food court

Typical shopping center food court vendor layout at Centre Eaton in Montreal.

Patrons eat meals in a food court in Caracas.

A food court is a plaza or common area within a facility^[1] that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food vendors and provides a common area for self-serve dining.^[2] Food courts may be found in shopping malls and airports, and in various regions (such as Asia and Africa) may be a standalone development.

The average cost of a meal per person in an American food court is $6.^[3]

Setup

Food courts consist of a number of vendors at food stalls or service counters. Meals are ordered at one of the vendors and then carried to a common dining area. Typical North American and European food courts have mostly fast food chains such as McDonald's and Sbarro, with perhaps a few smaller private vendors. Cuisines and choices are varied, with larger food courts offering more global choices. Asian and African food courts are mostly private vendors that offer local cuisine. In Singapore, food courts and hawker centers are the people's main eating choice when dining out.^[4] Many food courts have several shops which sell prepared meals for shoppers to take home and reheat, making the food court a daily stop for some shoppers.^[3]

Since November 1, 2009, the Carrefour Laval mall in Quebec, Canada requires its food court tenants to use reusable dinnerware and cutlery, which it provides, instead of the traditional foam containers found in many food courts.^[5]

Common materials used in constructing food courts are tile, linoleum, Formica, stainless steel, and glass, all of which facilitate easy cleanup.^[3]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Food courts

References

This food-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v • d • e