Food hall concept replaces ClusterTruck at HamCo Krogers. Here's what you can order
Kroger is hoping food courts in the grocery stores will attract more business.
Its Mix Food Hall concept arrived at stores in Carmel and Fishers this week with national restaurant brands on the menu, including Firehouse Subs selling hot sandwiches; Nathan’s Famous, known for hotdogs; Nékter Juice Bar selling smoothies and acai bowls; Saladworks with its greens and paninis; and Wow Bao offering boa, pot stickers, dumplings and rice bowls.
The food counters are at 1217 S. Rangeline Road, in Carmel, and 9799 E. 116th St., in Fishers, and are run by California-based ghost kitchen operator Kitchen United.
Folks can shop across multiple brands in one bill and order ahead for pickup.
They also have the option to dine with seating near the deli sections.
While these are Kitchen United's first operations in Indiana, it also runs 15 kitchens in Arizona, California, Illinois, New York, Texas and Ohio, where it has setups in three Krogers.
The Mix Food Halls are designed to appeal to area residents and workers who want to pop in for quick meals, as well as those who want to pre-order meals while on grocery shopping trips.
“This new partnership with Kitchen United is extremely exciting because it combines the comfort of the traditional grocery store experience with the convenience of also offering a restaurant-quality meal ready for dinner that night,” Colleen Juergensen, president of Kroger Central Division, said in a statement announcing the openings.
Both the Carmel and Fishers stores, along with one in Dublin, Ohio, had tested the waters with similar setups through Kroger’s partnership with Indianapolis-based ClusterTruck, a ghost kitchen concept that delivers food at no charge.
ClusterTruck operated pickup and delivery, from the Krogers, allowing the grocer’s customers to order from its menu of sandwiches, pastas, wings, pad Thai, tacos and salmon.
But that partnership dissolved in 2022, as ClusterTruck wanted to focus on delivery, not the in-store order service that Kroger desired, ClusterTruck co-founder and CEO Chris Baggott told IndyStar.
At the time, Cincinnati, Ohio-headquartered Kroger said the partnership fit with the store’s ramping-up of prepared fresh foods, digital ordering, pick-up and delivery.
ClusterTruck still offers traditional delivery from its kitchens in downtown Indianapolis, Broad Ripple and Castleton; Columbus, Ohio and Kansas City, Missouri.
The Carmel and Fishers Mix Food Hall locations are open daily from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Diners can order at on-site digital kiosks or online at MixFoodHall.com.
Delivery will be offered via Uber Eats, Grubhub, and DoorDash.
Contact IndyStar reporter Cheryl V. Jackson at cheryl.jackson@indystar.com or 317-444-6264. Follow her on Twitter:@cherylvjackson.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Food hall concept replaces ClusterTruck at Hamilton County Krogers
