Time Out Market Union Square welcomed its first customers on Friday, seven months after the media and hospitality company announced its plans to replace Urbanspace Union Square. The 10,000-square-foot food hall, open daily from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., features seven stalls, a full-service bar, a stage, an outdoor terrace and seating for around 300 diners.
Located on East 14th Street between University Hall and Palladium residence hall and within a half-mile walk of 10 other NYU dorms, the Union Square location is Time Out Market’s 13th globally and its second in New York City, after its 2019 opening in Dumbo.
“We’re so excited to be part of this community, especially the NYU student community,” Virginia Rector-Birbal, vice president of U.S. Time Out Markets, told WSN. “We have a little bit of something for everyone so you don’t have to come to a consensus with all your friends.”
Rector-Birbal said that Time Out Market worked with its editorial team to feature seven of “the best chefs” in the city, including established restaurateurs like Tatiana’s Kwame Onwuachi, who was recently named as one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People of 2025, and rising stars such as Gerardo Alcaraz, who launched a Greenwich Village location of Taqueria El Chato in May.
Unapologetic Foods, the restaurant group behind Semma, New York City’s only Michelin-starred Indian restaurant, debuted Kebabwala, a Delhi-inspired street food stall. Head chef Chintan Pandya, who also leads Dhamaka in the Lower East Side, said that his menu will primarily offer four varieties of kebabs — chicken, lamb, wagyu ribeye and housemade paneer. Kebabwala also sells a limited quantity of biryani every day, with a restriction of one per customer.
“I could never find good kebabs in New York and that’s why we opened up Kebabwala,” Pandya told WSN.
From December 2022 to March 2025, the ground floor of Zero Irving was home to Urbanspace, a spot that many NYU students, including CAS sophomore Ainsley Taylor, frequented. Taylor said she walked down the street from Palladium to try Kebabwala and Bushwick-based Lori Jayne’s burgers, but both vendors had sold out by the time she and her friend ordered dinner.
“Urbanspace was a place that more people would want to go to throughout the day, whereas I feel like this new place is more for nightlife,” Taylor said. “Time Out Market attracts a little bit of an older group of people because of the bar.”
Taylor ultimately ordered a pizza from Fornino, one of two Italian food stalls, along with Staten Island favorite Anthony’s Paninoteca. Chef and owner Michael Ayoub founded Fornino in 2004, which also has a spot at Time Out Market’s Brooklyn location. He also said that Fornino’s $15 lunch special, which comes with a Neapolitan pizza and side salad, is ideal for a student budget.
“We’ve worked very well with Time Out and we look forward to working with the students here,” Ayoub said. “Once it gets cold, I’ll make soup and pasta al forno. As a chef I can be very diversified, and I’m here to make sure we feed students.”
CAS first-year Jack Weare also went to the food hall on opening day after his friend, Gallatin first-year Wyatt Feist, found it online as a place to eat near campus. While they enjoyed the $16 crispy Hat Yai Fried Chicken from Kam Rai Thai and intend to return, the students wished that they were able to use their NYU meal plans at Time Out Market.
“They should let us use Dining Dollars or meal swipes here, it’s a pretty cool place for a quick bite,” Weare said.
Previously, multiple Urbanspace vendors offered student discounts and accepted NYU’s now-discontinued Campus Cash. Rector-Birbal told WSN that a new loyalty program, launching on Oct. 6, will provide similar NYU-exclusive deals.
The Union Square food hall will also host various events, including cooking classes, fitness sessions and cultural talks, as well as potential collaborations with NYU student groups, according to Rector-Birbal.
“Part of Time Out’s mission is to not only bring the best of the city from a culinary standpoint,” Rector-Birbal said. “We’ll be making sure that this is not just a place to dine, but a third space where you can hang out and be part of your community.”
Contact Krish Dev at [email protected].
