Largest U.S. Event Dedicated to Food Hall Operations Nears Sellout
.png)
Inaugural event reflects rising demand for smarter food hall operations, better guest experiences, and purpose-built food hall POS technology
ARLINGTON, Va., March 30, 2026 — GoTab today announced that registration for the inaugural Future of Food Halls Conference is on track to close early, making it the largest known U.S. event dedicated exclusively to food hall operations, design, and growth. Set for April 15, 2026, at The Market at Malcolm Yards in Minneapolis, the conference brings together food hall owners, operators, developers, and industry leaders to address the operational, financial, and guest experience challenges shaping one of hospitality’s fastest-growing segments.
As food halls continue to evolve from curated dining destinations into complex, high-volume, multi-vendor businesses, the need for smarter operating infrastructure has become impossible to ignore. The event’s strong response reflects growing industry demand for practical strategies around guest experience, vendor management, service models, events, profitability, and technology. GoTab’s platform is designed specifically for modern food hall operations, helping operators simplify shared ordering, support vendor-level reporting, automate remittances, and deliver a more seamless guest experience through flexible food hall point of sale workflows.
“This response tells us something important,” said Patricia Mejia, Chief Marketing Officer at GoTab. “Far from a niche category, food halls are one of the most dynamic and operationally demanding models in hospitality. The Future of Food Halls Conference was created to give this segment the dedicated space it deserves. It’s a place for operators, developers, and partners to share what’s working, what’s changing, and what comes next.”
With its speaker lineup now finalized, the conference will feature voices from across operations, development, design, events, beverage, and hospitality technology. Programming will explore topics including:
- Food halls as real estate anchors and placemaking engines
- Designing for dwell time, programming, and repeat visitation
- Events as a revenue driver in multi-concept spaces
- Self-pour, beverage strategy, and bar operations
- Guest flow, ordering, and service model optimization
- Technology and infrastructure for scalable multi-vendor operations
Featured contributors include leaders from Colicchio Consulting, Urban Land Institute Minnesota, Tripleseat, PourMyBev, and other operators, developers, and technology partners helping define the next phase of food hall growth.
Food hall operators are under pressure to do more than simply aggregate great food. They must create an experience that feels seamless to guests while still preserving vendor independence, managing payouts and reporting, and supporting a mix of ordering behaviors across kiosks, QR codes, handhelds, counters, bars, and events. According to GoTab, the operators gaining traction are the ones investing in systems built for flexibility, speed, and transparency. Retrofitted restaurant tools generally break down in multi-vendor environments.
GoTab’s food hall point of sale platform supports unified carts across vendors, QR ordering, kiosk ordering, mobile and handheld POS, kitchen display system routing, vendor-level reporting, and automated revenue allocation to help food halls operate more efficiently at scale.
“Food halls succeed when the guest experience feels effortless, even when the operation behind it is incredibly complex,” Mejia added. “That’s exactly where operators need better infrastructure. This conference is about bringing the industry together around that reality.”
A limited number of registrations remain, and organizers expect attendance to close before the event date.
To learn more or register for the Future of Food Halls Conference, visit https://futurefoodhalls.com. To explore how GoTab supports modern food hall operations with flexible, multi-vendor technology, visit GoTab’s Food Hall Point of Sale Solutions page:
https://gotab.com/business-type/food-hall-pos
About GoTab
GoTab is an entertainment commerce platform built to help hospitality operators deliver better guest experiences while improving operational efficiency. Designed for complex hospitality environments including food halls, breweries, hotels, restaurants, and entertainment venues, GoTab combines point of sale, mobile ordering and payment, handhelds, kiosks, kitchen display systems, and integrations into a flexible platform that supports modern service models. For more information, visit https://gotab.com.
Tap Room Playbook Episode 2:
When you really think about it, with everything managers need to do in a tap room, the hospitality aspect is often overlooked.
Watch Now →.webp)
Tap Room Playbook Episode 3:
The best breweries pay attention to what their brand stands for. How do the best brewers bring their brand to life?
Watch Now →