Kroger Opens More In-Store Food Halls

If grocery shopping makes you hungry for a quick bite, then Kroger is fast becoming the supermarket for you.

America's largest grocery chain is opening new tech-driven food halls at more of its stores next week—so while you're shopping, you can order fully cooked meals to go.

WCMH-TV reports the new Mix Food Halls, both located in central Ohio, will allow customers to mix and match from multiple fast-food and fast casual-style restaurants, all prepared in a single centralized kitchen. Each location will include popular standouts Fuku Fried Chicken, Pei Wei Asian Kitchen and Nékter Juice Bar. Additional options, such as Nathan's Famous, Saladworks and Dickey's Barbeque Pit, will vary depending on location.

Following the planned openings at its stores in Clintonville on Jan. 10 and Dublin on Jan. 11, Kroger will boast a total of three functioning food halls in the Columbus area. The first opened in Gahanna last November.

Kitchen United, which currently operates similar freestanding, ghost kitchen-style food halls in cities across the country, is partnering with the grocery giant on its expanding in-store dining options. The companies previously tested the concept at Kroger-owned stores in Los Angeles, Houston and Dallas.

Customers place their orders through a digital kiosk, or via the Mix Food Hall's website or mobile app, and everything can be picked up when they're done with their shopping.

And if it sounds weird to order fully cooked meals while you're grocery shopping—have you ever finished shopping and needed a nap? This is a genius solution.

"We are always looking for new and unique ways to help our customers answer the 'what's for dinner tonight?' question," Melissa Stimac, vice president of merchandising for Kroger's Columbus Division, previously said in a statement. "The collaboration with Kitchen United is special because customers' restaurant-quality meal will be crafted while they're shopping for the fresh food and pantry staples their families need."