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Salt City Market Opens its Doors to New Vendors Salt City Market Opens its Doors to New Vendors

By Liam Goff

Reporter: Salt City Market has become a popular destination for Syracuse residents since it opened in 2021, as regular Danielle Johnson explains.

Johnson: The food, the location, the atmosphere, you run into 5 people you know every time you come here. It’s just a great place to get some lunch.

Reporter: However, some of those vendors, which have become familiar, are moving on soon.

Farm Girl Juicery has already moved out and work is being done to refit their stall. However, they’re just the first of three businesses to be moving. Big in Burma and Miss Prissy’s are heading out. But their replacements will not be far behind, moving in in a couple months.

Miss Prissy’s soul food restaurant has grown so much since they opened in 2021, that they’re opening their own location just a few blocks down the street from Salt City Market. Meanwhile, the owners of Big in Burma, the only Burmese Restaurant in Central New York, will be retiring.

Marketing and Communications Manager at Salt City Market, CJ Butler, says that their departures are a sign that the market is succeeding in their mission.

Butler: We’ve had several business owners purchase homes for their families for the first time. We’ve had, you know, some nice car upgrades. We’ve been able to see folks being able to move and enroll their children in different schools. So we’ve definitely, you know, a big part of why we started this market was to build generational wealth.

Reporter: The new businesses moving in include a taco stand, a charcuterie board business and a bakery with a unique take on cinnamon buns. Butler says the market is built to help small restaurants and is excited to see business owners move on, as well as get the opportunity to work with new ones.

Butler: It’s not about them succeeding in Salt City Market, we want them to succeed wherever they go.

Reporter: Customers are excited to discover a new variety of restaurants in the coming months.
With NCC News, I’m Liam Goff

Syracuse, N.Y. (NCC News) – Salt City Market in downtown Syracuse was founded to help small restaurant owners grow their brands in an industry in which success is difficult to find. The first case studies demonstrating their success are now available.

Three vendors will leave the market by May 2024. The first, Miss Prissy’s, is a soul food restaurant that saw so much success as a part of the market that they bought a new location, and will move there in February. The second restaurant, Big in Burma, will close after their owners retire in April. Finally, Farm Girl Juicery, already closed their stall with the owner expecting a baby.

CJ Butler, marketing and communications manager at Salt City Market, said that vendors are not all expected to stay, and that vendors moving out is actually proof that the market is following through on their mission statement.

“It’s not just about them succeeding in the Salt City Market,” Butler said. “We want them to succeed wherever they go.”

Just because the vendors are moving out however, doesn’t mean that their stalls will be empty. Butler said that Salt City Market already had a plan to fill their empty stalls with restaurants she called “hidden gems” of the Syracuse area.

The first of the new vendors to arrive is She Fancy Grazing Co., a charcuterie restaurant that is currently located in New Hartford, about 50 miles east of Syracuse. Their restaurant will fill the stall where Farm Girl Juicery used to be, and will open in December.

The second new vendor is SinBun, a bakery that makes “sweet and savory buns.” SinBun is one of several upstart restaurants that used Salt City Market’s test kitchen, which was built to help aspiring restaurateurs achieve their goals, both as chefs and business people. The test kitchen offers several programs for upstart restaurants, including a phase in which participants build a business plan and apply for a loan from the bank to get their shop started. SinBun has worked with Salt City Market every step of the way. Their stall will be the one currently occupied by Miss Prissy’s, and will open in February.

The final new vendor is Elle Rae’s Tacos. Butler said that customers have been demanding that tacos come to Salt City Market since it opened, and she expects the  restaurant to be a hit. The owners come from San Jose, and hope to bring a “Cali-Mex” style to upstate New York. Their restaurant will fill the stand occupied by Big in Burma, and will open in May.

SinBun is hosting a pop-up event to showcase their new restaurant at Salt City Market on Nov., 16. from 12-7 p.m.

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