Starbucks, Big Plates Coming to Union
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By Katie Serignese The food selection at the Stony Brook Union will get a new flavor this coming summer. The End of the Bridge restaurant will get a facelift and a Starbucks will be added to the location. Renovations will take place when the location closes after graduation this year and is expected to open the first day of the fall 2007 semester, according to Angela Agnello, director of marketing and communications of the Faculty Student Association. FSA allocated $2 million to cover new renovations of dining areas, including the EOB renovations with the addition of Starbucks and renovations that will be done to Tabler’s food court and Roth Quad. The renovations to EOB include a brand new restaurant with an athletic theme. Lisa Ospitale, director of marketing of campus dining, said the restaurant will be decorated with Stony Brook sports memorabilia. The idea includes changing the name to Wolfie’s; however, the name is trademarked so permission will be required. Menus are in the process of being finalized but some items will include: hot wings with “secret sauce,” popcorn shrimp, potato skins and big burgers with fixings. “Students will get larger portions for their money,” Agnello said. The restaurant will be opened 12-2 p.m. for lunch and 6-10 p.m. for dinner. Starbucks will be open throughout the day and will accept both meal plans and gift cards. It will also offer the full Starbucks menu. Students will be able to work at both locations but will have to go through Starbucks franchise training and Starbucks representatives will make sure quality control standards are met. “Students already working at the EOB location will have priority in receiving an application, but nothing is automatic,” said Warren Wartell, director of human resources at FSA. Also, he added, some employees may not want to work in the new environment of serving over-the-counter food and others may not pass the Starbucks training. In these circumstances, students will be offered other positions by the FSA in campus dining or another operation. Ospitale said the purpose of the Union renovations is to have a more centralized place for people to come and eat and to ease congestion at the SAC. “The Union was the place to be before the SAC and we want to bring that back,” she said. |
Well, I am fortunate enough to live off campus and don't suffer this way when it comes to food. I know that they are adding a lot more food options to Bleacher, like a gyro cart and jerk chicken, so that is a plus. Also, Roth Quad's food court is going through huge renovations and will be shut down for the 2007-08 school year. So once that is open, more options are to be had! :-)
If they do all of that as they have promised, it will definitely be a positive step, as you say. However, I take everything the FSA says with a grain of salt. I interviewed them in the Spring of 2004, and they told me then that Roth was slated to be closed for a year for repair that summer. I had also heard that rumor in 2003, then read about it again in 2005 and, you guessed it, 2006. Now it's 2007, and lo and behold, they're talking about it again. But until talk becomes action, I personally will remain very skeptical.
All those food options will also go for naught if Bleacher continues to close at 4 pm (3 on Fridays and closed on weekends), and if the prices remain unreasonably high. Fortunately, like you, I lived off-campus for my final 2+ years at Stony Brook and was thus able to escape the stranglehold that Campus Dining has on those who live on campus.
Yeah if they do what they promised, i think it's great news. But you are right, we have to take what the FSA says with a grain of salt..
Extended hours would be great, in our environment, it's not everyone that can eat at 12:00-1:00 or 5:00-6:00.
Karen's Chicken recipes!
It's going to take A LOT more than this
It's going to take a lot more than this to improve dining, and to ease crowding at the SAC. Keeping the new athletic-themed restaurant open only from 12-2 for lunch is pretty pathetic, if you ask me. If you don't get out of class until 2:20, your lunch choices will again be limited to the same ones that exist currently. Will it also be open on weekends and during the summer? Options are VERY limited during those times, especially during the summer sessions, when many students still live on campus but there's only two places open to eat, both only available until 6 pm on weekdays.
Why not expand the hours of Bleacher Club, once that is renovated, as has been rumored? It's also easy to forget that before the SAC, the old Humanities building also had a dining area--now gone. That adds to overcrowding. And why not have the Harriman Cafe accept the meal plan as well? Every little bit helps.
Of course, then there's the matter of the INSANE food prices. If you thought Starbucks was expensive, imagine what it would be like with FSA managing it. Ditto the new restaurant with the bigger portions. Exactly how much will a hamburger now cost? $10? $15 perhaps?