# Gather Food Hall: Mission-Driven Hospitality and the Future of Food in Philadelphia
I know I’ve posted about this before, and I’m posting it AGAIN because it absolutely deserves the spotlight—twice, three times, however many times it takes.
Gather Food Hall in University City is one of the coolest, most meaningful, most forward-thinking food projects happening in Philadelphia right now. Period.
This isn’t just another pretty food hall with Instagram-friendly lighting and trendy concepts designed to maximize foot traffic and social media engagement. This is something far more significant. This is mission-driven hospitality done right—the kind that says, “We can feed people, support small local chefs, AND build community… all under one beautiful roof.”
The Crisis Nobody Talks About
Gather is stepping directly into one of Philadelphia’s biggest, quietest crises: college hunger.
Let me say that again, because it bears repeating: college hunger.
Nearly HALF of college students in this city struggle to eat. Half. That’s not a typo. That’s not an exaggeration. That’s the reality facing thousands of young people in one of America’s great college cities, pursuing education, working toward degrees, trying to build better futures—while not knowing where their next meal is coming from.
Think about that for a moment. We have world-class universities across Philadelphia. We have some of the brightest young minds in the country studying medicine, engineering, business, arts, sciences, and social work right here in our neighborhoods. And nearly half of them are dealing with food insecurity while they’re trying to focus on midterms, research projects, internships, and everything else that college demands.
This isn’t acceptable. This isn’t something we can continue to ignore. And thankfully, Gather said, “Nope. Not in our house.”
A Real Solution with Real Dignity
Here’s what makes Gather extraordinary: they didn’t just identify the problem. They didn’t just talk about it or form a committee to study it or launch a pilot program to test the waters. They committed to action with scale and vision.
With the support of Jerry, Brandywine Realty Trust, and the leadership of Richard and Jeff along with Believe in Students, Gather is committed to providing 5,000 FREE meals next year to local college students who need them.
Five thousand meals.
No shame. No spotlight. No nonsense. Just dignity and dinner.
That last part matters more than almost anything else. The way we address food insecurity speaks volumes about our values and our humanity. Too often, charitable food programs—however well-intentioned—create stigma and separation. They mark people as “needy” or “other.” They reinforce the very inequities they’re trying to address.
Gather took a completely different approach, and this is the part I absolutely love.
They Didn’t Make a Charity Cafeteria
They didn’t create a separate space where students have to identify themselves as food insecure. They didn’t build a basement operation with donated leftovers and mismatched plates. They didn’t establish a system that makes anyone feel less than.
They built a world-class food hall—gorgeous, communal, culturally rich—and then hard-wired equity into the business model.
This distinction is everything.
When a student walks into Gather, they’re walking into one of the most vibrant, beautiful, exciting food spaces in Philadelphia. They’re surrounded by the energy and diversity that makes our city’s food scene so dynamic. They’re choosing from multiple vendors offering different cuisines prepared by talented chefs who bring their own stories and traditions to the table.
And whether that student is paying for their meal or receiving it as part of Gather’s commitment to feeding college students, the experience is the same. The food is the same. The dignity is the same. The sense of belonging is the same.
This is how food access should work. This is what equity looks like when it’s designed intentionally rather than added as an afterthought.
The Triple Win: Students, Chefs, and Community
What makes Gather’s model even more brilliant is that it creates multiple levels of positive impact simultaneously.
Small chefs get real opportunities. Instead of the traditional restaurant model that requires massive capital investment, extensive credit history, and the ability to weather months or years of losses before turning profitable, Gather offers local chefs a pathway to entrepreneurship that’s actually achievable. They get access to professional kitchen space, built-in foot traffic, shared operational infrastructure, and the kind of visibility that might otherwise take years to build. For talented chefs who have the skills and vision but not the financial resources to open traditional restaurants, this model is transformative.
Students get real meals. Not charity meals. Not emergency meals. Real, high-quality, culturally diverse food prepared by skilled professionals. Meals they can enjoy without stigma, without having to prove need through bureaucratic processes, without feeling marked as different or less than. Meals that fuel their studies, their work, their dreams.
