October 22, 2026
"We were here when the food court was first here and when it closed down, you know, we had so many people that were so upset that, you know, they couldn't get food or drinks or anywhere." Olivia McWilliams, manager of Coastal Dirty Soda, said that to WLOX when the food hall at Gulfport Premium Outlets came back in late August.
She has watched both ends of the story. The food hall closed in 2018 and sat empty for eight years. It reopened in the large building at the northwest corner of the outlet complex, the one facing I-10. The counters are what's new. The four businesses inside run on a model the outlet center tested in its own parking lot while the food court was dark, and three of them come from cities up and down the Gulf South, well beyond the edge of Harrison County.
Just off I-10, the center has put together a small regional food crossroads by bringing in operators the way a food truck event books its lineup.
Kayla Shelby took over as general manager at the outlets last November. She told the Sun Herald that bringing back the food court was the goal she set from the start. When she listed the opening tenants for that paper, she named each one by its hometown.
| Counter | Home base | What's on the menu |
|---|---|---|
| Peezzy's Kitchen | New Orleans, with an owner who lives in Pass Christian | Bayou tacos, surf and turf tacos, loaded fries, lamb platter |
| Heart 2 Soul NOLA | Slidell, Louisiana | Lasagna on Wednesdays, char-grilled blue crab on Fridays, Hangover fries and Bourbon Street fries |
| On The Fly Wings & More | Hattiesburg | Honey hot, lime pepper and garlic Parmesan wings |
| Coastal Dirty Soda | The outlet itself | Customizable dirty sodas like the Cherry Wave, energy drink mixes, mocktails, refreshers, lemonades |
Read down the second column and the location starts to make sense. The building faces the interstate that links New Orleans, Slidell and Mobile. Hattiesburg is a straight shot up U.S. 49. Peezzy's carries New Orleans flavors to a Coast address and has an owner living one town over in Pass Christian. Heart 2 Soul NOLA's Bourbon Street fries come in from the Louisiana side of the state line, and On The Fly arrives from the Pine Belt.
The crowd on opening weekend was regional too. WLOX spoke with Sydne Fulton, who drove from Mobile for the reopening. "I feel like if you're going to shop, you should be able to stop where you're shopping at and eat and then continue shopping versus having to leave and go somewhere else because you're hungry and you're not done shopping," she told the station.
The tenant mix follows directly from how the center coped without a food court. In the Sun Herald's telling, food truck days grew popular at Gulfport Premium Outlets during the years the hall sat closed, feeding shoppers and the people who work in the stores.
Shelby described to WLOX how that experience shaped her approach to the hall:
"I really would think that I want to bring someone from the food who's like in the food trucks into the shopping center. And when I did that, I had those conversations with them and we brought it to light."
That explains the lineup. The hall came together through conversations with operators the center already knew from its food truck days, which is how a soul food kitchen from Slidell and a wing counter from Hattiesburg ended up under the same roof. Shelby told WLOX she wants small businesses to grow in the space. When the station's story ran on August 28, one spot was still open and she was hoping another local business would take it.
The fourth counter shows the same approach working from inside the property. Sheila Hodges has run Victoria Lynn Jewelry at Gulfport Premium Outlets for years, and she also owns Coastal Sodas. According to the Sun Herald, Shelby suggested she bring dirty tea and other drinks from Coastal Sodas into the new food hall, and Hodges agreed to join.
That's why McWilliams could tell WLOX "we have another business here." The people behind Coastal Dirty Soda were tenants before the food court closed and were still there when it reopened. Of all the counters, the drink stand has the shortest commute, and its menu, built around customizable sodas, energy mixes and mocktails, suits a shopper who wants a cold cup to carry through the walkways more than a sit-down meal.
A food hall stocked by independent operators runs on their schedules. The Sun Herald reported that the hall opens daily but each vendor sets its own hours and can take a day off to restock and rest. The center's posted hours give you the outer limits:
The individual restaurant pages in the center's directory list those same hours. If a lunch plan depends on blue crab Friday at Heart 2 Soul NOLA or a lamb platter at Peezzy's, check that counter's own social page first. Every vendor links its Facebook from its directory listing, and Peezzy's also runs its own website.
The menus also say a lot about whether the hall works as a meal or a snack stop. Heart 2 Soul NOLA runs weekday specials, and the Sun Herald reported more items were being added at the Gulfport location. That's a kitchen behaving like a neighborhood lunch spot, with a reason to come back on a particular day. The dining filter on the center's directory also lists Dippin' Dots alongside the four food hall tenants.
The parking lot model hasn't gone away. Shelby told the Sun Herald, "I'm going to keep the food trucks on Thursdays through the end of the year, and then when we have big events at the shopping center." WLOX described the plan as food trucks one Thursday each month through the end of the year. Either way, a Thursday visit before the end of 2026 may come with extra options outside the doors. The center's news and events page is the place to check for a specific date before you go. With holiday shopping season a few weeks out, it's also where seasonal hours should show up once they're posted.
The hall isn't finished filling up. In its August 26 preview, the Sun Herald reported that Flippin Hibachi was also opening there, with hibachi plates, fried rice, noodles and lumpia served with fresh sweet and sour sauce. Shelby told the paper she had room for one more restaurant, possibly a sandwich vendor for a quick bite. As of mid-October, the center's dining directory lists the four opening tenants plus Dippin' Dots. Flippin Hibachi and a sandwich counter haven't appeared there yet, so for now they remain announced and possible. Flippin Hibachi's catering page is the most direct way to follow its plans.
The address for all of it is 10000 Factory Shop Blvd., Gulfport, MS 39503, in the building on the I-10 side of the complex.
At HL Raymond Properties, we pay attention to how a place like this comes back to life, from the soda counter run by a longtime jeweler to the kitchens arriving from Slidell and Hattiesburg, because openings like these are part of knowing Gulfport well. If you've tried a counter at the food hall or spotted a new spot near you, tell us about it. We'd love to hear what you ordered.
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