Say goodbye to Ruby Tuesday and Chilis. These are the hot new restaurants at the mall | News [Video]

New York (CNN) — Looking for a bite at your local mall? As US malls race to reinvent themselves, they’re turning to sushi conveyor belts, craft-beer membership clubs and Korean barbecue to replace burgers and fries.

Over the last few decades, malls became the town center of many American communities. But the pandemic, over-building and a move by consumers toward discount and online shopping changed all that. As anchor department stores left malls, so did some name-brand chains like Ruby Tuesday, Chili’s, Applebee’s and others.

What’s taking their place illustrates a large shift in US tastes: There’s a boom in smaller and regional restaurant chains with a local following. Plus a much wider menu of global cuisines.

Landlords are counting on emerging restaurant brands like Lazy Dog, Gen Korean BBQ and Postino Wine Café to draw customers back to malls. So-called “eatertainment” conceptssuch as Puttshack and Topgolf, which can extend the amount of time people …