Once-Popular '90s Food Court Chains We Barely See Anymore

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Attention former mall rats, it's not just the blinding neon that has gone from retro food courts! Unfortunately, many of the fan-favorite food chains that adorned mall food courts across America during the '90s have all but fizzled out. Food courts have transformed since the days when malls were the hottest hangouts. Thanks to online shopping, malls are just not as popular as they once were. Less hungry shoppers, of course, means severely decreasing profits for mall-based eateries.

The nostalgia of a good mall scene is practically dependant on an iconic food court, which includes some staples from the '90s. These restaurants are sadly rarely seen these days, and are nearly absent in modern day malls. From sweet treats and coveted free samples of orange chicken to beloved sandwiches and meals on sticks, old-school mall food courts had it all. Unfortunately, most of these fan favorites will have to be found at different sources than the OG food court chains that have all but faded away.

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Frozen yogurt is so Y2K, and ice cream's low fat cousin was one of the shiny gems of '90s food courts. TCBY (or, The Country's Best Yogurt) was commonly found in malls, but the frozen yogurt chain has moved into airports and other retailers in more recent years. While there are still around 250 places to get TCBY, a fraction of those locations are domestic, scattered throughout a few states. It is one of the many ice cream adjacent chains struggling to survive, though at one point there were around 3,000 stores around the world.

Overall, frozen yogurt places aren't rare, and you may even be able to find one hidden away in your closest mall. The untold truth about TCBY is that it was one of the OGs, and it made the sweet treat widely popular. The chain was the model you still see in other froyo places, with customizability as a dominant feature. You'd pick your yogurt flavor, load it up with toppings, and (back in the '90s) walk around the mall enjoying a sweet treat and ogling bright fashions in storefronts. What a time to be alive!

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The '90s were a colorful time, and within the mall food court, Great American Cookies contributed greatly to the blindingly vibrant aesthetic. The multicolored sign above the vendor was a stark contrast to its selection of cookies, most a different shade of tan or brown. Mall-goers were all about the cookies here, especially those of the chocolate chip variety.

Great American Cookies was once found in malls throughout America, and some shopping centers still rock these gooey cookies. Now, though, these chains are without the vibrant logo and are much more of a rare find. The chain was once a symbol of the food court scene, and the crown jewel of mall based birthday parties.

In fact, the modern business plan for Great American Cookies seems to hedge on events and takeout. The chain's social media accounts focus on its large, decorated cookies or to-go boxes of regular cookies. The days of ordering warm cookies from the mall food court are all but gone.

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Hibachi in the food court? Not quite! Steak Escape does cook the meat in its iconic cheesesteaks right in front of the customers, though, and that is a huge part of the appeal of the chain. The quality of food goes further than being made to order at Steak Escape, though, as the chain's potatoes and vegetables are cut fresh every day. The rolls the steak is piled on are also baked fresh in house. In a mall food court, truly freshly made food is a wonder, and the strong scent of cooking meat brought shoppers right to the counter of Steak Escape.

Despite Steak Escape's dedication to delivering freshly made cheesesteaks to mall-goers' mouths, the chain has seen a significant decline. As malls continue to struggle to stay relevant, Steak Escape continues to be phased out. There are only around two dozen locations across the Eastern part of the United States, and just as recent as 2025 the chain has seen shutdowns. Unless Steak Escape can adapt to the times, its cheesesteak legacy will remain locked in the '90s.

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There's a Subway on practically every other corner of America, but those iconic $5 footlongs (good luck finding one in this economy) were once in competition with another hero. Blimpie opened its first location back in the '60s and would go on to dominate the mall food court scene in the '90s. As popular as the chain was, now Blimpie is really struggling to stay in business and you'll struggle to find one.

The chain's subs are very similar to those most are familiar with at Subway; the Blimpie Best is practically an Italian sub. So, why is Subway still very much a thing while there are less than 100 Blimpies in the United States? Well, one raw truth of Blimpie is that people simply don't know it still exists. Fans of the chain or those with a penchant for nostalgia would love to relive their '90s and chow down on a Blimpie, but they just don't know they still can. With a small number of locations spread sparsely across the country, the subs just aren't on the radar for many people decades after its peak.

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It takes some serious guts to open a restaurant that only sells one thing, and some pure genius to actually make a profit doing it. Orange Julius did just that when the chain opened shop focusing on its titular beverage. The Orange Julius is a unique orange juice smoothie hybrid with a foam-like texture that screams '90s nostalgia. There are other drinks under the Orange Julius umbrella developed, but nothing quite embodies the spirit of a '90s food court like the OG Julius.

The recipe of an Orange Julius is a company secret (check out our Orange Julius copycat recipe that gets it pretty close), but the original company is no more. Orange Julius is now owned by Dairy Queen. Instead, fans of the Orange Julius will only be able to find it in very select DQ vendors. These vendors are mostly in malls, but the widespread love of Orange Julius looks to be stuck in the past, and it's very unlikely to make a comeback.

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Food courts used to love a good cookie, and vendors selling nothing but a selection of cookies were the norm. One major perk of this cookie and mall partnership was that the freshly baked cookies always made malls smell like chocolate and baked goods. So, when you smell chocolate chip cookies, does your mind take you home or to the mall? For former mall rats, the answer may be the latter thanks to Mrs. Fields Cookies, one of the most popular cookie chains of the '90s.

The chain went hand-in-hand with the aforementioned TCBY for a while and could be found right next to each other in malls. Now, this cookie chain can be found in stores and the occasional mall food court, but has declined quite a lot since the '90s. The chain has been sold more than once, the most recent sale happening in 2023. In addition to its sparse locations and presence in grocery stores, Mrs. Fields has a significant online ordering system that has kept it in business.

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Chances are that your local mall still has a signature Chinese food restaurant featured in its food court. There's one key Chinese restaurant, though, that is gone forever from malls across the country. China Coast lasted for about five years during the '90s and made its mark on mall food courts.

The beauty of China Coast and the other Chinese mall food court restaurants was the free samples. It was once commonplace for Chinese restaurants to offer mall-goers free samples of various chicken dishes. Yes, the hope was for potential customers to fall in love with the flavors and actually purchase a meal. However, plenty of mall rats would grab their free sample and move on to other restaurants within the food court. Actually, even if China Coast and other Chinese restaurants weren't the main course, the free samples have been known to be the best part of a food court experience. At the very least, the free samples at China Coast are the base of many fond memories for '90s kids.

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It's wild how often carnival food overlaps with '90s food court bites, and Hot Dog on a Stick might be the biggest contender on that Venn Diagram. Corn dogs are the ideal food for places that involve a lot of walking, like carnivals and malls. It's an easy grab-and-go food that keeps a hand free for holding a wild kid's hand or the handle of a shopping bag. That's likely one of the reasons why Hot Dog on a Stick had such a hold on mall food courts in the '90s. 

The best thing about Hot Dog on a Stick in the '90s, though, was the killer costumes employees were forced to wear. The red, yellow, and blue striped uniforms were jarringly '90s, made even better when those wearing them were whipping you up either some fresh lemonade or piping hot fried foods. 

Heavily fried foods, it seems, have the most staying power at fairs, festivals, and carnivals. These days, only corn dog lovers in five states will be able to find a Hot Dog on a Stick location. The uniforms are no more, but the to-go packaging still holds on to the colorful stripes that once donned each employee.