Eating at Roosevelt Field mall, then and now

When I was 16, I landed a job at B. Dalton Booksellers inside Roosevelt Field mall. Earning $3.50 or so an hour seemed almost incidental to the discount on books. It didn’t leave much spare change for food during my half-hour break, when I’d sprint through the mall to grab a soft pretzel or a floppy slice of pizza from Sbarro.

Which makes it startling, decades later, to have the choice between an orange soufflé, salmon tacos or a $38 salad for lunch at NM Cafe, tucked away on the second floor of Neiman Marcus. After setting down a warm popover, strawberry butter and a cup of the most intense chicken consommé I’ve ever tasted, the server ultimately steers me toward the Seafood Louie salad. “You’ll love it,” he promises, and I do: Heaps of lump crab and giant prawns nestled in a bed of romaine, eggs, radishes, avocado and sliced cucumbers that hits somewhere between luxurious and healthy, the ultimate sweet spot of a shopping lunch.

It certainly wasn’t always this way. Long before Cubanos, edamame dumplings, Wagyu burgers and Seafood Louie arrived at Roosevelt Field in Garden City, generations of teenagers made do with Mr. Pibb, oil-slicked regular slices and frozen yogurt. And that was just from the late '80s onward; the real OGs, those of us who worked in or hung out at the mall before 1980, had even fewer choices.

“Almost nothing was there in the '60s and early 70s,” wrote Robin Singer, a few days after she responded to a Facebook thread about Roosevelt Field food nostalgia. Singer grew up in Bellmore. “Our weekend adventure was either having a parent drive us, hitching or taking the bus there. I saved my allowance to get an album and a couple of slices at Pizza Supreme.” 

Pizza Supreme, on the mall’s ground floor, preceded Sbarro by many years. So, too, did Lum’s and the Woolworth’s Coffee Shop, which were later joined by Johnny Rockets and Ranch One when the second-floor zeppelin-topped food court opened in 1993. After that, grabbing as many toothpick-speared bourbon chicken samples as you could from the poor soul holding the tray became the power move.

“I worked at Hot Topic and The Icing in the early 2000s, and loved that food court,” said Jamie Zamparelli, who grew up in East Meadow. “On days you couldn’t afford lunch, you could just walk in circles and get all the samples.”

Before the zeppelin-slash-blimp, there hadn’t been a food court inside Roosevelt Field — instead, victuals were scattered, from the food marketplace in the basement of Macy’s to a few spots inside the smaller, adjacent Le Petit Mall. Someone working in one of the mall stores for barely over minimum wage (as I did at B. Dalton Bookseller, making $3.50 an hour during my junior year of high school) only had a handful of places to sprint to during their half-hour break, Sbarro chief among them. It didn't keep us from returning just to hang out. 

“The irony is there really wasn’t much to do there but somehow we could make a whole day of it,” added Singer.

Years later, after malls fell from suburban nexus into the realm of the uncool— fueled by the followed by the downward pressures of online shopping — some had to adapt or die. Dining became a lifeboat of sorts. “Retail dining, as we knew it in the early days, waned in the '80s to '90s,” said Kevin Garvin, vice president of corporate services at Neiman Marcus and a Culinary Institute of America-trained chef. Garvin has overseen the chain’s three dozen or so cafes since 1994, and witnessed an entire arc of shopping-mall dining. 

“Fast forward to pre-COVID, and more so post-COVID, the retail experience hungered for better food options,” he said. “Dining in stores became in fashion again. Paris, Tokyo and London fashion houses got even more serious about their dining options, and the U.S. followed suit. We are definitely in a growth trajectory at the moment.”

Roosevelt Field owners Simon Property Group seem especially determined to evolve: In 2005, they nixed the zeppelin and invested $200 million in the Dining District, a soaring 1,232-seat space hawking an arc of food, from cheeseburgers to poke to Israeli-style sabich sandwiches. This year, Simon launched a ghost kitchen inside the mall (called “Grab, Go, Eat”), which lets those working in the stores, or shoppers, get food delivered directly or to a food locker.

As it hits its sixth decade, Roosevelt Field barely resembles its teenage self, especially when it comes to food. Who does, though? Here's how some of the victuals compare from yesteryear to 2022.

Pizza

Then: Sbarro or Pizza Supreme

Rare is the Long Island kid who doesn’t remember the glass cases, garlicky aroma and floppy XL slices of a Sbarro counter. Sbarro began as a single Bensonhurst deli in 1957, but went on to conquer malls across the county, likely introducing decent pizza into a few places where it had never existed. On Long Island, Sbarro set up shop in all of the largest Long Island malls — the first one, in Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove, opened in 1971.

Then there was Pizza Supreme, a blindingly bright place that evoked much nostalgia (and thumbs-up emojis) on a recent social media thread, especially for its square pizza.

Now: Olivos

Sbarro is gone from Roosevelt Field, and Pizza Supreme has moved elsewhere in Garden City. With the recent closure of Patsy’s Pizzeria in the food court, the wood-fired pies at Olivos (on the second floor near the south entrance to the parking garage) are pretty much the only slice game in town. Come fall, New York City’s Bleecker Street Pizza will open in the Dining District, according to Simon. 

Hot dogs

Then: Lum’s or Ben’s Deli Express

Lum’s was a Florida-based chain whose 70s-era heyday centered on beer-steamed hot dogs, which cost about 35 cents each (at least in the early 70s). “I bought all my sneakers at Olympic Village, and would always stop and get two hot dogs at Lum’s when I was done,” wrote Peter Mantone, who grew up in Franklin Square. “Hot dogs steamed in beer — they were the best.”

Lum’s went out of business in the 1980s. When the giant zeppelin opened in 1993, Ben’s Deli Express was among its residents, and Hebrew National hot dogs became a viable mall snack.

