Waterworks Food Hall is open in Toronto after a long and highly anticipated wait. The 55,000-square-foot Art Deco building is home to a lineup of the city's favourite food vendors.

Eve Lewis, the founder and visionary behind Waterworks, has always held a deep interest in preserving heritage buildings. When she discovered the urban architectural gem was for sale, she knew it had the potential to be something special. 

"When you came into the space, it was the biggest surprise ever. Beautiful three-and-a-half-storey ceilings, an atrium, domed. It was just magical. And so our concept was to think about what can really contribute to the neighbourhood?" Lewis shared with theGentries. 

Alongside the Director of Development, Stratton Townley, they set off to research food halls around the world, travelling to destinations such as Lisbon, Madrid, Copenhagen, Paris, London, New York, Chicago, and Atlanta.

Each location taught them something different, and slowly the plan for Waterworks came to fruition. 

The European-style food hall is bright and inviting, with massive floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking St. Andrew's Park and plenty of seating all around the space. 

It thoughtfully balances clean and modern design with historic elements, including the building's original brick and restored skylights.  

My favourite part of the space is the art installation.

Spheres hang from the ceiling, each varying in size and design. They were hand crafted and-created by Canadian artists including Priscilla Yu, Jimmy Chiale, Jacquie Comrie, Kelcy Timmons Chan, Courtney Wotherspoon, Thomarya (Tee) Fergus and Andre Kan to name a few.

Some pay tribute to the city, and others offer colourful food cues. The best part is they even light up at night.

When it comes to the food, my favourite way to dine at a food hall is to go with friends or family and share a little of everything. And while you may not be able to hit all 20 vendors in one visit, you can still try a few different bites even when dining alone. 

First up was Harry's Charbroiled. The BBQ Jane ($12.50) is a 4oz beef patty seasoned and grilled so it's got lots of caramelized brown bits, topped with American cheese, crispy jalapeños, caramelized onions, and a wickedly good BBQ mayo. 

Their Fish Sandwich ($13.50) features flaky fried haddock, American cheese, fresh lettuce, tomato, and a tangy tartar sauce on a soft, pillowy bun. 

And, of course, you can't get a burger or sandwich without a side order of fries (small $3.99, large $6.99). The fries are cut super thick. Perfectly salted, they were fluffy on the inside and crisp on the outside. 

Next up was Venezuelan grilled corn arepas from The Arepa Republic. The Pelua ($17) has tender pieces of melt-in-your-mouth flank steak and cheddar cheese. You can also add extras like fried sweet plantain ($1) or avocado ($2) to your order. 

The Rumbera ($16) has pulled pork, cheddar cheese, and garlic mayo. While I didn’t get much of the garlic flavour, the pile of juicy pork easily made up for it. 

For something a little brighter, we dived into the Foon Rolls ($8.95) at Soi Thai Foon.

These veggie-packed rolls have fresh mint, lettuce, thinly sliced carrots, and purple cabbage. Served with plum sauce, they have plenty of crunch from the vegetables and spring roll wrapper. 

One of Soi Thai Foon's other popular menu options is the Peanut Pasta ($18). It comes with noodles, broccoli, bell peppers, spinach, carrots and your choice of protein.

The golden panko fried shrimp are irresistibly crispy. Everything is coated in a thick, tangy, and nutty peanut sauce that is a must-try for peanut butter lovers.  

Now, if you’re looking to get the most bang for your buck, you can't go wrong with the mix-and-match tacos option from Taco Lupita (3 for $16.95) with a cold Jarritos ($4.95) on the side.

Served on a fresh corn tortilla, the Cochinita Pibil ($6.95) has slow-roasted BBQ pork, pieces of sweet pineapple, and cilantro. It was my favourite of the three. 

The Corn and Sweet Potato ($5.95), topped with cilantro and a slice of fresh mango, is a delicious vegetarian option.

The Wild Prawn ($6.95) is filled with green saucy shrimp, thinly sliced radishes, and pickled onions.

We also couldn’t leave out one of Lewis's current favourite food offerings, the stuffed naan from Pakistani vendor Karak. The traditional Butter Chicken Naan ($17.99) was stuffed with chicken breast marinated in their in-house butter chicken sauce.

They also have fusion offerings such as the Texas Smoked Brisket ($20.99). It's filled with fall-apart Wagyu smoked beef brisket, drippy melted mozzarella cheese, and a smokey BBQ sauce. The flaky naan is all brushed with butter and topped with sesame seeds. 

To wash down our food, we had to try the Burdock Brewery collab at Boxcar Social. On tap were the Waterworks Helles Lager (14 oz, $9) and the Waterworks Pale Ale (14 oz, $9). The lager was creamy with subtle notes of caramel. The pale ale had a dry and refreshing citrus taste. 

Lewis's hope for Waterworks has always been to create a space for the community, sharing "My goal is that we’re an incredible gathering spot for everybody - not only in the local community, whether you're working here or living here or visiting, but also internationally. I think Toronto has so much to offer. And I think we're gonna be a microcosm of that."

Waterworks Food Hall is located at 50 Brant Street.