Jordan Creek's Restaurant Ring Is Trading the Long Dinner for Conveyor Belts and Counters

The space near Cinemark Century Jordan Creek 20 and XD that served bread bowls for years now has two conveyor belts running through it. Kura Revolving Sushi Bar is scheduled to open Thursday, Oct. 22, in the former Panera Bread space. The Des Moines Register reported the date based on the restaurant's hiring posts. Plates go by under clear domes. Each booth has a tablet for ordering, and a slot under the table counts your empty plates.

Kura is the first of a group of new arrivals around Jordan Creek Town Center. The ring of restaurants around the mall was built for the long, full-service chain dinner. Its new tenants mostly let you order on your own, eat at your own speed and leave when you're done.

Five Addresses, Two Eras

Here is what's changing on and near the ring, as of mid-October 2026.

Some of these spaces have sat empty a long time. The On The Border building closed in February 2025, and with Meddys due in 2027, it will have been vacant for about two years. Bar Louie's space has been dark for more than a year, and the Register reported on Oct. 8 that Ugly Dumpling's build-out was ready to start. Those gaps say more about what's moving in than the opening dates do.

The Old Ring Was Built for the Sit-Down Meal

The Register describes On The Border's West Des Moines location as part of "the first wave of restaurants on the ring outside the mall" when it opened in October 2004. Bravo! Italian Kitchen opened two years later. In its closing coverage, the Register called Bravo an upscale-casual chain that served pasta, grilled dishes, pizza and cocktails "amid Roman-ruin decor." It had become a go-to for families, especially on holidays. Bar Louie also fit the type. The Register described it as an upscale American casual-dining restaurant and bar chain that called itself the "Original Gastrobar."

These were national names with big menus and servers. A meal there was the whole evening, often before or after a movie. That model held the ring together for about two decades, and it is now the model leaving.

The New Ring Lets Diners Set the Pace

Kura shows the change most clearly. The Register describes its format: small Japanese dishes ride past on a main belt, and you take what you want, priced by the plate. Anything you order on the booth tablet, such as ramen, udon, gyoza or dessert, comes on a separate express belt that stops at your table. Every five empty plates you drop in the slot set off the Bikkura-Pon prize game. The Register calls the feel "casual and built for grazing." You decide how long dinner lasts.

Meddys, coming to the old On The Border building, uses a different format to the same effect. The Register's Oct. 9 report explains it: you order at the counter, sit wherever you like, and staff bring the plates, refill drinks and check in. Complimentary pita with olive oil and za'atar arrives on its own. The Register says the service is quick enough for a weekday lunch and suits diners "who want something fresh without committing to a full sit-down production." Alex Harb started Meddys in Wichita in 2014, building on his mother's Lebanese recipes. It has since grown across Oklahoma, Kansas, the Kansas City metro and Omaha, and Jordan Creek will be its first Iowa location. The menu centers on hummus, garlicky chicken, falafel and shawarma bowls. The Register reports gluten-free, vegan, dairy-free, vegetarian and halal options.

Ugly Dumpling is taking over the former Bar Louie space, next to KPOT just south of the mall. KPOT opened in November 2024 in what used to be Wahlburgers. According to the Register, Ugly Dumpling is a Shanghai-style street-food restaurant. The Register's coverage of Meddys added that it will serve modern Asian comfort food such as soup dumplings and dim sum.

The change shows up inside the mall too. The owners of Istanbul Grill Cafe & Bakery in Urbandale opened Doner Street, a halal Turkish restaurant in the Jordan Creek food court. Its doner is spiced chicken, lamb or beef stacked on a vertical spit and sliced to order. The Register also reports that Exotic Snack Guys opened near The Cheesecake Factory and Rally House. It sells imported snacks and drinks such as regional Kit Kats from Europe and South America, international Lay's flavors, Peach Fanta and Cucumber Pepsi.

Each of the new names is built around one signature item or format: a conveyor belt, a counter with pita, a soup dumpling, a vertical spit. None of them asks for a two-hour table.

Yard House Is the Exception, and It Still Fits

One newcomer is a big sit-down room. Yard House is under construction in the former Joe's Crab Shack, next to the Meddys site. The Register says it promises 100-plus taps and a "high-energy dining room," with a projected opening in April 2027. Its menu covers burgers, sandwiches, tacos, pizza, steaks, seafood, noodle dishes and salads.

It is the closest thing to the old full-service model coming to the ring, and it still sells a spectacle. A wall of 100-plus taps is a draw in itself, the same way Kura's belts are. In a June 2026 WHO 13 report, Senior General Manager Randy Tennison said the mall was over 99% occupied, with tenants already lined up for the few open spaces. He described the strategy this way:

"We're focusing on the experience, we're focusing on the amenities, what do people want, getting the right tenants in here, the right restaurants."

In the same report, Tennison credited Apple and Lego with bringing people in through experiences. He also said he was seeing many more Gen Z shoppers come to the mall with friends. Seen that way, the new restaurants are part of the reason to come, the same as the stores.

Opening dates around the mall have moved before. When the Register first reported on Kura in November 2025, the target was late 2026 or early 2027. WHO 13's June report said "later this summer." The Oct. 22 date fell between those two estimates, so plan on 2027 dates being estimates too.

The Bravo Site Is the Open Seat

One space has no announced plan. Bravo! Italian Kitchen closed in early September after about 20 years, and the Register reported on Sept. 4 that no replacement had been named. That still held when the Register covered Meddys on Oct. 9.

Bravo was the holiday restaurant, offering both takeout and dine-in at the busiest times of year. This will be the first Thanksgiving-to-New Year's stretch in two decades without it, so families who made it a tradition will need another table. The new tenant on that pad will show whether the mall wants one more experience-led concept or a return to the classic family dinner.

What You Can Eat at the Ring This Fall, and What Comes in 2027

Open now or opening this month:

• Kura Revolving Sushi Bar, in the former Panera Bread space near the Cinemark, scheduled for Oct. 22
• Doner Street, in the Jordan Creek food court
• Exotic Snack Guys, inside the mall near The Cheesecake Factory and Rally House
• KPOT, just south of the mall, open since November 2024

Coming soon, no date posted:

• Ugly Dumpling, in the former Bar Louie space

Expected in 2027:

• Meddys, 140 S. Jordan Creek Pkwy.
• Yard House, in the former Joe's Crab Shack, projected for April 2027

Still unannounced:

• The former Bravo! Italian Kitchen site

Restaurant turnover on the ring changes what a weeknight near Jordan Creek feels like, whether that means a sushi run after a movie or a counter-service lunch between errands. If you're weighing how close you want to live to that changing lineup, or what it could mean for a home you own nearby, Megan Mitchum + CO follows these West Des Moines changes closely and would be glad to talk it through over a plate of soup dumplings once Ugly Dumpling opens. Contact Us.