Say goodbye to Ruby Tuesday and Chili’s. These are the hot new restaurants at the mall

Applebee’s, Chili’s, Auntie Anne’s and other national brands used to dominate every corner of the American mall.

Looking for a bite at your local mall? As US malls race to reinvent themselves, they’re turning to sushi conveyer belts, craft-beer membership clubs and Korean barbecue to replace burgers and fries. Over the last few decades, malls became the town center of many American communities. But the pandemic, over-building and a move by consumers toward discount and online shopping changed all that. As anchor department stores left malls, so did some name-brand chains like Ruby Tuesday, Chili’s, Applebee’s and others. What’s taking their place illustrates a large shift in US tastes: There’s a boom in smaller and regional restaurant chains with a local following. Plus a much wider menu of global cuisines. Landlords are counting on emerging restaurant brands like Lazy Dog, Gen Korean BBQ and Postino Wine Café to draw customers back to malls. So-called “eatertainment” concepts such as Puttshack and Topgolf, which can extend the amount of time people spend in a mall, are expanding. One fast-growing chain targeted to families, Kura Revolving Sushi Bar, delivers plates to diners on conveyer belts as rolling robots serve drinks. Tableside monitors offer games, cartoons and toy prizes for big eaters. At the same time, many national chains are prioritizing drive-thru locations over their sit-down restaurants in malls. “There’s definitely a newer layer of concepts. There’s a new guard in malls,” said Chris Simms, the CEO and founder of Lazy Dog, which has around 50 ski lodge-themed restaurants around the country. The restaurants have big wooden beams and a bar with craft beers in their center.