C3 (Creating Culinary Communities), the revolutionary food and beverage platform founded by Sam Nazarian , announces the upcoming opening of Citizens, a lifestyle food hall, in New York City and Atlanta, with more cities to follow. Through the development of digital-first brands, C3 has become a leader in the ghost kitchen space, and the food halls will further propel the company's expansion into brick-and-mortar retail environments. A first-of-its kind dining concept, Citizens will exclusively feature a lineup of vendors owned and operated by C3, including popular brands such as Krispy Rice, EllaMia and Sam's Crispy Chicken. Citizens will be fully powered by C3 's robust "CITIZENS GO" tech stack, inclusive of the just-launched meal delivery and pickup app of the same name.
Citizens demonstrates C3 's strategic partnership with the country's leading developers including Simon Property Group, a minority investor in C3, and Brookfield Properties. The first food hall will open this summer at Brookfield Properties' Manhattan West in New York City and a second Citizens will debut at Simon Property Group's Phipps Plaza in Atlanta in 2022.
Each Citizens will operate fast casual concepts out of a dedicated ghost kitchen and will offer pick-up and meal delivery via the new CITIZENS GO app. The groundbreaking app, developed in partnership with Lunchbox – the next-gen enterprise online ordering service created for restaurants – enables guests to bundle delivery or grab-and-go options from different Citizens vendors in a single order, granting them the power to satiate all their cravings at once – without any hidden fees. The culinary centers will also feature a dedicated grab-and-go market under the same moniker, CITIZENS GO, serving hand-rolled sushi, fresh pastas, hearty sandwiches and a selection of sweet and savory pastries. The Manhattan West location is slated to feature three dining concepts in partnership with Spanish chef Dani Garcia and Los Angeles -based sushi chef Katsuya Uechi .
"We spent the last year expanding our delivery-only concepts and closed out 2020 with close to 200 digital kitchens, 15 brands, 1,200 employees and 1.1 million meals served. Now with Citizens, we're bringing our brands into the experiential space, partnering with Brookfield Properties and Simon to open within two of the most highly anticipated developments in the country," says Sam Nazarian, founder and CEO of C3. "Atlanta and New York are dynamic, culinary-centric cities whose restaurant industries have significantly suffered this past year. With Citizens, we aim to bring fresh energy, variety and employment opportunities to these culinary spaces at a time when diners are beginning to look forward to immersive, in-person dining experiences again."
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