Open nearly two months, 14 Mill Market, a $3.7 million food hall and entertainment venue in Nixa, is drawing crowds.
Owners Leah and Rich Callahan opened southwest Missouri’s first food hall, which houses 10 restaurants and a bar. Food halls are chef-driven and offer a progressive dining experience, or a chance to satisfy many different tastes at the same time. There’s soul food, pizza, dessert, poke bowls, tacos and more.
We stopped at every spot and asked the staff at each one to highlight a top seller or a personal favorite. We invite you to dive into this delicious story.
Lindsay’s Kitchen
The avocado toast at Lindsay’s Kitchen starts with delicious homemade honey wheat bread — very few places can say they bake their own bread from scratch. Then she mixes fresh avocado with a house-made everything seasoning (like the topping on an everything bagel). She adds beautiful sliced red, yellow and purplish baby tomatoes, fresh greens, smoked Atlantic salmon, a light drizzle of olive oil and another sprinkle of their homemade everything seasoning. It’s flavorful, light but filling, and a healthy meal with natural ingredients.
Owner Lindsay Kirtlan sold baked goods at Farmers Market of the Ozarks before moving into the mill. You can watch fresh bread being made behind the glass at her restaurant booth. She also serves breakfast sandwiches, an array of coffee drinks and baked goods like sea salt-dusted chocolate chip cookies.
Sno Biz
The Bizzy Flight is a fantastic way to sample a variety of sweet treats at Sno Biz. You get four 4-ounce servings of ice cream or shaved ice, or a mix of both — perfect for families or to share at a table.
The blackberry cobbler ice cream should absolutely be on your flight. OMG. This creamy concoction comes from Ice Cream Factory in Eldon and is the best seller. Forget blackberry cobbler a la mode, this swirls both treats together into a delectable ice cream with chunks of berries and crust.
The gooey butter cake is another top seller. The rainbow shaved ice is a mix of blue raspberry, banana and cherry. The tiger’s blood flavor is strawberry and coconut. It’s a great way to beat the summer heat.
D’Vine Delicatessen
At D’Vine Delicatessen, you will find high-quality meats and cheeses from New York, Chicago and around the world. Try the Italian beef with an added bonus of sausage. The sandwich starts with beef that they roast in-house with Italian seasoning, fresh garlic and more.
What makes the sandwich shine is the giardiniera, which are pickled vegetables that the owner gets from Chicago. This specific Italian beef was made with the addition of a beef smoked sausage on the bottom for the carnivore lover. If you want it Chicago style, just ask, because that is when they dip the meat in the gravy so it’s wet when it is placed on the bread.
The Cubano is also amazing and features house-roasted mojo pork and bread from Florida.
Not’cho Ordinary Taco
Not’cho Ordinary Taco started as a food truck in Bolivar more than a decade ago and amassed a huge following. The Hawaiian surf and turf taco put them on the map. It features teriyaki-glazed sirloin steak and shrimp, melted Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato and sweet pineapple chutney contrasted by a spicy aioli, served on a parmesan-encrusted tortilla.
“That taco earned me a place at the World Food Championship last year,” said Casey McTavish, owner.
After winning “People’s Choice” in a taco competition that was a qualifier for the World Food Championship, McTavish moved on to compete against 300 chefs from around the world in Texas. He placed 17th in the bacon category. McTavish says he loves sweet and spicy, yin and yang, and you will find that in a lot of his tacos.
Queen City Soul Kitchen
If southern comfort food is what you’re after, Queen City Soul Kitchen is the place for you.
Lyle Foster and Francine Pratt are business partners with a passion for soul food. Foster said they are known for their fried chicken wings, which are mixed with secret seasonings. The East Coast mac-n-cheese is another signature dish and has a blend of four cheeses in the creamy pasta.
As for the cornbread, it’s slightly sweet, but not cake-like so it stays true to its southern roots. Many of the recipes come from Pratt or her family, Foster said. They also serve delicious savory greens, juicy meatloaf, yams and more.
Fresh Poke
Cody Davis, of Fresh Poke, was a chef at Ocean Zen for many years and wanted to return to his roots of cooking Asian food. He loves sushi but didn’t want to have to roll it. Poke is essentially sushi in a bowl, but even more substantial. The reception has been fantastic and he’s been busy ever since they opened.
