Food Court 2.0: Potluck At Rosedale Center

While the previous Rosedale Center food court Revolution Hall didn’t stick, I give the mall credit for trying new things. Many of the childhood malls of our youth are dying; Rosedale is not.

On the surface Revolution appeared to offer many different food stalls serving everything from poke to ramen to wood-fired pizza. In reality the food hall was owned by one New York-based company and the food came from the same kitchen.

I didn’t think the food we tried was bad but the Instagramability seemed to be the primary focus.

Read about our first impressions of Revolution here.

Revolution Hall closed and reopened in November as Potluck, a Minnesotan-themed food court with local restaurants.

Right away you’ll notice it’s a lot smaller than Revolution. Diners have less vendors to choose from but the space is less cramped. And, the restaurants are locally-owned. One of my parents pointed out a sign boasting that they gladly accept cash (Revolution did not). Nice shade!

Here are our thoughts on our first visit:

Chickpea

Chefs Justin Sutherland (of Top Chef fame) and Leo Judeh  (of Shish) created Chickpea.

For $10, you can choose one flavor of hummus and three toppings. Additional garnishes include fried chickpeas, parsley, a sprinkle of paprika (?) and drizzle of olive oil. Warm pita bread seasoned with za’atar or pita chips is also included for dipping. I believe salad is also offered for a gluten-free option. There were more toppings than the menu listed in the hummus bar. Because the serving of hummus is so generous, I would recommend taking the leftover hummus or ordering a second piece of bread.

I chose plain hummus topped with feta, tabbouli, and roasted eggplant. Adding a lemonade, my meal cost about $14 before tip.

The hummus was silky smooth and as delicious as it is at Shish. I liked all of the toppings I chose. Each component was nicely seasoned and well-prepared. Like I mentioned, the serving size was very generous for one person. Hooray for a really satisfying vegetarian option.

I appreciated how the lemonade wasn’t too sweet but might skip it next time. However I would return for another hummus bowl.

O Bachan Noodles & Chicken

My folks usually go for sandwichy options; I was surprised when they both chose noodle bowls.

O Bachan is also Justin Sutherland’s concept named for his grandmother. The menu includes noodle bowls and Japanese fried chicken.

You can choose from three types of noodles (ramen, udon, soba), three types of broth (miso, shitake, tonkatsu), and three toppings (chicken, tofu and pork belly). Each bowl costs $12. When your order is ready, O Bachan sends a text message. Our meals were ready in about five minutes.

My parents were happy with their fried chicken udon noodle bowls. I snuck a couple tastes -the chicken was crisp and the broths tasted flavorful. They seemed to prefer the shitake broth. I also ordered a bowl to-go for Jake. They carefully packed the dry and broth components separately. I might have wished for a little more broth in each bowl, but maybe that’s the style of the dish.

I also ordered a couple pieces of fried chicken to-go in the Tokyo Hot flavor. Just like the chicken in the noodle bowls, the crust was flavorful and crisp. If I remember correctly, two pieces cost somewhere between $5-7. Garnishes include green onion ribbons, shredded cabbage, and a spicy mayo dip on the side. The fried chicken pieces were generously sized and I’d gauge the spice level around a 6 or 7.

Grand Ole Creamery

We’ve been visiting  the original Grand Ole Creamery location for as long as we can remember-  which makes sense considering they’ve been open for 35 years. In the summer, people line up to choose from at least 30 flavors. The smallest scoop size is comically large.

Grand Old Creamery reminds me of the type of ice cream shop you might find along the main street in Hope Floats. All of the classic favorites are here such as butter pecan and rum raisin. I’ve also enjoyed taro ice cream and sorbets. When President Obama visited in 2014, he ordered a scoop of Black Hills Gold (caramel base with  praline pecans and crushed Oreos).

Somehow we’ve never tried Grand Old Creamery’s pizza. I recognized the big pizza oven from which employees pulled bubbling pies.

Concluding Thoughts
I’m hoping Potluck will post the merchants’ menus and prices online.

The price points seem similar to those at Revolution Hall but the foods we ordered tasted better. Obviously the lobster rolls at Smack Shack are going to cost a lot more. It appears that Betty & Earl’s biscuit shop and Nordic Waffles offer some items under $10.

If you’re coming here expecting to pay mall food court prices you might feel disappointed. If you expect to pay food truck/food hall prices you will be fine.

I predict the service will become smoother with time. The food court is still quite new. Many of the employees were young people who were very kind and helpful, clearly doing their best.

Potluck isn’t perfect but it’s much better than Revolution. As a mall food court enthusiast, I look forward to seeing where this goes.

7 Comments

  1. katie

    I haven’t been to Roseville in ages but I might need to try this out. Or maybe this should be a book club/catch up location sometime!

    • Jeni

      there are some fun food halls open now -we should check one out!

  2. Anna Zbacnik

    Tried it out last night. I got the burger and fries. My friend got the burger and fried mushrooms. We easily could have split one meal. The burgers came with chips– I didn’t know…I wish it was just a small fry order. The burgers seemed overpriced since fries were an add on $5.00.

    I also want them to get bags with handles to carry leftover food. I had shopping to do, and had to run out the the car. It’s MN and cold…

    I’ll go back, but I’ll try one of the other stops:) I like the concept– hoping they bring back the games for kids that Revolution had. Made eating with my small folk more enjoyable as my husband finished his beer.

    • Jeni

      I’m never thrilled when burgers come with chips -this is good to know. Hopefully they’ll get better to-go items.

      The games were really fun – I wonder what will happen with the upstairs area.

  3. Mike Mcg62

    Great review!
    Maybe I’ll get to the second version before there’s a third…lol
    I grew up in the 60’s and 70’s so I remember this place well as I can remember there wasn’t much food at all except in the wings and was just snack stuff like hotdogs but on the top floor there was a large cafeteria owned by Marriott called Hot Shoppee which was very busy on Sundays after Church and lasted about 10 years.
    I think I was at that mall before the first version Revolution was built to get a new screen protector but otherwise try to avoid malls but
    did visit the Maplewood Mall a couple months ago and tried the Hmong Pepper Burger at Blue Print burgers that my FB group members were talking about…and it was Great!, almost needed to buy another drink.

    • Jeni

      Thanks so much for sharing your memories. I do love an old school cafeteria. The Hmong Pepper burger from Blue Print rocks. One of the best I remember having all year.

  4. Sully

    I went there on Black Friday and it was busy but we found a seat. Had a burger from the dive burger place and it was excellent. $10, but I expected pricey, and I was really really good.

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