Mess Hall is a new culinary incubator in the Brookland neighborhood of Washington DC that aims to support up-and-coming food entrepreneurs in a unique venue designed to foster a vibrant and diverse local food community. Our story… Founder Al Goldberg is a long-time DC resident with 20 years of food industry sales, marketing, and operational experience. As a passionate supporter of small and local businesses and a former Vice President of one of DC’s largest catering companies, Al recognized the need for legal, affordable commercial kitchen space to help enable the creation of new DC-based businesses. He observed that some local food entrepreneurs are forced to base their businesses and produce their goods in Maryland, Virginia, or Pennsylvania due to DC’s lack of resources and high start-up costs.