UTSA Year in Review, No. 10: New dining venues bring customization and value to UTSA

Editor's note: 2018 was an incredible year for UTSA students, faculty, staff and alumni. It was a year of intense momentum as the university moved forward to become a model for student success, a great research university, and an exemplar for strategic growth and innovative excellence.

Join us as we look back at the top ten news stories of 2018, and experience our biggest accomplishments once again. These stories set a rapid pace of accomplishments going into 2019 and our 50^th Anniversary celebration. Here's number ten.

(Dec. 21, 2018) -- New and returning UTSA students will start the academic year with fresh and exciting dining locations that enhance the campus experience and make eating on campus easy.  To best meet student needs, UTSA Dining will implement changes for the 2018-19 academic year that advance several student-centered goals.

Students will see increased diversity of food options, including locations that feature menus that change based on student feedback.  Improvements include new daily vegetarian and healthy options and an increase in the number of affordable meal options available in the John Peace Library (JPL) and Student Union (SU) food courts. Renovations will provide more open space in the JPL food court, enhancing the dining experience for hungry students on the go in UTSA’s busiest food court.

“UTSA Dining’s renewed focus on customization and flexibility creates new and exciting opportunities to incorporate student feedback into the daily campus dining experience,” said Clay Haverland, assistant vice president for UTSA Campus Services. “Over time, student preferences and dining trends change.  We are listening to their requests to determine the best venues to meet the evolving needs of on-campus dining.” 

This summer, UTSA Dining will replace venues with the lowest number of customer visits. These locations include Taco Taco, Mooyah, and Papa John’s. Although overall dining transactions at UTSA continue to increase, these locations routinely saw the lowest traffic. As UTSA moves forward, these locations will house new and exciting dining opportunities that provide more combo meals and value items, in addition to flexible menus.  

• Slice Pizza and Wings will replace Mooyah, offering whole pizzas and pizza by the slice, in addition to salads, wings, milkshakes and rotating options such as calzones and strombolis. This location in the Student Union food court will provide vegetarian options and $5 and $6 combo meals. Based on student input, rotating items can be added to the permanent menu.
• Also in the Student Union, Rowdy's Global Kitchen, an international café featuring global cuisine, will fill Taco Taco’s current location. Mediterranean and Indian options will be served daily, including vegetarian and healthy selections, with other items offered weekly and monthly. Rowdy's Global Kitchen will focus on healthy, fresh, made-to-order items with a variety of value meal options. Similar to Slice Pizza and Wings, combo meals will be available, and UTSA Dining can add rotating items to the permanent menu based on demand.
• Rowdy Curbside, UTSA's food truck, will take up residence at the Sombrilla to bring Tex-Mex options to the JPL food court area. With an array of breakfast tacos in the morning and tacos, nachos and more for lunch and dinner, this location’s variety and value combos will provide numerous options in this heavily trafficked part of campus.
• Inside the JPL, Sushic will move to the current Papa John’s location. This move allows the removal of the current Sushic counter and equipment, which will significantly reduce the traffic congestion that occurs in the area between Sushic and Chick-fil-A. Steak ‘n Shake and Chick-fil-A customers will have more room to maneuver through the ordering process, and this will also free up space around the drink station. Chick-fil-A, which is currently under renovation, will see numerous updates this fall, including a streamlined purchasing process, a modernized kitchen and new menu items such as grilled nuggets and fresh market salads.

While franchises such as Panda Express and Starbucks remain popular with students, new locations will enable UTSA Dining to easily respond to student input and provide an expanded array of value meals that align price-wise with meal trades included with many meal plans. Campus Services and UTSA Dining anticipate these changes will be completed before the start of the fall semester. 

— Lauren Beaver

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