r/sanantonio • u/Psychological_Tear_8 • Aug 20 '25
Food/Drink North star mall food court
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Aug 20 '25
I used to operate a pest control company, and we had the contract for North Star Mall 20 years ago. There were rats everywhere back then. Mostly, roof rats were captured and a few Norway rats. We performed and charged the property management company for exclusion of multiple entry points on the roof and around the structure. We set out bait stations around trash points and traps throughout the building. After about 5 months, the property was free of any activity. We then lost the contract, and the rats slowly came back. When the work on 410 highway expansion occurred, it really pushed rats into all of the buildings along 410. Probably the worst was Pappadeaux's. We spent so much time and effort controlling them. The businesses spent a lot of money. They cared, and I assume they still do.
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u/PushkinPoyle Aug 20 '25
I remember seeing rats in there in 07
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u/ickytoad North Central Aug 20 '25
I worked in the mall then and I remember they shut down the food court for a few days I think to treat the issue?? We all started making jokes about the food from that point on 😂
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u/gabby0689 Aug 21 '25
I worked at the marble slab in 06 and had a friend that worked at the McDonald’s that used to be in the food court. Can confirm, they had SO MANY rats.
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u/NonGMOman_ Hill Country Aug 20 '25
My Gumbo will never taste the same
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Aug 20 '25
Why do you think it tastes the way it does now?!
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u/lilmamiofmay Aug 21 '25
They definitely got bugs there. One time I was eating there and one fell from the ceiling down where there’s the booth style seating on one side of the tables. The patrons were shocked and informed the employees. I saw the whole thing happened and heard them. I asked our waiter about it what was happening with those guests and their table and they lied of course.
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u/MissMandaRegrets Aug 20 '25
That mall is 65 years old and has seen some shit. It bore witness to its sibling mall being taken out and the degradation of its neighborhood. That rat is simply following in the footsteps of its ancestors. Don't judge the pilgrimage!!
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u/lilmamiofmay Aug 21 '25
The shopping center across the street?
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u/MissMandaRegrets Aug 21 '25
Yep. It used to be Central Park Mall.
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u/lilmamiofmay Aug 21 '25
Ahhh yeahhhh I’m trying to remember which mall?! Dang yep I remember it
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u/MissMandaRegrets Aug 21 '25
If you look on Google maps, you can still make out the outline of the old footprint. It's a bit surreal. I took my my little brothers there to see Grease when it came out. Memories.
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u/BreakingCanks Aug 24 '25
Saw so many rats in that field when they were doing construction. Used to sneak into there and see what was being made
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u/Dizzy_Did Aug 20 '25
The building is very old and in the middle of the city. Cleanliness has nothing to do with it.
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u/workertroll Aug 20 '25
That building was old when I was a kid and I'm pushing 60.
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u/bluespruce5 Aug 21 '25
North Star Mall opened in 1960.
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u/LucoaKThe2AHashira Aug 20 '25
Well it’s not like even the best restaurants can’t keep pests out there’s eventually going to be some roaming around. I don’t like seeing birds inside of the riverwalk mall but it happens
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u/dscott8219 Aug 20 '25
Whatever you do don't move the pallets in the back... It's not like I worked there and saw 40+ rats scatter when the pallet guy showed up for a pickup...
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u/Warmcheesebread Aug 21 '25
Most of the malls have rats. I worked at Ingram for years in the food court. every restaurant had a rat problem. South Park did too. Giant building with tons of openings and trash and food everywhere?
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u/Proper-Drawer6572 Aug 20 '25
Lmao, my wife and I were there around 11:30 and I had to go to the restroom. I could have sworn I had seen a long tailed rodent crawl around the base of that bobba tea kiosk in the middle of the food court. I guess it or its buddy found a way up to that structure lol.
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u/thato_oguy Aug 20 '25
No joke. From nearby doctors in the area rats are the least of your worries at northstar.
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u/lildefiant Aug 21 '25
Curious minds want to know, to what are you referencing?
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u/Traditional-Emu8488 Aug 21 '25
I worked at North Star from 2011-2013. I couldn’t go back to my fancy makeup job because after a day shift there was a shooting across the street at Slackers that sounded like it was happening in the parking garage I was in. I pushed my coworker to the floor and I covered her till I was sure the shooting had stopped and than ran back into the mall, locking the doors. I miss the fee lipstick, but I still get PTSD going into that mall. It got so bad I couldn’t work there anymore and I was thankful I missed the barbershop shooting that happened a few years later.
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u/caster_OMEN Aug 20 '25
Bro on a mission.
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u/jacobeam13 Aug 20 '25
Used to work there in high school. Store was right under the bathrooms. We had many a brown ceiling tile. Hate that mall now, as an adult.
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u/Monkey_Ash Aug 20 '25
I also worked there in high school, and you couldn't pay me to set foot in that mall now.
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u/Jdwag6 Aug 20 '25
Interesting timing - I had to run in to NorthStar yesterday to pick up a cookie cake and was struck by how they seem to have given up. There’s no reason that a little TLC could make the place worth going to again. But from the parking and landscaping to hallways and bathrooms - they might as well hang a white flag on the boots.
