Plans for the Student Union

Jeffrey Johnson

Word Count: 438

Anyone who has been inside the Student Union in recent moths has most likely noticed the curtain concealing the area of the food court where students choose their food. Well there are some major changes coming to the dining process inside the union in the fall.

After an interview with the Food Services Director at Ole Miss, Jonathon Parker, these new additions to the student dining experience were explained.

The first changes students will notice when they walk into the food court in the fall will be the new and different restaurant options available. “Chik-fil-A will be expanded and we will add a Subway,” Parker said. An upcoming junior at Ole Miss, Richard Henley, said, “I cannot wait for that,” when told the news a Subway has made it’s way to the union’s menu.

Another addition that will be called Burger Studio will be a step up from its predecessor, Grill Zone. Burger Studio will obviously offer burgers and brings in a little new technology to the dining experience. When a student orders at Burger Studio, instead of telling an employee behind the counter what they want, they will use touch screen computers to construct the ideal burger. This will speed up the process and hopefully aid the past problems of traffic in the union food court.

The previous pizza place is being replaced also with Topios. Topios is will feature “fresh, organic pizza,” said Parker. This will be a healthy step-up from the pizza place that used to be there.

A new sushi bar will be available as well and Parker assures it, like burgers and pizza, will be an improved version of the earlier offering. Sushi will be fresh and made-to-order. Student Benjamin Van Cleave said, “I enjoyed the old sushi place, so I’m sure I will love the heck out of this too.”

Something else students will notice about the union is the absence of trays. Parker said that this new feature is a “green” change. He pointed out that it will save a large amount of water without having to wash all the trays on a daily basis.

The last noticeable change will be the checkout process. Cashiers will no longer be located in a line at the door, but now they will be more conveniently located near each respective food vendor. This will make checkout much quicker for student and helps keep from crowds and long lines from forming in the food court.

And Parker is already planning ahead in the future. So, if there’s anything missing that you really want to eat, tell Parker soon because “now is the time to recommend.”