Philadelphia gets a real blueprint for how food systems SHOULD work. This isn’t just about one food hall feeding some students. This is about demonstrating a scalable model that other cities, other institutions, other developers and operators can learn from and replicate. Gather proves that commercial viability and social mission aren’t mutually exclusive. They prove that beautiful spaces and equitable access can coexist. They prove that doing well and doing good can be the same thing.
Why This Matters to Me
I’ve spent my entire career working at the intersection of food, hospitality, and community. From my work with the Feed Philly Coalition to my role at the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia, from founding The Philadelphia Jazz Experience to operating restaurants and food businesses, I’ve seen how food brings people together and how food insecurity tears communities apart.
Through Feed Philly Coalition, we’ve worked with over 25 organizations across more than 10 campaigns and 5 policy initiatives addressing food insecurity in Philadelphia. We’ve advocated for the Philadelphia Sustainability Tax Credit to incentivize food waste reduction and recovery. We’ve launched initiatives like Hero Kitchen to feed frontline workers. We’ve worked on food waste legislation and policy frameworks to strengthen our city’s food systems.
I’ve seen the statistics up close. I’ve met the families, the students, the working people who are one paycheck, one unexpected expense, one crisis away from not knowing where their next meal will come from. In a city where over 210,000 Philadelphians experience food insecurity—including 22% of Black households and 23% of Hispanic households—the need is overwhelming and constant.
But I’ve also seen what’s possible when creative, committed people decide to address these challenges with innovation rather than just charity. I’ve seen how different models of food access can preserve dignity while meeting need. I’ve seen how the right approach can create opportunity for food entrepreneurs while serving communities.
Gather Food Hall represents everything I believe about the future of food systems in Philadelphia. It’s entrepreneurial. It’s equitable. It’s beautiful. It’s practical. It’s sustainable. And most importantly, it works.
The Gather Experience
If you haven’t gone yet, go.
Walk into Gather and experience what mission-driven development looks like when it’s done with excellence. See the thoughtful design that makes the space feel welcoming to everyone. Taste the food from vendors who represent the incredible diversity of Philadelphia’s culinary talent. Watch students studying at communal tables, friends gathering for meals, solo diners enjoying a quiet lunch, groups celebrating occasions.
Notice how the space itself sends a message about values and priorities. Notice the quality of the finishes, the natural light, the comfortable seating, the acoustic design that allows conversation without chaos. Notice that nothing about this space says “charity” or “budget” or “compromise.” Everything about it says “you belong here” and “this city invests in you.”
Try food from multiple vendors and appreciate how Gather gives each chef the platform to showcase their unique perspective and heritage. Talk to the people working there and hear their stories about how this opportunity has changed their professional trajectory. Observe the mix of people from different backgrounds, ages, and circumstances all sharing the same space without artificial separation.
If you have gone, go again.
Support the vendors by returning regularly. Bring friends and colleagues. Spread the word about what Gather is doing. Make it a destination not just for yourself but for visitors to Philadelphia who want to understand what makes our food scene special. Your patronage matters because it helps sustain the model that makes everything else possible.
What Success Looks Like
Here’s what I hope for Gather moving forward:
I hope those 5,000 free meals for college students in the first year become 10,000 in year two, then 20,000, then a standard part of Philadelphia’s approach to addressing college hunger.
I hope the vendor chefs who start at Gather go on to open their own restaurants, launch catering companies, write cookbooks, train the next generation, and become leaders in Philadelphia’s food community.
I hope other developers and operators across Philadelphia and beyond see Gather’s success and say, “We can do this too. We can build beautiful spaces that serve commercial and social purposes simultaneously.”
I hope college administrators at universities across the city see what Gather is doing and ask, “How can we partner? How can we ensure our students know about this resource? How can we support this model?”
I hope philanthropists and foundations see Gather as a template for how their investments can create sustainable impact rather than just temporary relief.
I hope Gather becomes so successful and so influential that in ten years, people look back and say, “That’s when Philadelphia reimagined what food halls could be. That’s when we proved that equity and excellence aren’t competing values. That’s when we showed the rest of the country how it’s done.”
