Square One Mall expands dining options

SAUGUS – Square One Mall recently added two more restaurant tenants to its food court roster, leaving only one vacancy.Ashley Wheeler, the mall’s director of marketing, said the opening of Wayback Burgers and Ruby Thai Kitchen will give customers “even more variety from our food court, and we are confident our shoppers will enjoy the wide range of choices available to them.”She explained that since Wayback and Ruby Thai are both fast-food establishments, the food court was the most logical place for them.Wheeler pointed out that the Tokyo Japanese Steakhouse on the lower level is the only sit-down restaurant at Square One.She explained that Wayback and Ruby Thai were added based on customer input.”We listen to what our shoppers are interested in and have a team in place to fulfill those wants while maintaining a fresh and contemporary mix,” she said.Wheeler does not see any threat of competition for either restaurant, saying all the restaurants in the food court complement each other.”There is room for many varieties of food that work well together at Square One Mall,” she said.Gillian Maffeo, Wayback’s director of marketing, said business at the new location has been favorable since its opening on Sept. 30.Based in Cheshire, Conn., Wayback Burgers is in the process of expanding across the country.”We are so excited to have gone into that market in Massachusetts,” Maffeo said. “It is doing very well there in the mall.”The restaurant at Square One is the state’s fourth location with others in Springfield, Stoughton and Worcester.”We do well in areas where we don’t have a lot of stores,” she said.Maffeo said she does not consider Jake’s to be a “quick-serve” restaurant as everything on the menu is made fresh. Therefore, customers may have to wait five to eight minutes for a burger.”That’s something that we really harp on with the brand,” said Maffeo.In addition to seven Signature Burgers, Wayback offers hot dogs, frappes and salads as well.”We’re not just a burger joint,” said Maffeo. “We have a lot of different options.”Al Almajed, manager of the Saugus location, said he chose Square One as Burger King had closed.”There was no burger place,” he said.Since opening, Almajed said Jake’s has quickly grown in popularity with lines up to nine people deep on the weekends.”There’s no doubt we have the best product on the market here,” he said. “It’s a great place, we do real well.”Representatives from Ruby Thai could not be reached for comment.