A large restaurant space in the Presidio Tunnel Tops park that has been sitting empty has found a taker, and it's an alum from the acclaimed Momofuku restaurant group.

It's going to be called The Mess Hall, an appropriate name for a food hall that is moving to what was formerly a military base, and the guy behind it is chef Peter Serpico. The food hall will include a fast-casual sit-down restaurant, but the Mess Hall Group says in a release that will include "multiple and distinctive food concepts" serving takeout items, grab-and-go meals, picnic items, and retail products. There will also be a bar helmed by Zach Negin, who owns Tabula Rasa Bar and Shop LA, Silverlake Lounge LA, and Dolores Deluxe, the corner store at Dolores and 22nd Street in SF.

Serpico was a sous chef and chef de cuisine at David Chang's Momofuku Noodle Bar and Momofuku Ko, and later became director of culinary operations for the whole restaurant group. (Momofuku Ko notably won a James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant in 2009, under Serpico's tenure.)

Serpico moved on to Philadelphia, where he had a successful partnership with restaurateur Stephen Starr. They debuted one of the city's hottest spots, for several years at least, called Serpico in 2013. As Philadelphia Magazine recalls, "Serpico opened as a Very Serious Restaurant, even if, over time, its menu items fell into a more playful and familiar territory. It was tweezer food and fine dining service in a neighborhood and on a street known, at least from a culinary perspective, for cheesesteaks."

After its newness and hotness faded, the restaurant's fate, as Philadelphia Mag writes, was later " left up to regular ol’ Philadelphians looking for a place to eat on weekends," and it was ultimately undone by pandemic closures and restrictions, like so many restaurants were. A follow-up takeout concept called Pete's Place, operating out of Serpico's kitchen, returned in part to Chef Serpico's Korean-American roots, and that was followed by a well-received 2022 cookbook titled Learning Korean.

The 6,000-square-foot space at Building 201 (201 Hallek Street) that will be home to The Mess Hall is the final component to be filled in the Tunnel Tops complex, after the park itself debuted in July 2022. It was first put out with an RFP (request for proposals) in mid-2022. Since then, a fast-casual focaccia pizzeria and lunch spot, Il Parco, has opened in the former Transit Cafe space — that opened in January. And full-service restaurant Dalida has been raking in raves since its opening last year in the former Commissary space nearby. (Its co-chef, Laura Ozyilmaz, recently made it to the final four on Top Chef, and SFist named it a best new restaurant of the year for 2023.)

The space also boasts a 2,700-square-foot patio overlooking the Golden Gate.

Berkeley architecture firm Studio KDA, which has worked on designs for Lazy Bear and Liholiho Yacht Club in San Francisco, is behind the design for the space.

Mess Hall Group is the project of local restaurateurs Rob Gaon of Mill Valley and Nate Israel, a former restaurant cook and farm owner. They tell the Chronicle this week that they've been in talks for the 201 Hallek space since 2022. Goan says in a release, "Being a part of this lauded San Francisco destination is a dream come true."

When it opens next year, The Mess Hall will be open from 8 am to 8 pm daily. A provisional website is here, and the Instagram is here.