Major Props to the Vision Makers
Major props to everyone behind this vision—Jerry, Brandywine Realty Trust, Richard, Jeff, Believe in Students, and every vendor, staff member, and supporter who has contributed to making Gather real.
You’ve created something that speaks volumes about what’s possible when good people decide to build something that actually helps. You’ve demonstrated that mission-driven development doesn’t require sacrificing quality or sustainability. You’ve shown that addressing urgent social needs and creating vibrant commercial spaces aren’t mutually exclusive goals.
You’ve built something that makes Philadelphia better, that supports local entrepreneurs, that feeds students who need it, and that gives all of us a blueprint for the future.
And let this just be the start, please and thank you. Because if Gather is what’s possible with one food hall in one neighborhood, imagine what’s possible with this approach scaled across Philadelphia and beyond.
The Future of Food in Philadelphia
Philadelphia has always been a food city. From our Italian Market to our diverse neighborhood corridors, from our Reading Terminal Market to our innovative restaurant scene, food has been central to how we define ourselves and how we bring people together.
But Philadelphia has also been a city with deep inequities, including food insecurity that affects hundreds of thousands of residents. We’ve had parallel food systems—one for those with resources and access, another for those without. We’ve had entrepreneurial barriers that keep talented chefs from realizing their potential. We’ve had students studying in world-class institutions while worrying about where their next meal will come from.
Gather Food Hall challenges all of that. It refuses to accept that these inequities are inevitable or unchangeable. It demonstrates that we can create spaces that are simultaneously beautiful and accessible, commercially viable and socially impactful, supportive of entrepreneurs and responsive to community need.
This is what the future of food looks like in Philadelphia—and if we’re smart, if we’re committed, if we’re willing to support and replicate models like this, it’s a future where:
- Food entrepreneurs from all backgrounds have pathways to success that don’t require impossible amounts of capital
- College students can focus on their education without the distraction and stress of food insecurity
- Food halls and markets are designed with equity built into their business models from day one
- Commercial success and social mission reinforce rather than contradict each other
- Our food systems reflect the values we claim to hold as a city
Gather is showing us this future right now, in real time, in University City. They’re not talking about it or planning it or studying it. They’re doing it. And it’s working.
We’ve All Gotta Try
Let’s support Gather like it deserves.
Visit regularly. Bring friends. Celebrate the vendors. Spread the word. Make Gather one of your go-to spots for meals, meetings, and moments of community.
If you’re involved in Philadelphia’s food scene, study what Gather is doing and ask how you can incorporate similar principles into your own work.
If you’re a developer or property owner, consider how the Gather model could apply to your projects.
If you’re a policymaker or funder, ask how you can support and scale this approach.
If you’re a college administrator, connect your students with this resource and explore how you can partner with Gather’s mission.
And if you’re just someone who cares about people eating, about local chefs succeeding, about innovation in how we address social challenges, about Philadelphia becoming the city we know it can be—then Gather deserves your attention, your patronage, and your advocacy.
This is the real deal, Philadelphia. This is what happens when vision meets execution, when values guide decisions, when excellence and equity work together.
Gather Food Hall is showing us the future of food. Let’s make sure that future becomes reality—not just in University City, but across Philadelphia and beyond.
We’ve all gotta try. Because what Gather is building is too important, too innovative, and too necessary to remain a single example. It needs to be the beginning of a movement.
And that movement starts with each of us deciding to show up, support, spread the word, and demand that this become the standard rather than the exception.
See you at Gather.
Harry Hayman is a Philadelphia entrepreneur, hospitality professional, and food security advocate. He is the founder of the Feed Philly Coalition, Senior Fellow for Food Economy and Policy at the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia, and founder of The Philadelphia Jazz Experience. Through his restaurants, advocacy work, and community engagement, Harry has dedicated his career to building systems that bring people together through food, music, and hospitality.
Gather Food Hall is located in University City, Philadelphia. For more information about vendors, hours, and the program providing free meals to college students, visit their website or follow them on social media.