For retail, I'd do the "physically go to the mall and walk around filling out paper applications" thing. Pick a time it's likely to be slow, so the manager on duty might have time to talk to you for a minute. If you have a laptop, bring it with you so you can go to the food court and fill in the applications that are only online for stores you've visited in person, then let them know you just submitted them. For restaurant work, go between 3 and 5:00pm to have a shot of talking to a manager.

What worked for me longer-term was temp agencies- it helped me switch to office work which is a bit more stable long-term, I eventually got hired permanently by one of the places I temped. Find a few in your area, sign up with them and check in at least once a week so they know you're available and eager. They should assign you a "recruiter" contact, so that's the person to get in touch with- phone is usually good for this, but follow their lead. Make a skills-based resume that lists what you can do at the top (Manage multi-line phone systems, provide great customer service, juggle competing priorities in a fast-paced environment, etc.), and brief descriptions of your relevant work (like in a typical resume) at the bottom, and translate into the right jargon for the industry you want (I translated "customer" into "client" for example, when I was trying to switch from service industry into office work.)

Temp agencies can also help with extra money if you can do brief assignments around your other work- give them your schedule and say when you're available for extra work. I once did a couple overnight data-entry assignments that went from 10pm-4am or so because it had to be done when the business' network was down, and that couldn't be during the work day. It was a pain, but it was only a few days, and made me a little extra cash.

Good luck, and don't get discouraged. Job hunting sucks, but you can handle the service industry= you can handle anything.