[upbeat folk music] So, Jay, for somebody who has never been here to the Optimist Food Hall, how would you describe it?

- Optimist has something for everybody, any age, any food that you crave.

We've got a lot of different options.

There are 19 different vendors here.

So it's perfect to take the whole family.

Perfect on dates.

It's perfect for any time of day.

- [Deborah] Tell me a little bit more about the history and how you preserved it.

- Yeah, so this originally was a textile mill.

It opened in 1892 and then expanded in 1895 and in 1912.

Originally, it was one of the first producers of gingham fabric, and throughout the years, it maintained a textile operation until we ultimately bought it in 2017 and began work preserving the structure.

There were no windows in any of the buildings as we bought them, everything was completely dark, and we went in and painstakingly rehabbed everything.

- [Deborah] Wow.

And I love the use of both indoor and outdoor space.

How have you created some fun ways for people to enjoy indoors and outdoors?

- It was very important to us to make sure, look, everybody loves being outside in Carolina and in the spring and fall.

So we needed to make sure that that element was here.

So we've created a central courtyard where the old mills used to be built in rectangles.

There's a beautiful courtyard that's interior but open that serves as the nexus point between each side of the mill.

- [Deborah] You must have every kind of food imaginable here.

Tell me, what are some of your family's favorites and what we're gonna find here in terms of how you found these places?

- We were pretty intentional about what we sought when we started merchandising this food hall at the very beginning.

You'll see several very popular food truck owners that we actually enticed to come, and this would be their first bricks and mortar store.

You'll see some established restaurateurs who had chefs that were working for them, and then they had one great, for example, Bao and Broth had a great steam bun at a place called Good Food on Montford.

He broke out and opened this Bao and Broth on the success of that steam bun, and it's been phenomenal.

- [Deborah] And this place has not missed out on the sweet tooth, right?

- [Jay] You will be covered.

There are several great opportunities.

Suarez Bakery, definitely.

Honeysuckle Gelato, if you have a sweet tooth for ice cream gelato, I highly recommend that.

- [Deborah] Yeah, so how has the community responded?

- [Jay] We've wanted to be Charlotte's coolest food hall.

I'd even say Charlotte's coolest destination.

I think by judging by the amount of people that come through here, all walks of life, all ages, you can argue that it definitely is.

So we've been very pleased.

And being a part of the anchor of this side of Charlotte, the north side in Optimist Park makes us even more special.

- Well, I'm excited to see more of it.

Thank you so much for showing us around.

I can't wait to eat.

- Let's do it.

- Optimist Food Hall is at 1115 North Brevard Street in Charlotte, and it's open every day.

To find out more, give them a call at [980] 701-0040 or go online to optimisthall.com.