Mars-owned Cheez-It is stepping into the foodservice activation space with the Cheez-It Court, a fully branded limited-time food court stall opening September 2 at Westfield Topanga Mall in Canoga Park, California. The pop-up runs through September 30 inside the six-month mall residency operated by Chain, the American Pop Cuisine concept founded by actor and writer B.J. Novak. It marks Chain's first brand-partner stall — a slot the concept intends to rotate throughout its residency.
The LTO Menu
The three-item menu is built around Cheez-It cracker varieties as both ingredient and garnish. The Cheez-Y-Bun riffs on the mall cinnamon roll format, pairing a warm cinnamon roll with Cheez-It Extra Cheesy–seasoned cream cheese frosting, shortbread crumble, and salted caramel crunch. The Crunchy Cheez-Dog coats a Wagyu hot dog in a panko-and-cracker crust — a format borrowed from the viral Korean corn dog — finished with mustard, ketchup, pickle, and cracker seasoning. The Cheez-Steak takes a Philly cheesesteak build and layers in a Cheez-It Extra Cheesy–seasoned hoagie roll, ribeye, American cheese, grilled onions, pickled jalapeños, and a Cheez-It Hot & Spicy cracker-and-chive crumble.
Nicole Sorensen, VP of Marketing for Cheez-It, framed the activation as a continuation of the brand's IRL experiential strategy, which previously included Studio Cheez and the Cheez-In Diner pop-ups. "The debut of the Cheez-It Court combines our beloved snack, made with 100% real cheese, with the unmistakable nostalgia of food court classics," Sorensen said.
Mall Foodservice Context
The activation lands as enclosed mall food courts are quietly regaining operator attention. Specialty food concepts and rotating residency models — analogous to ghost-kitchen suites or food hall incubator slots — have given brands a low-commitment vehicle to test daypart coverage and menu formats without a permanent buildout. Chain's residency structure functions much like an area development agreement compressed into a single venue: a rotating roster of brand partners occupies dedicated stalls under Chain's operational umbrella.
Nicholas Kraft, Chief Creative Officer of Chain, pointed to genuine consumer behavior behind the format. "Malls are back, and it's not just nostalgia — it's a younger generation discovering that hanging out somewhere in person, with nothing to do but gaze and graze, is actually really fun," Kraft said. For CPG brands navigating foodservice channel strategy, the stall format offers measurable dwell time and social content generation alongside direct product trial — metrics that justify the brand-marketing spend without requiring a franchisee development infrastructure.
Cheez-It sits within Mars, Incorporated's $65 billion-plus portfolio following the integration of Kellanova brands, giving the cracker line the corporate resources to fund multi-market experiential programs. Following the pop-up's close, Cheez-It plans to publish recipes for all three menu items on CheezIt.com, extending the LTO's shelf life as a consumer engagement play beyond the 30-day stall window. The stall operates Monday–Tuesday 3–8 p.m., Wednesday–Thursday noon–8 p.m., and Friday–Sunday noon–9 p.m.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
