Central New Jersey’s first enclosed mall has executed a deft changeover in its food, beverage and entertainment line-up.
After 27 years as a tenant in Edison’s Menlo Park Mall, Rainforest Café decided not to renew its lease. Owner and operator Simon Property Group wasted no time finding a suitable replacement. Round1 Bowling & Arcade will take over the Rainforest Café space, as well as three other tenant spaces, with an opening planned for May 2026.
Round1 is not the only newcomer to Menlo Park Mall. Levi’s opened there a few months ago, Dunkin’ plans to open its space by the end of the year and Ford’s Garage is set to open in 2026, as well.
Menlo Park Mall was a retail real estate innovator in the Garden State. First emerging as an open-air centre in 1959, the structure was fully enclosed in the mid-Sixties, anchored by JCPenney, Bamberger’s, ShopeRite, Safeway and Montgomery Ward. Nordstrom arrived in the 1980s.
In the Nineties, Menlo Park was converted to a 1.3 million square foot, two-storey mall with galleria style skylights, marble flooring, dramatic lighting and a food court graced with trees and sculptures.
The trees and sculptures were removed in 2015 and a raised “Dining Pavilion” was constructed in the space. The Round1 location will also take up square footage previously inhabited by Steve & Barry’s, Fortunoff and Sollers College.
