Riverside Market opened in 2019 as a permanent food hall on the banks of the Avon, and it has become the most reliable place in central Christchurch to eat and browse well. The two-level building holds around forty stalls and small businesses including fishmongers, cheesemongers, produce vendors, bakers, and a rotating cast of prepared food outlets ranging from good dumplings to wood-fired pizza to Vietnamese bánh mì. There is also a craft beer bar and a wine merchant.
The market runs seven days a week, which makes it practical rather than just a weekend event, and the quality is consistently high by New Zealand standards. Come here for breakfast or lunch; the prepared food sections are busiest around midday. The building's location between the High Street retail strip and the Avon walkway means it fits naturally into a morning that begins with coffee and ends with a walk along the river. The ground floor opens directly onto the riverside path, which is worth taking east toward the new Tūranga library or west toward the Botanic Gardens.