Serious About Their Food Courts

"food court" at City Concorde shopping mall

I'm not a shopping mall connoisseur, but I've dined at few American mall food courts in my day.  Those of you fellow West Coasters will recognize that I use the term "dined" loosely.  I don't know how it works in other parts of the U.S., but a west coast food court is a fairly self-serve, casual experience.  In contrast, a Luxembourg mall food court consists of several "regular" restaurants that have spilled out and mingled into the common mall area.  Sharp-looking servers and hosts, plush booths, nice place settings, wine - the works.

the lamps are a nice touch, eh?

Maybe it's all still casual by European standards, but it sure looks fancy to those of us who equate mall dining with standing in line to grab your Subway sandwich or plate of cheap Chinese food, and then locating (and often self-bussing) a random empty table.  Sure, there are often mid-range restaurants within a mall, but they are typically more self-contained and segregated from the rest of the non-dining shoppers.

At mealtime, these Lux food courts are jam-packed (and not just during the holidays).

So what I often wonder is this: In a city full of dining options, did these crowds of people make a special trip to the mall to dine at their favorite mall restaurant, or did they come to shop and just find themselves there over the lunch hour (or three)?  Either way, it's clear these Europeans are not giving up their "dining experience" just because people are walking by with shopping carts (and perhaps stealthily taking their photograph for blog posts!)

Someday we will have to dine at a mall restaurant to see what it's all about.  I'll let you know when we do.  Maybe someone in Luxembourg can tell us their favorite one?