A flood of famished foodies?

Or merely a crowd of the culinarily curious?

However you describe it, hundreds of people were waiting outside the entrance for the grand opening of the Rideau Centre’s new eating area.

They’re not calling it a food court but rather the Rideau Centre Dining Hall, located in the southeast corner of the mall on the lower floor of the old Sears location.

It encompasses 35,000 square feet, includes seating for 850, and features 16 food vendors.

There are some fast food standbys, like A&W and Subway, along with several new names like Amaya, Grillades Torino, and Ottawa’s own Green Rebel. All in all a bit more varied and upscale than the mall’s old food court.

On opening day, one of the longest line-ups was reserved for MLT DWN (melt down) run by Ottawa brothers Ali and Rahim Moloo. They offer gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches. “There’s nothing out there like it,” says Rahim Moloo. “We make a lot of stuff in-house, from our lobster to our herb chicken.”

Yes. A lobster grilled cheese sandwich. “It was good. Delicious,” raves Florence Patterson, one of the day’s first customers.

And as if the food isn’t fancy enough, there’s the way it’s served. The Dining Hall uses real dishes and cutlery in place of paper plates and plastic knives. Patrons return the dishes to collection stations where runners take them to a behind-the-scenes scullery – a high-tech, high-volume dishwashing centre. “We can wash 10,000 dishes an hour,” says Rideau Centre General Manager Cindy Vanbuskirk. “This is something that we can do that not only creates an enhanced experience but also allows us to divert all of that waste from the landfill.”

Opening day customers seemed to appreciate the new approach. “This is very exciting and it looks very bright and airy and I love it,” says Sandra Toms of Carleton Place. “It’s looking very modern and I quite like the real utensils and plates,” says Laura Argent, enjoying lunch with her daughter.

The old food court is closed and already undergoing renovations. “We’re going to repurpose the space for the relocation of Shoppers Drug Mart and also there will be some access to the new LRT Rideau Station as well,” says Vanbuskirk.