BARRINGTON, IL  --- Shoppers at College Square Mall have a new place for fresh Asian cuisine.
GK Development, Inc., owner of College Square Mall in Cedar Falls, Iowa  has brought the casual dining restaurant - HuHot Mongolian Grill - to the regional shopping center.
The restaurant chain, known for its extensive offerings of fresh ingredients and interactive dining experience, opened a 4,600-square-foot restaurant on the north side of the mall near the University Avenue entrance in space formerly occupied by Diamond Dave’s.
“We’re pleased to bring HuHot Mongolian Grill to the Cedar Valley. Having a moderately priced, new dining concept within the mall enhances the shopping experience at College Square and fulfills our goal of offering patrons an exciting mix of retail and entertainment options,” said Dan Sullivan, senior vice president-development of the real estate company.
Construction of the new restaurant began at the end of October. The new eatery opened in the first quarter of 2007.
The full service restaurant seats 150 and features a distinctive Asian menu of appetizers, entrees, sides and desserts.  In this interactive dining concept, guests can mix and match an assortment of fresh ingredients including meats and fish, three specialty noodles, veggies (20 different selections) and MSG-free, made-from-scratch sauces (more than a dozen). Guests then hand their filled bowls to a cook, who precisely places ingredients on a 72-inch Mongolian grill designed for cooking different ingredients at different temperatures. Finished meals are then transferred to a plate and presented to customers.
“We recognize that Cedar Falls, especially College Square Mall, is a retail and entertainment magnet for a large geographical area. That, coupled with the mall’s extensive interior renovation and plans for an exterior make-over, makes the shopping center a very attractive location for HuHot,” said Gayle Carstens, a principal of the restaurant chain.
“We find university towns to be especially attractive and receptive to the healthy eating choices that HuHot offers,” said Carstens.
HuHot Mongolian Grill is known for its bright, colorful interior décor and an exterior sign sporting a pair of chopsticks. The Omaha, Nebraska-based company operates 22 locations in four states. The company has four other Iowa locations including Coralville, West Des Moines, Sioux City and Council Bluffs.
Bringing a full service restaurant to the shopping center is the latest step in a series of improvements that GK Development, Inc. has undertaken since the real estate firm acquired College Square Mall in December 2004.
In March 2006, the real estate company began a $5 million renovation of the mall’s interior.  Shoppers and guests saw the new look unfolding as new flooring, lighting, a new water feature, seating areas, archways and new restrooms took shape. The new look was  formally unveiled in  2006.
Long time tenant Hy-Vee also unveiled its new, expanded store on the mall’s west side in mid-November.  The supermarket  relocated from its existing 60,000-square-foot store to a new 80,636-square-feet facility on the west side of the mall.
Cinema Entertainment Corporation also unveiled its most recent expansion, of four more screens, in mid-November.  College Square Cinema will have a total of twelve screens equipped to show first run movies.
The mall renovation, Hy-Vee relocation and expansion and theater expansion represent a combined $20.5 million investment.