Food courts - are they busy?

Recently, I had the opportunity to be in downtown Toronto and in the financial district at lunchtime. I haven’t been down there very often since I worked there, but during this trip, I saw a big difference compared to what I saw a year ago. It is amazing how much of a change I saw and yes, I know that I was there on a Wednesday which is probably one of the days that a lot of people are in the office now.

April – 2022

• A lot of the tables were either empty or there was just one person sitting at the table enjoying their lunch.
• There were no lines at the various restaurants within the food court.
• The overall noise level within the food court area was rather low.

June – 2023

• A lot of the tables were full of either two or three people sitting at the table, and they were chatting and enjoying their lunch.
• People were looking for tables because the food court was that busy.
• There were lines at most of the restaurants within the food court.
• The overall noise level within the food court area was rather loud.

Yes, there was a very big difference between the same food court a year. One of the biggest factors for the change is that more companies are back in the office at least part of the time. It is amazing to look at how things have changed within the last year, and in a lot of ways it has changed for the better.

Something that had changed from last year was the number of restaurants that were closed. There were more locations this year that were closed compared to the ones that were closed last year. In some ways, I think the stores were trying their best to survive after Covid, but then it came a point that they couldn’t stay open any longer.

Yes, it was nice to see that the food courts were busy again and that people were getting back to going out for lunch with friends and co-workers. The food courts may never get back to what they were like daily before Covid, but at least now with staff back in offices at least part-time it does help other businesses survive.

Food courts and food allergies

There seems to be more and more shellfish being served in food courts and that is of a concern for anyone with a shellfish allergy. I am one of those individuals that carries an EpiPen due to my life-threatening allergy to shellfish.

It is amazing how many food court locations are now offering some sort of shellfish as part of their menu. It has been a real challenge to find spots where I can have a lunch without having to be concerned about cross-contamination being an issue. Before it was a rare thing to see shellfish being offered as part of food court menus but now it seems to be everywhere.

Pizza/Pasta locations now offer shrimp as a part of their pasta dishes, Sub locations now have a shellfish/seafood sub, Greek locations offer shrimp as a meat and the Chinese food locations are also offering shrimp as a selection. It makes the selection in any food court very slim when it comes to someone that deals with a shellfish allergy. There are individuals (customers and servers) that don't understand the risk of cross contamination, so any food being offered at a specific location (where shellfish is offered) is a risk.

The concern for peanuts in a lot of food court locations seems to have eased, but now it is the shellfish which is the issue. Shellfish allergies is one of the most common allergies for adults and who are the ones that are going into the food court either themselves or with their families? It is amazing when you address the issue of a shellfish allergy to staff, within the various locations in the food court. A number of them are not aware of the risks and issues of food allergies. The lack of knowledge of the staff makes it a bigger issue for someone to eat at these locations because of the risk that they are taking.

Food courts have always been a place for a quick meal especially when you are on the go. For me, a food court now is a challenge to find a location that doesn't offer shellfish. Being aware of your allergies and how to handle them makes going out a little easier. Of course, there will always be challenges when eating out but being able to find places where I can eat would make my life just that little bit easier.

For food court owners, remember that shellfish doesn't need to be offered everywhere. There are people that you are preventing from eating at your location due to that shellfish. If even a few chains decided to eliminate shellfish from their menu in the food court it would make it easier for so many of us to eat in the food court.

Food court frustration

Recently I walked over to a mall to have some lunch. I decided that having lunch at 11:30 was probably a good idea to avoid some of the business people that also want to eat in the same food court. Well, I was frustrated with what I saw upon my arrival.

It looked like there were a couple of meetings being held in the food court. One was a group of ladies and the other group which was rather large were a group of mean. Well, it wasn't really a meeting, but rather a gathering of friends/people. So here it is just before lunch and there were approximately 20 men sitting and taking up 28 seats and only a few of them had coffee cups in front of them. I know some of the coffee cups were empty because one of the men knocked his over and nothing came out. A bunch of the other men never lifted their cups to drip their coffee during the time I sat and ate my lunch.

The ladies at least were only taking 8 seats for the 8 of them, which was nice. On the other side of me were 3 men sitting at a table for 4 which was no problem but was frustrating was there were using another table for 4 to hold their 2 bags of groceries and their empty coffee cups. Yes, they had finished whatever they had and were just sitting and talking. By this time, people were looking for tables so that they could eat the lunch that they purchased in the food court, but there weren't too many available tables.

I finished my lunch and headed off, so it was almost noon by the time I left the food court by the men were still sitting at the tables with their empty coffee cups. It really bothers me that people can sit in a food court at lunchtime taking tables when they either purchased something a couple of hours ago or haven't purchased anything from the food court. I am not sure how this food court actually survives because of the lack of food purchased as the different vendors. 

The other issue is that this food court is near a school, so parents pick up their kids from school and walk over to the mall and let their kids eat in the food court. I don't see anything wrong letting them eat in the food court, but what does bother me is they are not eating food purchased in the food court but food that the parent has brought from home. This school is within about a 10-minute walk for all the kids that attend it, so why can't the parents take the kids home and let them eat their lunch where it was made.

After I finished the rest of my shopping in the mall, which wasn't a lot, I walked back by the food court.  You guessed it, all the men were still sitting at the tables with their empty cups. So, it really doesn't matter if you complain to the malls because it doesn't seem to help. If the people sitting in the food court know the cleaning staff or security, there is nothing done, but if you are a stranger, they encourage you to move on.

Food courts are to be used for eating meals that are purchased there, and please be considerate about how long you spend at a table. There are others who also want to purchase something and enjoy it.