Curious crowds hit 42nd Street
It may have been a long time in the making but the Downtown Shopping Centre’s new food court was packed with curious Palmerston North diners during its debut in the city.
The shopping centre has been without a food court since 2014, so peckish punters wasted no time in checking out the 42nd Street Eatery when it opened its doors on Friday.
Centre manager Greg Key said the food court was busy throughout the first day, with customers arriving from 9am.
‘‘We made our first sale, it was from Brooklyn Burgers, basically as soon as the first burger came off the grill.’’
Melanie Bolton and her young daughter were part of the early lunch crowd.
They tried out the Mexican cuisine on offer at Mexi-az on their way to the cinema.
Bolton said she thought it would be a good family treat and appreciated that the food seemed a ‘‘bit healthier’’ than other food courts.
‘‘It’s nice to go somewhere that has kid-friendly options without chips, for a change.’’
Brent Goodwin was just walking through the centre so he decided to stop in and sample Banh Mi Bicycle’s dumplings.
He said it was good to see Downtown busy again, and expected the eatery to draw more people into the CBD.
‘‘Now there’s the food court, and with the cinema at the other end, the place is going to be buzzing.’’
Jacob Mcdonald was tucking into the soft tacos at Mexi-az. He said the setup was a big improvement on the old food court and was excited to try the different selections.
Tegan Hardy goes out for lunch each Friday with a few co-workers from Healthcare NZ.
They had had been walking past it for almost two years while it was under construction, and wondered when it was going to open, she said.
Hardy said the group planned to work their way through the eatery and try a new place each week. They had enjoyed their meals from Salad Plus, and were eyeing up Brooklyn Burgers for their next group lunch.
Naughty but Nice Ice-creamery owner Kirsty Gao said it was an exciting day for her as well.
The dessert shop was the only vendor from the original Downtown food court to return. They never opened in another location because they were waiting for Downtown’s food court to open, she said.
‘‘Our old regular customers always asked when we where coming back - and now, here we are.’’