It’s been all hands on deck for the past few weeks at The Great Southern Box Company Food Hall as the developer and the vendors prepped for their soft opening this weekend in Orlando’s Packing District.

The food hall at 2105 N. Orange Blossom Trail opens to the public Friday with nine of the 11 vendor spots serving everything from chicken shawarma, to Picanha steak, to Oreo-cheesecake brownies, to some of Orlando’s best Neapolitan-style pizza.

Paul Jacques, chef and owner of Antica Wood Fired Pizza, spent most of the week curing the new pizza oven and fermenting the dough before knocking out the first four pies. “And they all came out excellent,” he told GrowthSpotter.

As a two-time Foodie award winner, Antica holds itself to a high standard. Not to mention, Dr. Phillips Charities CEO Ken Robinson will tell anyone who asks, it’s “maybe one of the best pizza places you’ll find anywhere.” He personally recruited Jacques and his partner, Kevin Turner, to the food hall.

“I’d like to think it took a lot of convincing, but the property sells itself,” Robinson said. “And so when people come and see it, they understand the vision. … And we’re excited to have each and every one of them.”

As master developer of the 202-acre Packing District, Robinson worked closely with Chef Akhtar Nawab and his group, Hospitality HQ, to recruit vendors with menus that highlight a mix of American and immigrant cuisine.

Some are new to the market, like Kabob2Go, but have a successful track record with food halls in other locations. The Mediterranean restaurant features kabobs, shawarmas, falafel and baba ghanouj — all made with imported spices from Lebanon.

“We’ve been preparing for the past two weeks,” Chef Ahmad El Cheikh said. “Everything is ready. We’re just waiting for people. We’re so excited to be here in Orlando.”

Others, like A Lo Cubano and BrazaOrlando, have run food trucks and have devoted customers.

“This is our first brick-and-mortar restaurant,” Braza owner Connie Lisboa said. She and her husband emigrated from Rio de Janeiro and brought their love of barbecue to Orlando, as well as a Brazilian grill that gives their steaks a special char.

Longtime restauranteur Nolene Allen is putting a new twist on her Jamaican classics, like jerk chicken and oxtail stew, by introducing a new “create your own bowl” fast-casual menu at her Kayos Jamaican Grill stall.

“So you can choose between rice and beans, and choose white rice or yellow rice, or quinoa, and then you choose your protein,” she said. “It can be steak, it can be oxtail or chicken. And we have vegan options.”

Additional vendors include:

• Dancing Yeti: a Nepali/Indian concept from Chef Rajesh Pathack that will feature Himalayan bowls, sandwiches and stuffed dumplings known as Momos.
• Eighty Twenty: a new burger concept from Chef Andres Maldonado Fuertes, executive chef of Nona Street Pizza
• Raj Express: an Indian restaurant serving traditional curries, homemade cheeses and pepper fry.

The food hall features a sprawling central bar where visitors can order from any of the vendors or just have a beer or cocktail. Orange County Brewers is still building its 3,000-square-foot craft brewery, slated to open in about four months.

Lake Mary-based Stack’d Brownies snagged the only dessert-focused stall and will serve an array of baked treats alongside soft-serve ice cream and milkshakes.

“We’re really going to have fun with the desserts, so it’s not just going to be a scoop and a brownie — it’s more than that,” Chef Jason Long said.

For Robinson, this weekend’s opening is the culmination of a journey that started eight years ago. “It’s chaotic. It’s exciting. It’s nervous, and we can’t wait till tonight and tomorrow night to open it up to the community and then ready for the whole entire community this weekend.”

But then he’ll quickly turn his attention to the next phases of the Packing District. He said Dr. Phillips has just begun to market to new retail buildings lining Princeton Street and Orange Blossom Trail.

“And the response to that has been overwhelming. We’ve already started executing leases there, and we are excited about the quality of the tenancy that will be coming in.”

Robinson said the district already has plans for a hotel and office building,too.

Have a tip about Central Florida development? Contact me at lkinsler@GrowthSpotter.com or (407) 420-6261. Follow GrowthSpotter on Facebook and LinkedIn.