3-minute read
Just south of Lakeland, in Mulberry, a food hall has arisen.
Where: Depot 303, at 303 NW Ist Ave. (in Mulberry), houses several food vendors and a bar that serves craft cocktails and beer.
Who: Jon Bucklew, a founder of The Joinery, the food hall in downtown Lakeland, is running Depot 303.
When: Depot 303 held a soft opening the first weekend in April, then opened for regular hours later that week.
It’s now open:
- Sunday to Thursday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m
- Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
The backstory: The city of Mulberry bought the building that houses Depot 3030 in 2022 for $75,000, according to property records.
Bucklew said the city contracted with him to run the food hall. He picked many of the food vendors, hoping to bring an eclectic mix to the small town historically known for phosphate mining.
“Mulberry is not far. We’re basically greater South Lakeland,” Bucklew said. “I hope it encourages people who go to the Joinery regularly to try Depot 303 … And vice versa.”
Pizza Odyssey’s Hercules pizza
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The vendors so far: There are four food vendors now.
- Tilaw Asian Fusion: Serving Filipino-inspired dishes, it’s owned by the same couple who own the catering company Pinoy Cravings.
- Fat Maggie’s: Previously open in Lakeland’s Dixieland neighborhood, Fat Maggie’s specializes in American staples such as smash burgers, banana pudding, and candy bacon mac and cheese.
- Ling’s Dumplings: This is the second location for Ling’s Dumplings; it’s also in the food hall Armature Works, in Tampa. Owned by the proprietor of Ato in The Joinery, Ling’s specializes in Asian dumplings.
- Pizza Odyssey: It offers artisan pizzas. This is the second location; the other is inside the Lake Morton Market and Deli, across from the Lakeland Public Library.
King of the Coop, based in Tampa, is scheduled to open a food stall in Depot 303 later this month, offering Nashville Hot Chicken.
Bottega Porchetta, based in Tampa as well, is also contracted to arrive at Depot 303 in May, offering Italian roast pork sandwiches and sides.
Bucklew hasn’t selected a seventh vendor yet, but hopes to have all the vendors in place by the end of May. Assembling them, he said, is “a little bit of an art form.”
The space: It’s open with a minimalist, industrial aesthetic. The majority of the furniture is custom-made by Bucklew’s furniture company, Seventeen20.
It has a screened-in patio and seats about 280 people.
The patio and another room are available for private events. There’s free parking next to the building.
Connections: Some of the food stall proprietors have previously worked with Bucklew.
Dusin Olson, 43, who owns Fat Maggie’s, was a part-time bartender at the Joinery for the past five years while he operated his Fat Maggie’s food truck and catering business.
Olson had an opportunity to operate a dessert-based stall in the Joinery but passed it up. When Bucklew asked if he was interested in bringing Fat Maggie’s to Depot 303, he seized the opportunity.
Tilaw Asian Fusion
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Jun Dobrea, the co-owner and chef at Tilaw Asian Fusion, was part of the crew that launched Sabu Ramen in The Joinery.
When the Joinery shut during the pandemic, Dobrea started to test recipes at home, launched Pinoy Cravings with his wife, Cherish, and joined Catapult.
When Bucklew approached the couple about opening a food stall in Depot 303, he was in.
Some of the fusion dishes on Tilaw’s menu are lumpia, a Chinese spring roll, and crab rangoon, also a mixture of Filipino and Chinese culture.
There’s also a typical Filipino dish, chicken adobo, and a calamansi juice refresher, a citrus hybrid of lime and lemon that is grown predominantly in the Philippines.
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