This summer, the former Little Italy Food Hall space at Piazza della Famiglia is expected to reopen as Global Fork Food Hall, a new culinary collective from rapidly expanding hospitality company Tiger Hospitality. The project represents far more than a simple tenant replacement. It serves as the flagship expression of an ambitious regional strategy that aims to create a network of interconnected food halls, restaurant concepts, bars, and hospitality experiences stretching from San Diego to Orange County.
Located at 550 West Date Street in the heart of Little Italy, Global Fork will feature a curated lineup of food concepts including Seattle's acclaimed Moto Pizza, Cosmos Burger, Lobster Lab, La Vida, Thai Style Kitchen, Handel's Ice Cream, and a full-service cocktail bar dubbed Hero Bar designed to connect the indoor dining space with Piazza della Famiglia.
The former Little Italy Food Hall closed abruptly in February 2025 after nearly seven years in operation. The closure came with little public warning and reportedly left vendors and employees scrambling for answers. For years, the venue had served as one of downtown San Diego's more recognizable communal dining destinations.
A defining feature of Tiger Hospitality's growth strategy is its portfolio of proprietary restaurant concepts. Lobster Lab has emerged as perhaps the most successful.
Originally launched inside Windmill Food Hall in Carlsbad, the seafood-focused concept specializes in lobster rolls, lobster grilled cheese sandwiches, chowders, seafood salads, and premium shellfish offerings. The brand is now preparing locations in Little Italy, UC San Diego, and is now planning to open within Del Mar's Sky Deck.
Cosmos Burger has experienced similar growth. Known for premium burgers, monkey fries, and its signature Spicy Jam Burger, the concept recently earned recognition as BusinessRate's top-rated burger restaurant in Oceanside and is expanding into multiple Tiger Hospitality developments.
La Vida rounds out the trio, focusing on health-conscious offerings including salads, wraps, smoothies, sandwiches, and bowls. By operating its own concepts while also leasing space to outside vendors, Tiger Hospitality gains a level of flexibility rarely seen in the food hall industry.
As Bakay previously explained, the company intends to eventually place its concepts not only in its own developments but also as tenants in food halls operated by others.
Perhaps the most intriguing addition to Global Fork is Moto Pizza. Founded in Seattle, Moto has developed a cult following for its distinctive Detroit-inspired pizzas that blend elements of Detroit, Roman, New York, and Filipino culinary traditions.
The company has earned national attention through social media, lengthy waitlists, and critical acclaim, with many pizza enthusiasts considering it among the country's most innovative pizza concepts. Its Global Fork location follows the brand's expansion into San Clemente's Miramar Food Hall and signals San Diego's first opportunity to experience one of the most talked-about emerging pizza brands in America.
Tiger Hospitality's ambitions extend beyond dining. Directly across Piazza della Famiglia, the company recently assumed control of Sam The Cooking Guy's former Basta space and opened Good Enough Cocktail Club, a hi-fi cocktail lounge created in partnership with Same Same founders Mike Mayaudon and Shawn Seaman.
Together, Good Enough and Global Fork will effectively give Tiger Hospitality control over both sides of Little Italy's central piazza, allowing the company to program events, activations, live music, fitness programming, community gatherings, and seasonal experiences across one of downtown's busiest public spaces.
Global Fork Food Hall is expected to open this summer at 550 West Date Street in San Diego's Little Italy neighborhood. For more information, visit globalforkfh.com.
Operated by Grit & Grain Collective and closely associated with local culinary personality Sam "The Cooking Guy" Zien, the food hall occupied a central position within Piazza della Famiglia, the 10,000-square-foot pedestrian plaza that has become Little Italy's de facto town square. When the venue shuttered, many wondered whether another operator would be willing to tackle a challenging space that had already experienced multiple vendor turnovers, concept changes, and operational resets.
Enter Tiger Hospitality. Founded by hospitality entrepreneurs Berke Bakay, Eren Unur, and Brett Johnson, the company quickly emerged as one of Southern California's most aggressive food hall developers. Rather than simply reviving the former Little Italy Food Hall, the team elected to completely rethink the concept from the ground up.
Working with San Diego-based BASILE Studio, the acclaimed design firm behind Born & Raised, Raised By Wolves, and numerous other high-profile hospitality projects, Tiger Hospitality has spent the past year redesigning the 4,685-square-foot venue into a more integrated indoor-outdoor experience oriented toward the piazza itself.
Enter Tiger Hospitality. Founded by hospitality entrepreneurs Berke Bakay, Eren Unur, and Brett Johnson, the company quickly emerged as one of Southern California's most aggressive food hall developers. Rather than simply reviving the former Little Italy Food Hall, the team elected to completely rethink the concept from the ground up.
Working with San Diego-based BASILE Studio, the acclaimed design firm behind Born & Raised, Raised By Wolves, and numerous other high-profile hospitality projects, Tiger Hospitality has spent the past year redesigning the 4,685-square-foot venue into a more integrated indoor-outdoor experience oriented toward the piazza itself.
"The physical structure will connect the indoors with the plaza," Bakay previously explained.
The redesign includes a reoriented bar program, expanded event capabilities, and a stronger connection between the dining hall and the surrounding public space.
Despite its recent emergence, Tiger Hospitality's leadership team brings an unusually deep bench of experience. The company is led by La Jolla resident Berke Bakay, whose resume extends well beyond restaurants.
Bakay previously served as CEO of Kona Grill, the publicly traded restaurant chain that at one point operated approximately 40 locations nationwide. He is also founder of Bakay Capital Management, co-founder of Three Lions Capital Management, chairman of Phoenix Rising FC, and part of the ownership group of England's historic Ipswich Town Football Club. His investment and operational experience spans hospitality, finance, sports, real estate, and private equity.
