By: Deanna Touchard
For students trying to grab lunch between classes, a trip to the Dining Hall, The Garden and CK2
can take longer than expected. Lines at these eateries can stretch far outside the entrance and
even spiral around outside during busy periods, leaving students wondering if they should wait inline and be late to class or skip lunch all together.
Lunchtime is always a busy period for campus eateries, with most classes getting out right before
noon and classmates texting their friends asking where they’re going to eat lunch.
Sheila Bame, the front-of-house manager in the cafeteria, said she loves to see the cafeteria busy.
“We are seeing more people consistently come through the cafeteria and prepping more food for
each meal,” Bame said. “It is a positive thing for us to see students, staff and outside guests
coming in to experience our cafeteria.”
Laurie Worth, food services director, explained how the lines may be tied to having less eatery
options available through Southern’s meal plan this year.
“Typically, we do have a time period that we know that it’s going to be super busy,” said Worth.
“But I do think that there’s more volume due to the fact that there [are] less places to eat.”
Due to the recent closure of The Kayak and the removal of the Village Market from the meal
plan, there has been a greater influx of students at the three main eateries on campus.
“It has definitely been an adjustment,” stated Linda Perez, The Garden manager, in an email to
the Accent. “We are serving more students than we did in previous semesters, so we have to be
prepared to make more meals. We try to hire student employees to help us, but that has also been
a challenge because it can be difficult to find students who are available to work early in the
morning or during lunch hours.”
With lunch lines being lengthy this semester, there have been frustrations among students who
don’t have time to grab a meal.
For Daria Terikova, a sophomore elementary education major, grab-and-go options are often her
solution.
“I probably either won’t eat, or I’ll go grab a snack from a vending machine, because I really like
grabbing and going,” said Terikova.
Lunchtime isn’t the only busy time in the cafeteria.
“We always have a busy time period, and it’s usually on the hour when classes get out at 8 or 9
or 10 o’clock [in the morning],” Worth said.
The cafeteria can track how many people come in half-hour increments. This helps the staff
gauge what times might be busiest and how much they need to prepare in advance, according to
Worth.
When comparing the numbers to September last year, Worth noted the increase.
“Overall, for the month of September we served an average of 308 more people every day,” Worth stated. “We also had two days in September when we served over 1,000 people for lunch.”
There are questions circulating campus regarding plans to combat these long lines.
“I’m curious to see if they’ll bring back The Kayak or the VM now that there are more people in
the cafeteria,” said Ethan Valdez, a junior allied health major.
According to Worth, there are not many options for major changes due to space limitations.
“We’re very limited in what we can do based on space,” Worth said. “We don’t have room for
another register or another serving line [in the cafeteria].”
She said the cafeteria has new hours this semester and is open most of the day.
According to Mandy Starr, CK2 manager, her team has worked to reduce wait times.
“While it took a few weeks at the beginning of the semester to train our new student workers, we
can now clear a rush quickly,” she stated.
Starr explained how new changes have improved the process.
“We added a third register, which has significantly reduced wait times,” she stated. “We have
also expanded our Grab & Go offerings for students. … In addition, I hired several extra student
employees to ensure we are fully staffed during our busiest meal periods, particularly lunch and
supper. We also added a third vending machine.”
The Garden is also considering new changes to its offerings.
“We would like to add breakfast grab-and-go options, and we may start offering those next
semester,” Perez said. “Other than that, our kitchen has limited space and equipment, so it’s
difficult for us to add more meals or options.”
Worth said she hopes students find ways to adapt to the longer lines.
“We’re doing the best that we can to keep up with the lines, but I’m also hoping that students can
look at their schedule and go, ‘Okay, where can I be a little more flexible?’” she said. “Students
are having to adjust to a new normal, and food services are also having to adjust to a new
normal.”
