Original tenants reflect on 10 years in business on Anaheim Packing House’s anniversary
When Nika Shoemaker-Machado opened Georgia’s at the Anaheim Packing House 10 years ago, she didn’t have any previous restaurant experience.
“When we first started out we had no preconceptions. We were new to the restaurant business.” said Shoemaker-Machado.
Georgia’s, a soul food concept serving fried catfish, red beans and rice and jambalaya based on family recipes, was an idea inspired by her mother’s delicious home cooking. Shoemaker-Machado, her husband, Marlon, and her mother, Gretchen, were working with the Small Business Development Center in Santa Ana when they found out about the opportunity to be apart of an innovative new two-story food hall in Anaheim.
“Our consultant actually had another client that ended up being our link into that. That client is Adya,” Shoemaker-Machado said.
Adya is an Indian street food restaurant from chef Shachi Mehra, and like Georgia’s, one of the Packing House’s original tenants.
Mehra and her husband Maneesh Rawat were looking to open a restaurant of their own when she reached out to the Camp in Costa Mesa. They didn’t have any openings, but they did tell her about a new property they were opening in Anaheim. The couple paid the Packing House a visit.
“They had the basic outline of it done, but sometimes when you walk into a space you just have a feeling, and it feels good,” said Mehra. “It felt right for us. The place felt special. ”
Over the next couple of weeks the Anaheim Packing House will be celebrating its 10-year anniversary, and Georgia’s and Adya will be among the merchants marking a decade in business.
The Anaheim Packing House opened on May 31, 2014, inside a former 1919 Anaheim Orange and Lemon Assn. Packing House. Nearly 5,000 people attended the food hall’s grand opening, and today the place remains busy, housing nearly 30 culinary artisans and hosting events like live music and monthly markets.
“These food halls have evolved into large places of gathering,” said Packing District owner Shaheen Sadeghi. “We love the fact that this is a completely international selection of culinary arts.”
In honor of the 10-year anniversary, the Packing House’s Dreamers Market will host a Citrus Carnival on May 31 from 5 to 9 p.m., with Valencia orange-themed vendors that honor the venue’s history, where the washing, grading and packing of Sunkist fruit took place. The festivities will continue on Saturday, June 1, with a classic car show from noon to 2 p.m. and live music performances from Big Butter Band and a rockabilly revue from Anaheim native Amber Foxx. Additionally, the Anaheim Historical Society will give guided historical tours from 2 to 4 p.m.
As a part of the celebration, Georgia’s will offer a two-piece chicken meal with a side for $10 on June 1 and will run a different $10 special for five days starting Monday, June 3.
Adya will host a special a four-course anniversary dinner priced at $125 per person on May 30, featuring a mix of new dishes and beloved choices that have appeared on the menu over the past years including watermelon chaat, a fan favorite made with fennel, lime and chaat masala and lobster curry. It’s the dish that cinched Mehra as the winner of the Food Network’s cooking competition show “Chopped” back in 2019.
“Everything on the menu has a story,” said Mehra.
Georgia’s and Adya are just two of the original merchants still open at the Packing House. The Blind Rabbit, Black Sheep GCB, Hammer Bar, Popbar, the Kroft, Chippy Fish & Grill, Hans’ Homemade Ice Cream and the Iron Press all opened back in 2014 and are still in business today.
Mehra and Shoemaker-Machado both admit that the last 10 years haven’t been without their challenges. Both businesses had to weather the storm that was the pandemic, for one thing.
“We had a complete standstill happen with COVID, we were just kind of frozen in time,” said Shoemaker-Machado. “We were the only business open inside the Packing House for many months.”
In 2022, Georgia’s received funds from the Restaurants Care Resilience Fund through the California Restaurant Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to California restaurants and their workforces.
As a chef with fine dining experience Mehra, said she had to learn when to wear her chef hat and when to wear her business-owner hat.
“Over the course of 10 years, I recognized that there is ‘chef brain’ and there is ‘owner brain,’ and sometimes they want different things,” said Mehra.
Despite the challenges, the two business owners said they are lucky to have found a home at the Packing House. Its close proximity to Disneyland means a constantly revolving door of tourists.
“We had a website in Australia publicizing our ribs, telling people from Australia that if they ever were to visit Disneyland, they had to come to us to have ribs,” said Shoemaker-Machado. “It was just mind-blowing.”
Mehra said it isn’t just the guests that have contributed to her success. The camaraderie among the other vendors within the Packing House has also been supportive.
“One of the things that really made it special in the very beginning was the community of people that was opening businesses there,” said Mehra. “It is nice to be in a building where if you run out of salad, you can go across the building and ask so-and-so if they have salad we can borrow. It’s like a little village.”
The success that Adya and Georgia’s have found at the Packing House has also allowed the women to grow their businesses. Georgia’s will open its second Orange County location at Irvine Spectrum this summer and Mehra launched her line of Spice Girl Sauces in 2021, first with a small batched original hot sauce, followed by a tomato chutney.
They both are happy they took the leap to open in Anaheim.
“I know at that time, it was a huge risk,” said Mehra. “It was a risk for everyone that went in because we didn’t know what was going to happen.”
Shoemaker-Machado said it is hard to believe they have made it this far.
“It is so surreal that here we are, with no restaurant experience and everything else, and still thriving to this day,” Shoemaker-Machado.
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