Now: Auntie Anne’s

Who hasn’t, at some point or another, handed over a few bucks for an Auntie Anne’s pretzel dog? With artisanal hot dogs trending across the island, it’s puzzling there isn’t a hot dog stand inside Roosevelt Field (though there is a hot dog on the menu at Johnny Rockets). 

Lunch counters

Then: Woolworth’s Coffee Shop

The undulating lunch counter at Woolworth’s, adjacent to the main store, was kind of drab and dimly lit. Yet it was also a dependable spot for a $1.25 Reuben (in 1970) or “super” banana split.

Now: Any counter inside the Dining District 

When the Dining District opened in 2015, among its eateries was the Original SoupMan’s Delicatessen & Grill, promoted during a splashy launch by actor Larry Thomas, who played the Soup Nazi on ''Seinfeld.'' (“The lobster bisque was phenomenal,” recalls Christian Nelson of East Meadow, who attended the event). Seven years and one pandemic on, the SoupMan still dishes out bisque and the Dining District still meets multiple cravings, from grilled-cheese sandwiches of The Melt Shop to excellent falafel bowls from MAOZ Vegetarian, which quietly has some of the finest food (and lemonade) in the mall. An adjacent patio is decked out in greenery.

Cookies

Then: Mrs. Fields, Great American Cookie, Bruce’s Chunky Chocolate Chip Cookies or David’s Cookies

Warm, pliable cookies have been the soma of the shopping masses for a long, long time, and their vanilla-and-chocolate aromas filled the mall’s byways. The 1980s competition was fierce, with at least four spots duking it out for hearts and bellies. 

Now: David’s Cookies, Baked by Melissa or Duchess Cookies

David’s Cookies still has a counter on the main level of the mall, but in 2021, the cookie 3.0 wave arrived with Duchess Cookies, whose gooey, chunky cookies border on small cake territory and come in flavors such as mocha-caramel-macchiato and churro-Nutella. 

Burgers

Then: Burger King or Johnny Rockets

Burger King was the longest-standing fast food in the mall though the 1970s and '80s, but in 1993 was joined by Johnny Rockets, a luncheonette of sorts nestled under the eaves of the zeppelin. With thumping doo-wop, swiveling stools and strawberry shakes, it was the most vibrant place in the food court. Corrin Mason of West Sayville remembers hitting it up frequently during her college years in the late '90s, and beyond. “We even went to Johnny Rockets after buying my wedding dress at Jessica McClintock,” she wrote.

"Loved sitting at the counter at Johnny Rockets for burgers,” wrote Steven Lichtenstein in another DM. Lichtenstein grew up in North Merrick and frequented the mall in the mid-1970s. “My main hangouts were World Imports where we obtained concert tickets and Alexander’s department store where we would get new vinyl releases.”

Now: Johnny Rockets, Small Batch or Grand Lux Cafe

The beloved burger counter survived the zeppelin-to-dining district transition and still serves shakes, burgers and fries from a center kiosk. Burger options are legion throughout the mall, from the Wagyu burger at Small Batch to cult-favorite sliders at Grand Lux Cafe. 

Chinese and Japanese food

Then: Manchu Wok, Sakkio, Black Pearl 

Steam-table spring rolls and fried rice — often this was the food of quiet desperation. 

Now: Gong Cha, Asian Chao and (come May) Nomiya

Eaters have become much more conversant in things such as dry pot, hand-pulled noodles and bubble tea, and operators have responded accordingly. On the main level, the Gong Cha kiosk (originally from Taiwan) pours brown-sugar milk tea and lychee oolong, with boba or without. The Dining District still has steam table teriyaki, but come May, the upscale sushi and ramen spot Nomiya Station will open on the west side of the mall.

Salads and sandwiches

Then: Macy’s Marketplace Cafe

Not so long ago, the cellar level of Macy’s was not just a place to buy fine china or a new comforter — there was also a bustling market, called Macy’s Marketplace, where you could nosh on finger sandwiches (think Brie, turkey and ham on a mini-croissant) or dilled shrimp salad. A patisserie offered quiche and pastries such as Napoleon and chocolate éclairs. 

Now: NM Cafe in Neiman Marcus

Tucked into a corner of the second floor of Neiman Marcus is a hideaway where some dishes, like the orange soufflé, haven’t changed much since the department store chain began serving lunch in 1953. There are also those warm popovers with strawberry butter and exemplary chicken broth, as well as crab linguini, finger sandwiches and the Seafood Louie, a composed salad of shrimp, lump crab and romaine that — along with a glass of Champagne — is a surefire throwback to the languorous lunches of the Eisenhower era, albeit at 2022 prices (the salad is $38).

A proper dinner

Then: Houlihan’s or Houston’s

Chief among the memorabilia-filled restaurant chains that ruled in the 1980s and 90s, Houilhan’s Old Place was an after-work hangout for Anchorage salads, nachos and London broil, plus piña coladas or a glass of Mondavi cabernet. Years later, Houston’s upped the ante with its urbane vibe, Cosmos and modern American food. (In 1996, when it opened, Newsday food writer Joan Reminick said the bar looked full of “upwardly mobile-looking members of the Generation X set.”) 

Now: Take your pick

The slow demise of shopping malls gets a lot of ink, but somehow Roosevelt Field has bucked that trend (so far) by attracting an interesting mix of outer-ring restaurants, some backed by famous chefs. There’s rigatoni with asparagus, peas and pancetta at Osteria Morini; edamame dumplings, tuna tostadas and gin cocktails at True Food Kitchen; and oysters on the halfshell and braised chicken thighs at chef Tom Colicchio’s Small Batch. You can drop a small fortune on dinner at Roosevelt Field, if you want, and that might be part of the point.