Scenario: You're at the shopping mall during lunch/dinner hour. What do you eat?
Malls are not bastions of haute cuisine. The purpose of the food court is primarily a utalitarian one: fill the gullet fast
And answers like, "Well, Hoity Toity Cafe is just across the street so I would rather run over there for a meal," don't count. FOOD COURT!!! :)
My choices are:
-Orange Chicken at Panda Express
-Walnut Chicken Sandwich at Paradise Bakery
If I'm there for dinner, I grab a Chicken Ceasar Salad from La Madeline
mamamia
Oct 31, 2006 04:14PM
If they have a Chik-Fil-A that's what line I'll be standing in. I love their chicken sandwiches.
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I can usually choke down some sushi collection at Wok'n'Roll.
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In the Boston area, we're lucky enough to have the very decent Gourmet India option.
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Agree with Gini - Gourmet India is the spot I hit (Boston and Providence RI area).
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Yes indeed, our choice also.
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-Chick-Fil-A original chicken sandwich and a Diet Lemonade
-Orange chicken from Panda Express
-Pepperoni pizza from Sbarro
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cheese pizza from sbarro
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If I have to eat at the mall I go to Great Steak and Potato. They provide a halfway edible attempt at a steak sandwich.
As for Panda Express, there food is terrible, maybe folks who eat here have no decent chinese restaurants near them..
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Panda Express is not terrible! It isn't authentic Chinese cuisine, but it hits the spot when looking for something quick and yummy!
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like i said, if Panda Express is considered good, Id hate to eat at the local chinese spots where this is the case. They must be really bad..
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Would have to agree here... We had a themed week going on at work and they brought Panda Express in one day and their dumplings were like bad McDonalds chicken nuggets (thats saying something..). Their rice wasn't cooked soft and their 'sweet&sour' sauce looked like red food dye with canned pineapple. It was horrifying.. I would most definetly wait until I got home before making this a quick snack.. egh.
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I like their eggplant and tofu but their rice is horrible, bone dry cheap rice.
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The white rice is gross; the sauces are gross. The orange chicken, the Mongolian beef and the kung pao whatever are the things to get... and they're not bad.
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Add to that list the Mandarin Chicken (which to me, anyway, is a "low-fat" version of the Orange Chicken).
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I'm Chinese and for some reason I love the dry rice they serve at restaurants...
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I ate at Great Steak and Potato last week in the Phoenix Airport. They use this gooey yellow cheese on their baked potatoes - gag!
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never had a baked potato there. Not something Id get at a fast food place expecting to be impressed.
Did you try a steak sandwich? Not haf as good as a real Philly steak, but when you need some beef and cheese, and cannot stand to eat taco bell, or the other choices at the mall it eases the philly steak jones., at least for those of us not lucky enough to be in Philly.
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Naw I had the grilled veggie sandwich with melted cheese. Not bad mushrooms and grilled veggies although the fries & bread were a waste of time.
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Im in boston so I guess I'd go to legal sea foods for a salad. I'll pass on the chowder bc I don't think it's that good.
Luckily in the prudential center there are a lot of half way decent places to eat and if I walk outside I can go across the street to abe & louie's for a hamburger or down to parish for a sandwich (too expensive). Or I can go to wendys (favorite option) (:
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Luckily the malls that I tend to shop at (Tyson's I and II in NOVA and Short Hills in NJ) have moved away from the traditional food court and instead have restaurants (mainly local chains and the higher end national chains). If I want a quick bite instead of a sit down meal I tend to get a sandwich at Au Bon Pain or a burger at Five Guys.
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I was just about to mention Short Hills NJ myself - thankfully they have a Legal Seafood there. Nice to be able to sit down and have a decent meal instead of fast food grub.
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Chick-fil-a or Wendy's... maybe soup from somewhere else.
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Chick-fil-a, I love their nuggets.
Subway, I can get a reasonably healthy lunch here. Usually turkey breast on wheat with lots of lettuce and vegetables dressed with oil & vinegar.
Chinese, Bourbon Chicken or Spicy Chicken with fried rice. Not authentic but GOOD.
The deli place is good for chicken & seafood salads as well as panini's.
Mama Illardos has the BEST pizza.
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Chik-Fil-A sandwich or a Chocolate Marshmallow Ice Cream cone.
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I usually get one or two beef tacos, or occasionally taco supremes, at Taco Bell. I'm not proud of it, and try to limit myself to only going to Taco Bell when I'm at malls.
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Hot Dog on a Stick (w/ lemonade)
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I was just about to type that! My favorite part was always the fried coating, I always wondered if they would just take a stick and fry a bunch of batter onto it.
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Yeah, that fried batter/skin is outrageously good, esp. with their mustard.
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Ditto this. Their lemonade is terrific.
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Totally agree. You're in a freakin' mall, you might as well eat like you're in one. Option 2 is a big burger from a small chain, Johnny Rockets or some such slightly upscale or better burger, you know there's always one in a mall or food court regardless of the name.
BTW, I go to a mall about 2-3 a year and stay for little as I possibly can.
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Actually, I think Johnny Rockets is sort of underrated.
Good, solid burgers (they use the right patty size, e.g. 1/3 pound) and the shakes and malts are fabulous. Flavored sodas are a kick as well.
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Oh yah, I agree. I could go for a #12 and a vanilla malted right about now!
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Yup, the red red sauce makes all the difference ...
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I like the shakes and their cheese fries.
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I was thinking of places that usually are in the food court, but you're right - Johnny Rockets' burgers and fries are another good way to go!
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I don't go to many malls but there are a few Johnny Rocket's in malls in the South Bay/Pennisula. Also, every food court usually has a beefy/burger place, Buckhorn, or some other burger place.
