When Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Cherokee Nation Entertainment reached out to Arlene Spiegel FCSI, president of Arlene Spiegel & Associates in New York City, to figure out what to do with its buffet restaurant following its shutdown, the veteran consultant created a food hall model for them. A great deal of emphasis was placed on the design and branding of the 10,000-sq-ft front-of-house space to ensure there would be no mistaking the venue for a buffet.įurther complicating the project was the need to accommodate the new realities brought about by the pandemic, as well as the need to have systems in place to handle any potential business interruption.

The goal was to create a dining model to replace the pre-pandemic shutdown, all-you-can-eat buffet while giving management more control over its hours of operation, the variety of foods offered, and multiple choices of ordering and delivering food to the guests.

The Food Hall at the Cherokee Casino & Hotel West Siloam Springs in Oklahoma needed to serve a very specific purpose.