Michael Mina Launches Food Court Inside LA's Revamped Beverly Center

Big news for the Beverly Center in Los Angeles today, as the Mid-City shopping destination hopes to turn things around with a $500 million renovation that includes a slew of new restaurants and a Michael Mina-run food court. As previously noticed, some big changes have been coming to the multi-story La Cienega building for a while now, and not a moment too soon — the place has been hemorrhaging concepts for the better part of two years.

As Racked notes, the half-billion dollar renovation will be essentially top-down, and will include lots of money being spent on aesthetics like skylights and large windows across multiple levels. Another primary focus will be a sixth floor food court to be called The Street, which will be curated and managed by Mina’s team. Per the LA Times, there are plans for more than a dozen total concepts, including every option in the "what’s hip now?" universe: poke, ramen, barbecue, and more.

CEO William Taubman, whose development company is behind the rehab, admitted the lackluster food situation himself, telling the LA Times that the Beverly Center has "been by far the weakest in food historically." With a strong national chain focus at the nearby Grove (and the basically attached Original Farmers Market), plus competition from the Westfield Century City and their incoming Eataly, food is of increasing importance to shopping destinations like these. Add in the slew of new food hall concepts in the South Bay, Downtown's Industrial District, and Koreatown, and the market for multiple mini-concepts under the same roof is as strong as ever.

There will be room for other restaurant concepts as well, mostly situated along the street level corridor that currently feels like a dining wasteland. Plans for eight different options are in the works on that street level alone, each with their own reformatted look and feel. Don’t expect any big new names to open up tomorrow, though; the Beverly Center overhaul won’t be finalized until sometime in late 2018.