Mabee Dining Hall and the Coates Commons Food Court have recently received updates as part of a plan to add new dining options for students that was laid out five years ago. There is also a smartphone application available from Aramark, titled CampusDish, which allows students to view the nutritional value of meals served in Mabee Dining Hall.
Letters were distributed to parents via the group email list ParentTalk in order to explain some of the changes made within Mabee Dining Hall in response to issues that were consistently raised by students and parents. The letter covers a number of subjects and will be distributed to students once the school year has begun.
“[Aramark] will pilot a Ninja blender juice [and] smoothie station at the vegan station during breakfast,” the letter read.
Miguel Ardid, food service director for Trinity University Dining, noted that the blender option will be available to students on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings for breakfast only. In addition to the blenders being added to Mabee, there will be more signage in order to alert students of their options at the stir fry bar and other locations.
Aramark’s Healthy for Life program has several new health and wellness events in store in order to teach students more about eating healthy and how to make healthy meals. There will be more themed and ethnic meals offered in the dining hall as well. Mabee Dining Hall is open during the semester Monday through Thursday from 7:45 a.m. to 8 p.m, Friday from 7:45 a.m. to 7 p.m, Saturday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m, and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
“We have had a dialogue all summer long [asking] how we can be more responsive to students’ issues with food,” said David Tuttle, associate vice president and dean of students. “We want to make sure they have fresh, quality [options].”
The Coates Commons Food Court has been renovated this year, with the introduction of Freshii in place of Montague’s Deli and removal of the drink station in the center of the Commons. Freshii will offer a number of breakfast options, as well as salads and wraps, bowls with rice or quinoa and other ingredients, soups, burritos, smoothies, juices and frozen yogurt with toppings.
Tuttle noted that Freshii has been very popular at other campuses around the United States, and that along with Taco Taco and Einstein Bros. Bagels, it will offer more variety to students. The Commons Food Court is open during the semester Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 12 a.m and Fridays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The hours for Taco Taco, Einstein Bros. Bagels, and Freshii can be located on the Trinity University Campus Dish website.
The Skyline Dining Room will also be updating their menu this year with the addition of several sandwich options, each named after university professors.
“We thought [the new Skyline sandwich titles] would be a fun way to recognize our super star professors on campus,” Tuttle said. “[The professors] did agree to have their names included, of course.”
The Skyline Room will offer five sandwiches with titles that make nods to university professors in a variety of departments, as well as one flatbread with such a title. Skyline is located on the second floor of the Coates University Center and is open Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