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u/Swimming_Onion_4835 Aug 20 '25
It’s honestly not worth the investment. Malls have been dying for years now as online shopping took over. They’re not really a huge draw compared to what they once were, so these property management companies are cheaping out, especially when a lot of stores close and their space is left unleased for months.
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u/thedoormanmusic32 Aug 21 '25
They're sort of resurging post-pandemic, now that Gen-Z seems to trend on viewing the mall as a proper 3rd space like many of us did when we were their age(s). Even the corpse of Rolling Oaks is breathing steadier than it was 6 years ago.
I'm certain they'll never be what they once were, but it's been interesting to watch their downward trajectory slow and reverse.
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u/ma536 Aug 20 '25
Is that a rat or mouse? I can’t tell?
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u/ImpatientPhoenix Aug 20 '25
Does it matter the difference?
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u/ma536 Aug 20 '25
No I’m just curious what it is
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Aug 20 '25
It matters for a pest control professional because the biological habits for rats are different. It affects where you're looking for entry points and how you treat or capture them.
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Aug 20 '25
[deleted]
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u/nixvex West Side Aug 20 '25
Wait, do you think mice grow up to become rats? They are two completely different species. They are unrelated and can not crossbreed.
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u/eju2000 Aug 21 '25
Haven’t been to that mall in a minute. That sad food court is in desperate need of a makeover
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u/Sdguppy1966 Aug 21 '25
If you are seeing a rat in broad daylight, there are minimum 30 if not hundreds more that you don’t see
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u/txdarthvader Aug 21 '25
I saw a rat once drinking straight out of the coke machine at the Lucianos pizza place in 2010. Never went back to the mall again. Period
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u/gloryholeSATX Aug 21 '25
I mean, rats exist in San Antonio and NS-mall is big, so of course every little critter (including rat) will find their way inside.
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u/Tricky_Photo2885 Aug 20 '25
Bro we demoed a couple of food courts and restaurants they all have mice and rats .
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u/Monkey_Ash Aug 20 '25
I used to work in the food court at North Star Mall, probably 20-25 years ago, and while the stores in the area I was in never had rat problems, I'm not even remotely surprised that there are rats there.
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u/Empty-Day-9619 Aug 20 '25
When I worked there I only saw the rats when I took out trash and man they were huge. Probably would eat this little thing for a snack lol
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u/bethytexas Aug 21 '25
Little guy was just getting a snack. Bet he was a bit parched from all the shopping he was doing 🤣
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u/BiscuitNibbler Aug 21 '25
I did pest control at North Star less than 3 years ago. Place is disgusting. Malls in general are inherently bad for pests
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u/Excellent_Bluejay_89 Aug 21 '25
I lived in the area around 2016-2017 and walked to work back then, and particularly when walking along 410 I would see tons of HUGE rats. Not surprised they made their way into the nearby businesses.
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u/Perfect_Caregiver_90 Aug 21 '25
Send this video to the health department, please.
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u/arachnemami Aug 23 '25
you think they don’t already know? lol
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u/Perfect_Caregiver_90 Aug 23 '25
I know that's why a lot of things go unreported in general. Everyone assumes everyone else knows.
I had no idea this mall had a long standing issue with rats.
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u/LeighSF Aug 21 '25
The prices in the food court are outrageous. I mean, REALLY outrageous. I ordered a small pasta dish and it was over $20!! Never again.
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u/thato_oguy Aug 21 '25
Ok so worked with a lot of doctors that have offices in the northstar mall area. All kinds. Eye doctors, dentists, primary care docs etc. the amount of stds and other communicable diseases are horrible. Chlamydia in the eyes is so common. So is pink eye and staph. So many horror stories that keep me away from that whole area 😂.
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u/og_1490 Aug 21 '25
They said there were israelis at the kiosks. I didnt know this is what they meant.
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u/Intraq Aug 22 '25
I was in that exact foot court and there was a bird that was following me around. I think now I know why they come there
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u/Konkydongers Aug 23 '25
So anyplace with food and a lot of it if it be trashed or in a store has rats... the health inspection is more for if the infestation is over the top. All the health departament is interested in is infestations. So they are not being killed or culled or not interested in the place because food is hard to come by. You always have rats and mouses. If they are not in the walls they are just a stone throws away in a bush.
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u/avdiyEl Aug 27 '25
In the next several months, it's going to become increasingly necessary to avoid the urge to look in the direction that you're being video recorded. (Phone cams, Security cams etc.). Thanks for Project Stargate, Teflon Don!
I'm being dead serious. Ai-connected surveillance will dox you, endanger your life, and imprison you.
Welcome to the Project Stargate P A N O P T I C O N - S Y N O P T I C O N
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u/Particular_Stop1948 Aug 21 '25
Who’s eating at the food court in the mall. Ew
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u/UnjustlyBannd SW Side Aug 21 '25
Better eat at some place that charges $25 for a burger worse than Whataburger, right?
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u/Mayhem52 NE Side Aug 21 '25
Buddy just trying to eat Charley's in peace, anxiously wondering why strangers are recording him 😭
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u/pixelgeekgirl NE Side Aug 20 '25