A food court (in Asia-Pacific also called food hall) is generally an indoor plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food vendors and provides a common area for self-serve dinner.
Food courts may be found in shopping malls, airports, and parks. In various regions (such as Asia, the Americas, and Africa), it may be a standalone development. In some places of learning such as high schools and universities, food courts have also come to replace or complement traditional cafeterias.
The average cost of a meal per person in an American food court in 2004 was $6.
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. The food may also be ordered as takeout for consumption at another location, such as a home, or workplace. In this case, it may be packaged in foam food containers, though one common food tray used by all the stalls might also be utilitzed to allow the food to be carried to the table. Food courts may also have shops which sell prepared meals for consumers to take home and reheat, making the food court a daily stop for some.
Dear fair maidens of the Mall of America
It is time to enter the fabulous food court
Here you will find the finest fast dining of the world
Chinese and Japanese, Middle Eastern too
Mexican and Indian, Italian just for you
And for those who are not as adventurous
American will do
But look at all the candy!
They got taffy stores where we can pull the taffy for ourselves
They got fudge shops where we create our favorite kind of fudge
They got the biggest store the world has seen for every flavor jelly bean
Don't forget, you can't forget the wide array of ice cream!
Listen my friends, no offense to my sister
If you eat all that candy, you'll never be sicker
The thing to do you must realize
Is eat a good meal, that's what I advise.
I object!
Overruled!
Can't we compromise?
Here we can eat any meal we choose from all over the world
Stir fry, or sushi, falafel just for you
Enchiladas, curry chicken, fries and burgers too
And for those who are still hungry afterwards
Candy for dessert
All right Judge of the food court, I accept your ruling
But how will we decide what kind of food to eat?
There are so many choices, let's see what sounds good
A pizza pie sounds way too dull for what we have in mind
And though a burger's fun with lots of fries
We can get them anytime
So let us eat exotically, try some food with curry
You get the shwarma, and sushi
And I'll get the chicken tandoori
I bought some fries for good measure.
Got enough room for dessert?