Food Central

Much nicer than the old food court that I remember, that’s for sure!
I worked at Square One for several years back when I was in university and remember the food court quite well… it was my savior on the (many) occasions that I would forget to bring my lunch to work. How I didn’t pack on twenty pounds at the time is beyond me. It was adequate back then, if pretty standard. Now with a lot of malls stepping up their game, it’s nice to see that Square One has followed suit.
Everything has been redone and renovated and it has a nice and modern look, although it does look a little cold and sterile compared with how it used to. Lots of new places as well as the old, so there really is a good selection. It’s still overpriced and often dull mall food but at least you have options. They’ve also made the switch to reusable cutlery and dishware, which is obviously great.
All-​in-​all it’s still a food court in a mall, but at least it’s a pretty decent one with a lot of choices. Though I don’t work in the mall anymore, nor do I frequent it as much as I used to it’s nice to know that if I did, I wouldn’t get too sick of having to go through a very limited rotation.

It’s fine. There are typical food court choices. The seating area is nice, and they clean it up very regularly. It’s a food court. If you have to eat here, I’m sure you’ll be able to find something in your budget and to your taste.

Much more nicer than before. Very modem look now.
Need more cultural variety though i think.
I like the new dishes system.

This is a typical mall food court, mediocre food over priced, bad attitude = Square one food central

Although I appreciate Square One trying to improve shoppers’ dining experience, what I dislike about the whole concept behind Food Central is that it sorta promotes an apathetic, lazy attitude amongst diners.
Good: Use of actual stainless steal cutlery, melamine trays, bowls, cute condiment containers, cups, etc. Newly renovated eateries, washrooms, seating.
Bad: Not enough seating, especially at peak times, considering the amount of eateries, and there aren’t any visible garbage/​recycling bins, so as a diner, you can either leave your tray/​trash on the tables OR bring your tray to the station to have someone else clean up after you. :(
This is not a good message to insinuate to shoppers. Instead, I think Food Central should promote a more community-​like attitude such as «please clean up after yourself» and set up different bins — similar to IKEA/​Whole Foods — so that everyone can do their part!
There are already enough lazy slobs out there, we don’t need to raise a new generation of them.
As of now, Food Central is not 100% complete, still uneven flooring around outskirts.

Seeing as there are reviews for Dine on L3 (Yorkdale mall) and Urban Eatery (Eaton Centre), I figure I would review the new food court in Square One which is going by the name of «Food Central». It has the same concept as Yorkdale and Eaton Centre, as they give you real cutlery and dishes as opposed to the plastic ones.
Compared to Eaton Centre, and Yorkdale, this is a lot smaller, but there is still at least 20 places to choose from including some of the newer entries into the food court wars (Big Smoke Burger, Amaya Express, SU&SHI, Shanghai 360, Chipolte, Szechuan Express) plus the older ones (A&W, KFC, Manchu Work etc.).
Overall, it’s not a bad place to eat if you are on your lunch, can’t decide what to eat or are just hanging out at the mall, but not worth a special drive (it is a food court after all right?)
Also, compared to Yorkdale, there’s no special sit down restaurants close to the food court besides Earl’s.