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Tough decision - it's between McDonald's and A&W.
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I just returned from an unsuccesful lunchtime suede boot-buying mission. I picked up a Panera artichoke/chicken panino. It was ....sorta like food. In retrospect, i wish I had gotten a chocolate chip faux-bagel and a glass of skim milk. That's more my typical on-the-run lunch.
Honestly, I have to say the apple they gave me with the sandwich was not that bad. This morning I had a locally grown, fresh off the tree Fuji...and if it was a 10..this one was no worse than a 6 or 7. God knows sometimes the apples you get in that sort of setting are beyond hideous.
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While there are many ways that I think of Panera as the heart of darkness (e.g. they clearly have a policy of giving the end pieces of the baguette that they offer with their salads to people ordering to go, which is beyond low-budge IMO), their greek salad is ok. Good, no. But better than their sandwiches and passably edible, yes.
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Nordstrom Cafe in Short Hills, NJ because, as someone mentioned, the mall has no food court. I used to always get Panda Express at food courts, but lately I've been going with Italian subs or whatever's closest to a sub if the food court has a sandwich place.
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Maryelizabeth, could you give specifics about the cafe? I shop there too occassionally. We usually stop into Legal Seafood but don't always want something that large if we're there during the daytime. I didn't even realize there was a cafe in Nordstrom because I haven't really explored that store too much yet. We've been living in the area a few years, but don't normally go to that mall unless we're looking for something very specific which can't be gotten elsewhere.
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Laurie, the cafe is on the third floor. You order at the counter and then sit wherever and a server brings your drink and your food when it's ready. There are probably about 25 tables, so generally plenty of seating except maybe right around noontime. The food is really excellent. I always have the chicken salad sandwich. It's wonderful, not too much mayonnaise. Even my 3 year old's chicken fingers are real chicken with a side of watermelon and strawberries (and chips), pretty fancy for a kid's meal. There's also a cafe in the Nordstrom in Menlo Park mall. That one is newer, I think, and the decor is a bit more upscale, but the Short Hills one is nice too. Service has always been excellent and VERY fast. You could be in and out in 15-20 minutes, easy, if you're in a hurry.
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Even better that there is someone serving you. I got the impression when you said cafe, that it might have been kind of self-serve like the Lord and Taylor in Westfield is (and for that matter, the food is not particularly good there). The cafe sounds like a very good option. I'm not nuts about the other food options in Short Hills other than Legal SF and if there in the daytime would prefer to grab and go.
I almost never go to Menlo, or Woodbridge for that matter. In general, I tend NOT to do the mall thing much. I prefer stand-alone stores for shopping - or the computer. Malls make me feel claustrophobic and stressed out!
Thanks!
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My most-frequently visited local mall has an outlet of a local middle-eastern mini-chain. I usually have chicken shwarma & hummus or the falafel, if it's freshly fried.
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Forgot to add that I also regularly dine at the PF Changs at the mall...sadly, it has some of the best chinese food in the area.
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My body has not recognized classic American fast food as "food" for years, and like an organ from the wrong blood type it will reject any food by-product quicker than you can say Jiminy Cricket.
So, as if stranded in the Andes, I'd have to devour one of my fellow shoppers.
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First choice is a bowl of soup from Au Bon Pain. I can't be more specific, because I haven't been shopping recently. My usual standby at the local food court is a hot dog, fries and soda from Nathan's.
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The +1 says the soups at au bon pain are not bad...
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I'll take the Smashed Potato from Steak Escape. It's filling, reasonably tasty, not horribly greasy, and about five or six bucks.
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I was going to say that Nordstrom's Cafe is almost always my mall food of choice at Sout Coast Plaza in SoCal. Their menu is far superior to any fast food (and to many other non-mall cafes, to boot!)
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I agree - Nordstrom's Cafe is superior to any "mall food" We are lucky to have one in central Ohio - not all Nordstroms have a cafe.
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The Great Con... opps, I meant The Great Khan (Mongolian BBQ). It's not a steamtable stand, but it's still pretty fast... and tasty when you get the hang of selecting items to add. I'm not sure how wide the distribution of TGK is (NoCal).
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Chik-Fil-A used to be it; now it just upsets my stomach.
If there's an Au Bon Pain, I'll get a sandwich there.
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Chick-Fil-A or a slice of pizza or ziti from Sbarro's.
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Interesting... I would have thought some of you in bigger cities would have more interesting options than I did growing up in Topeka, KS and now living in Kansas City!
When I used to go to the mall, (online shopping is a godsend!! ;-) I would either have Chick-Fil-A (chicken nuggets and waffle fries) or a Pretzelmaker original pretzel with the original jalopeno cheese (the cheese used to be awesome but they've since switched over to fake ballpark cheese)!
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Ham N Cheese sandwich on a croissant at Kelly's Coffee & Fudge
Scallops on a skewer at McGraths
I'd go back to Great Khan's if they brought the lamb back
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Baked potato at Wendy's
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I'm never in the mall for over an hour (I'm a go in, get it & get out shopper) so I NEVER have mall food.
But if I HAD to pick one, I'd go to the LE DIPLOMAT CAFE, right next to Nordstrom's.
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Here's a long winded answer.
DW, daughter and I in Cinn looking at colleges staying a Cinncinatian Hotel. Ask the young ladies at t he front desk where we can grab a bite. They tell us to go around the corner and down the street and go upstairs to a pretty good resto. So we follow her directions.
Well the resto is in a mall, and when we go upstairs it across the aisle from the anchor store and we all look at each other and say, No Way!!.
Back to the hotel for a great meal in the hotel resto.