When a bamboo basket of brightly colored soup dumplings arrives at my table inside Palette Tea Garden restaurant, I can’t help but marvel at the transformation of Hillsdale Shopping Center.
The large Cantonese restaurant, which opened this second Bay Area outpost, its first outside of San Francisco , in 2020 , is among a wave of new eateries that have planted roots at the bustling Peninsula mall in recent years. The 71-year-old San Mateo mall has been on a steady remodeling kick since at least 2016, when it tore out its dated food court . In 2018, it unveiled an elegant dining terrace that featured new restaurants like Blue Whale Poke Bar & Grill , Kuro-Obi ramen bar and the Bay Area’s first Uncle Tetsu Japanese Cheesecake .
Just outside the dining terrace, Hillsdale gained a Shake Shack and the Refuge , which has been featured on Guy Fieri’s “ Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives .” With new additions like Michelin-recognized Flores and the all-you-can-eat restaurant Mikiya Wagyu Shabu House , which opened earlier this year, it’s no longer the mall of my childhood.
My, how Bay Area malls have changed
Over the last few years, shopping centers from San Francisco’s Stonestown Galleria and Emeryville’s Bay Street mall to Westfield Valley Fair in San Jose have been on a crusade to revamp their food scene with popular restaurant chains and beloved local gems. Later this year, Palo Alto’s Stanford Shopping Center is expected to open a Dumpling Time , as well as Zaytinya , a Mediterranean restaurant helmed by world-famous chef José Andrés. Massive food emporiums like Eataly , also located at Westfield Valley Fair , and the recently opened Korean grocery complex Jagalchi at Serramonte Center have further brought the crowds to Bay Area suburban towns. Hillsdale is no exception…