In 2024, Bakay partnered with hospitality veterans Eren Unur and Brett Johnson to launch Tiger Hospitality with a singular focus: building community-driven food halls supported by scalable in-house restaurant brands. Unlike many food hall operators that rely entirely on independent vendors, Tiger Hospitality controls several of its own restaurant concepts, allowing the company to maintain occupancy, consistency, and operational control while still incorporating outside partners. The model has proven attractive enough that the company has gone from startup to managing more than 40,000 square feet of food hall space in less than two years.
Global Fork is only one piece of a much larger strategy. Last week, Tiger Hospitality opened Miramar Food Hall inside San Clemente's historic Miramar Theatre complex. The 12,400-square-foot project includes fifteen vendors, multiple bars, ocean views, and adaptive reuse of one of Orange County's iconic historic properties.
Meanwhile, construction continues on Station 8 Public Market at UC San Diego. Scheduled to debut in summer 2026, the 20,000-square-foot project will feature ten food concepts, two bars, a mezzanine dining area, outdoor patios, and more than 300 seats. The development represents one of the most ambitious food hall projects ever attempted on a university campus and is expected to become a major dining destination for students, faculty, theatergoers, and the general public.
Combined, Tiger Hospitality's three food halls total more than 41,000 square feet and position the company as one of the region's largest food hall operators.
The redesign includes a reoriented bar program, expanded event capabilities, and a stronger connection between the dining hall and the surrounding public space.
Despite its recent emergence, Tiger Hospitality's leadership team brings an unusually deep bench of experience. The company is led by La Jolla resident Berke Bakay, whose resume extends well beyond restaurants.
Bakay previously served as CEO of Kona Grill, the publicly traded restaurant chain that at one point operated approximately 40 locations nationwide. He is also founder of Bakay Capital Management, co-founder of Three Lions Capital Management, chairman of Phoenix Rising FC, and part of the ownership group of England's historic Ipswich Town Football Club. His investment and operational experience spans hospitality, finance, sports, real estate, and private equity.
In 2024, Bakay partnered with hospitality veterans Eren Unur and Brett Johnson to launch Tiger Hospitality with a singular focus: building community-driven food halls supported by scalable in-house restaurant brands. Unlike many food hall operators that rely entirely on independent vendors, Tiger Hospitality controls several of its own restaurant concepts, allowing the company to maintain occupancy, consistency, and operational control while still incorporating outside partners. The model has proven attractive enough that the company has gone from startup to managing more than 40,000 square feet of food hall space in less than two years.
Global Fork is only one piece of a much larger strategy. Last week, Tiger Hospitality opened Miramar Food Hall inside San Clemente's historic Miramar Theatre complex. The 12,400-square-foot project includes fifteen vendors, multiple bars, ocean views, and adaptive reuse of one of Orange County's iconic historic properties.
Meanwhile, construction continues on Station 8 Public Market at UC San Diego. Scheduled to debut in summer 2026, the 20,000-square-foot project will feature ten food concepts, two bars, a mezzanine dining area, outdoor patios, and more than 300 seats. The development represents one of the most ambitious food hall projects ever attempted on a university campus and is expected to become a major dining destination for students, faculty, theatergoers, and the general public.
Combined, Tiger Hospitality's three food halls total more than 41,000 square feet and position the company as one of the region's largest food hall operators.
A defining feature of Tiger Hospitality's growth strategy is its portfolio of proprietary restaurant concepts. Lobster Lab has emerged as perhaps the most successful.
Originally launched inside Windmill Food Hall in Carlsbad, the seafood-focused concept specializes in lobster rolls, lobster grilled cheese sandwiches, chowders, seafood salads, and premium shellfish offerings. The brand is now preparing locations in Little Italy, UC San Diego, and is now planning to open within Del Mar's Sky Deck.
Cosmos Burger has experienced similar growth. Known for premium burgers, monkey fries, and its signature Spicy Jam Burger, the concept recently earned recognition as BusinessRate's top-rated burger restaurant in Oceanside and is expanding into multiple Tiger Hospitality developments.
La Vida rounds out the trio, focusing on health-conscious offerings including salads, wraps, smoothies, sandwiches, and bowls. By operating its own concepts while also leasing space to outside vendors, Tiger Hospitality gains a level of flexibility rarely seen in the food hall industry.
As Bakay previously explained, the company intends to eventually place its concepts not only in its own developments but also as tenants in food halls operated by others.
Perhaps the most intriguing addition to Global Fork is Moto Pizza. Founded in Seattle, Moto has developed a cult following for its distinctive Detroit-inspired pizzas that blend elements of Detroit, Roman, New York, and Filipino culinary traditions.
The company has earned national attention through social media, lengthy waitlists, and critical acclaim, with many pizza enthusiasts considering it among the country's most innovative pizza concepts. Its Global Fork location follows the brand's expansion into San Clemente's Miramar Food Hall and signals San Diego's first opportunity to experience one of the most talked-about emerging pizza brands in America.
Tiger Hospitality's ambitions extend beyond dining. Directly across Piazza della Famiglia, the company recently assumed control of Sam The Cooking Guy's former Basta space and opened Good Enough Cocktail Club, a hi-fi cocktail lounge created in partnership with Same Same founders Mike Mayaudon and Shawn Seaman.
Together, Good Enough and Global Fork will effectively give Tiger Hospitality control over both sides of Little Italy's central piazza, allowing the company to program events, activations, live music, fitness programming, community gatherings, and seasonal experiences across one of downtown's busiest public spaces.
Global Fork Food Hall is expected to open this summer at 550 West Date Street in San Diego's Little Italy neighborhood. For more information, visit globalforkfh.com.
Originally published on June 16, 2026.
