For the first time in a long time, the food court at the Meadowbrook Mall should be at or near capacity. And that’s thanks to the recent announcement by Joe Bell of the arrival of another eatery with a local spin on it.

 

Bell, the director for the Ohio-based Cafaro Company that manages the mall, said in the weeks ahead the food court will feature Sophia’s Home Cooking. He anticipates that it will be open within the next two months.

 

“This will be a local establishment. It is not part of a chain,” said “We’re really looking forward to their arrival because the home-cooked food concept is a unique one for most malls and certainly is for the Meadowbrook Mall.”

 

The location of the new restaurant, which Bell said will be owned by John White who named it after his daughter, is near the entrance of the food court. Many will know the site as location of the former Long John Silver’s and most recently was home to a Mexican restaurant.

 

Bell said getting the food court to capacity is a positive. He said that seeing vacancies in areas where malls locate the majority of their eateries isn’t something unique to Bridgeport’s mall.

 

“It’s not just an issue for this mall’s food court, but anywhere in shopping centers where you have space for restaurants you see it’s tough going. It’s also beyond just shopping centers,” said Bell. “You have to be good at what you do and persistent at it and, to some extent, that’s why you see such varying success.

 

“This is more anecdotal than anything, but a lot of individuals want to try their hand at operating a restaurant because it seems like a great line of work and some may even believe it’s easy. The truth is that operating a restaurant is just the opposite. It’s very hard,” he continued. “To give you an idea of how difficult, the numbers we have show that 50 percent of those that open are closed within a year.”

 

Bell said having something unique to offer, which he said Sophia’s does, will be beneficial. The new restaurant will occupy 891 square feet.

 

This the second locally owned restaurant to announce it is coming to the mall. Bell said that Miskycha, which features Peruvian food, recently opened. To read about them, click HERE.

 

Editor's Note: The vacated space above will soon host the new Meadowbrook Mall restaurant, while Joe Bell is shown below. Bell photo courtesy of LinkedIn.