As Work Continues to Find Mall Sit-Down Restaurant, Officials Hope to Add Second Eatery in Hidden Space
By Jeff Toquinto on February 28, 2024
Although there has not been any new traction on filling the former Garfield’s space with a sit-down restaurant, Meadowbrook Mall Property Manager Robin Urquhart said that getting that space filled is a priority. And, she added, there is some additional space that could be used for another eatery.
Urquhart talked about Meadowbrook Mall in detail at January’s meeting of the Bridgeport Development Authority. One of the key points of discussion was finding a restaurant or restaurants.
“The one thing we’re missing right now is a restaurant,” said Urquhart.
Last month, Joe Bell, the Cafaro Company Director of Corporate Communications (Cafaro owns the mall), hit on the same topic. At that time, he felt good a “regional” restaurant may be coming. While that could still happen, Urquhart is also pleased with Anthony “Tony” Cafaro, Cafaro co-president, getting involved with the search for a sit-down establishment to compliment the eateries in the food court.
“He’s making sure they’re running down leads constantly,” said Urquhart, who added that the mall has even sent out requests for proposals to help fill the space. Those RFPs are also for another section of the mall that many may not even know is there as it is not visible that officials would like to see a second sit-
down restaurant go into.
down restaurant go into.
“It’s Unit 700, but we call it the ‘give-back’ space because that is additional square footage left over from the fashion area of the former Elder-Beerman that wasn’t taken over by Marshalls,” said Urquhart of what she also called "hidden space" at the last BDA meeting. “There is 18,000 square feet there.”
To get an idea of where the space is located, a view from the outside is easier to describe. The area between the main food court entrance and the outside entrance to Marshalls has multiple advertisements on the exterior for the businesses in the food court. Behind those advertisements is the “give-back” space Urquhart mentioned.
“At some point soon, we hope to remove the area that is boarded up and tarped over so you can see it from the inside because that’s not going to last forever,” said Urquhart.
The 18,000 square feet there can house one large business or three smaller ones, she said, with the preference to include a restaurant. There is more than enough space to do just that as the vacant Garfield’s space covers 4,600 square feet.
Along with Garfield’s and the 18,000 square feet beside Marshalls, there are very few open spaces left. There is one space left in the food court, as well as the former Elder-Beerman Home Store that has been utilized by Boscov’s during its first few months of operations.
Meadowbrook Mall has been without a sit-down restaurant for more than two years. Garfield’s closed its doors in January of 2022, after more than a quarter of century of business. It opened in 1996.
Editor's Note: Top photo shows the former Garfield's space at the Meadowbrook Mall, while Property Manager Robin Urquhart is shown below.
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