Sunday brunch, dinner Wednesday-Saturday. American-fusion cuisine; cocktails
1531 Genessee
Breakfast and lunch Tuesday-Saturday, Sunday brunch, Friday dinner. Fresh bistro food, cocktails
1701 W. Ninth St. (inside Ninth Street Deli & Liquor)
Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. Comfort and diner food
1505 Genessee St., Suite 100
Wine, beer, cheese and charcuterie plates
1600 Genessee St., Suite 100
Hand-crafted beer, wine, cocktails, coffee limited appetizers
1217 Union Ave,
Lunch and dinner. Upscale bar food, sandwiches, salads
Wendy’s
1601 W. 12th St.
All meals; fast food
This story was originally published June 23, 2016 at 10:34 AM.