He offers a variety of bowls, but the sesame crunch is the most popular and features sweet sesame sauce, cucumber, edamame, grape tomatoes and sweet onion, topped with crispy garlic wontons, crispy onions, seeds and nori. It’s a healthy option and light fare for summer.
MO Slider Company
Aside from great sliders, the Elote Loaded Fries at MO Slider Company are buzzworthy. A basket of waffle fries is topped with their version of elote, which is Mexican street corn, then piled on with cojita cheese and topped with Flaming Hot Cheetos crumbs. This is what happens when comfort food from two cultures collides.
Brook Gash is the co-owner of this spot and says they are expanding soon to offer breakfast the second or third week of August in conjunction with her waffle spot.
Liege Love Waffle Co.
The Banana Cream Waffle at Liege Love Waffle Co. is a decadent breakfast or dessert. It starts with liege waffles, which have sugar crystals in the batter, so they caramelize as they cook and the waffle has a more dense texture. Next, the warm waffle is topped with banana cream filling, cinnamon, whipped cream, homemade caramel sauce, freshly sliced bananas and a sprinkling of vanilla wafers. Gash says this is her personal favorite and the crowds are loving it, too. If banana pudding is nostalgic, you must try this modern, delicious twist.
Pie Paradiso Pizza
This is a pizza-loving carnivore’s dream, although there’s vegetarian pizza, too, at Pie Paradiso Pizza. Enjoy pizza by the slice made with high-quality meats. The “Whole Hog” features garlic sausage, sliced Italian sausage and smoked bacon made from the shoulder. Doug Gruenberg, one of the owners, said it’s his top pick and customers seem to agree.
Or try “Give Me the Meat,” topped with sausage, pepperoni, beef and bacon.
Pie Paradiso Pizza can do cauliflower crust for an upcharge. Gruenberg said they are expanding their offerings soon to different styles of pizza and crust.
Abby’s Acai Company
Abby’s Acai Company is named for Abby Voelker, its owner, who was just a student at Evangel University when she started an acai food truck in 2020 with her mom. She was one of the first to introduce Springfield to the acai concept and it was a hit.
The original bowl has continued to win over hearts and taste buds. It’s a generous serving of purple-hued acai, topped with sliced strawberries, bananas, blueberries, shredded coconut, chia seeds and granola, with an optional drizzle of honey.
If you’ve visited Abby's food truck before, this spot has a much larger menu, even offering some chocolate-laden dessert bowls and smoothies.
Wisner Bar
The Mill Cat is a signature cocktail at Wisner Bar, so named because when the Callahans bought the old feed store, there were more a dozen cats living inside. When the building was torn down, the cats scattered to both sides of the street and social media was abuzz with the cat dilemma. The Mill Cats became a running joke in Nixa, so it was only fitting they named a special cocktail after the felines, explained Leah Callahan. She and her husband own the bar.
The cocktail is a smooth, slightly sweet but not overly sweet, mix of Absolut vanilla vodka, pineapple juice, orange juice and coconut cream.
In flavor, the vanilla and orange are on the front end and reminiscent of a creamsicle, but then the finish tastes more like a pina colada. It’s not nearly as sweet as that sounds or as rich as a pina colada. It’s lovely.
14 Mill Market attracting a lot of visitors
The 14 Mill Market property has a long history and was first purchased in 1839 from the U.S. government. It was sold to different families over the years and then, in 1958, Barney Wisner bought it and built Wisner Feed Mill. In 1976, it was sold and became a feed and farm supply store, which many locals remember. Then in March 2021, Rich and Leah bought the closed mill and 3.6 acres to develop this concept.
14 Mill Market has attracted families, locals, tourists, couples on dates, friend groups and many generations.
There’s live music every Friday and Saturday, usually from 7-9 p.m. Check Facebook for a schedule. There are lawn games, a gorgeous patio and indoor seating.
“It’s been such a neat experience to see the community support and the vendors supporting each other,” Leah said.
Want to go?
What: 14 Mill Market
Where: 203 E. Mt. Vernon St., Nixa
Hours: Tuesday-Thursday, 7 a.m.-10 p.m.; Friday, 7 a.m.-midnight; Saturday, 9 a.m.-midnight; Sunday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. (Note: The only vendors open at 7 a.m. during the week and at 9 a.m. Saturdays are Abby’s Acai and Lindsay’s Kitchen. Some vendors close earlier.)
For more information: Call (417) 763-6500; find them on Facebook or visit the 14 Mill Market website
