by Courtney Cohn

The Hall CP, a restaurant, bar and event space in College Park, opened in January of this year and has skyrocketed in popularity since then, despite the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The restaurant is located within walking distance for many students living on the University of Maryland campus. The Hall is also open seven days a week, with varying hours each day. They offer happy hours, study hours and other events throughout the week, too, in order to cater to a typical student’s busy schedules. 

“It’s like, close to campus, so it’s really convenient for college students to walk over,” Emma Winson, a server at The Hall, said.

Winson said the restaurant was not popular or super well-known when it first opened in January. But it gained recognition after a food blogger on TikTok posted a glowing review of The Hall in August. The TikTok video, which is part of a Maryland restaurant review series, currently has 385,000 views. 

“I think really, the TikTok kind of caused us to blow up, and now everyone knows about it,” Winson, a senior economics major, said.

The Hall subsequently reposted the video on their Instagram, garnering even more attention.

Their social media presence is unique for a restaurant, and that contributes to their appeal to college students. They have 2,572 followers and they post photos of food, events and employees frequently. 

Even though the restaurant closed for a couple of months due to the pandemic and has dealt with many safety and health restrictions, such as limited seating, they have still been successful this semester, Winson noted. In fact, the pandemic may have helped the restaurant as some students are looking for new ways to hang out with friends in a safe, contained environment.

“It’s kind of hard for people to hang out and go places, or like, have people over so I think it’s better just to go out to a restaurant and chill. I think it’s helped a lot, actually,” Winson said.

The Hall is a large restaurant, so they have a lot of spread out indoor and outdoor seating, which may make customers more comfortable eating there, according to Olivia Medina, a sophomore communications major. The staff at The Hall also take COVID-19 safety measures seriously like wearing gloves and changing them throughout the day, and wearing masks. 

Edima Efsien, a hostess at The Hall, believes that restaurants specifically are great places to bring people together during a time when many crave social interaction.

“I think with covid, people are just searching for ways to connect with people, and I think food is one of those ways,” Efsien, a senior theater performance major, said.

The Hall’s unique menu has also helped them grow their business, especially among college students. Gabi Frohlich, a junior family science major and food blogger, believes that the food is high quality, and the restaurant is reminiscent of a DC-style restaurant.

“The quality is something that feels worth paying for, and that’s something really important for college students when everyone knows we don’t like to spend a lot of money because college is as expensive as it is,” Frolich said.

She also finds the food to be “aesthetically beautiful,” which is important to draw people in and make the menu stand out from other restaurants. This food presentation is also catered towards social media posts as well. If food is being posted on social media, then it needs to look interesting to create a post people want to see.

“Obviously everybody knows that the kind of foods being posted on social media need to look a certain way to grab people’s attention, they can’t look normal, there has to be something unique about it,” Frolich added.

Additionally, Frolich likes the unique twists on classic dishes. For example, The Hall has foot-long mozzarella sticks and chicken sandwiches with doughnut buns. These foods make consumers inclined to come to the restaurant to try dishes they can’t find anywhere else.

Olivia Medina, a sophomore communications major, is also interested by the unique food at The Hall, especially the breakfast flatbread she ordered, and the lobster mac and cheese quesadillas she saw on the menu.

“It’s very modern … and inventive,” Medina said. “It’s just like stuff that I wouldn’t personally come up with.”

In addition to the food, the ambiance and set-up of the restaurant makes it stand out among other typical college town restaurants. The restaurant is casual enough for students to feel comfortable, but also formal enough to make it feel like an elevated space for people to hang out or celebrate a special occasion.

“I thought it was nice that there was finally another sit down restaurant in College Park,” Medina said.

Featured photo: The Hall CP is a restaurant, bar and event space in College Park. Photo courtesy of The Hall CP.