Photo by Oliver Chapin-Eiserloh.

Revolve has become an increasingly popular dining option for students according to the Tiger Card Office. The decisions for adding and retaining all vendors is up to Aramark and based on student input.

Revolve, which began in 2017, rotates between six restaurants Monday through Thursday as a way to provide additional dining options for students. Currently, Revolve hosts Panda Express, Papouli’s, Luciano, Which Wich and Chick-fil-A. A Trinity representative from Aramark, Trinity’s Dining Services vendor, reaches out to potential Revolve vendors after gauging student interest through the dining survey.

Because Revolve is a concept that was based on student feedback, the students have some control over which vendors are brought to campus. David Tuttle, dean of students, believes Revolve improves student experiences on campus.

“As [Dining Services] looked at feedback and goals that we have for creating a positive dining experience for our students, we always look at quality, variety and experience. [Charles Robles’] idea of bringing in different vendors on various days — it really hits those goals on variety, and it really hits the goals on value because people can use, essentially, their meal swipes,” Tuttle said.

Robles is the manager of Dining Services and normally reaches out to vendors. Aramark plays a major role in retaining vendors.

“[Aramark] reaches out to vendors that are popular and also requested from on-campus surveys to see if they would be interested in joining the program. Once they accept, they are vetted through the compliance and procurement department to make sure they qualify to serve our customers safely and consistently,” Robles wrote in an email interview.

Both gaining vendors and changing vendors are based on student demand.

“With any food program, whether in residential or retail, if demand is not there for a product or concept, we evaluate changing the product/concept to something that would be more popular,” Robles wrote. “It happens both ways; sometimes the vendor is not scheduled for any further service, and sometimes the vendor removes themselves from the calendar.”

According to Paul Wright, director of business operations in the Tiger Card Office, Revolve has been a popular place to use meal swipes since the swipe exchange program started last semester, with an average of 380 meal swipes used per day at Revolve last school year.

“The Board Exchange has been very popular across campus but very widely used at Revolve. As for projections for the upcoming year, we’re expecting it to continue as a popular option for students,” Wright wrote. “We will continue to work with Aramark and monitor how the respective vendors perform so adjustments can be made if necessary.”

The biggest issues at Revolve right now are that space is limited, and vendors are unable to cook in the space. The administration is looking to improve this. The plan is in the discussion phase.

“One thing we are looking at is to see if we can potentially next summer do something with the space to have more flexibility for the vendors [to cook] and be able to accommodate the long lines better. Some sort of small reconfiguration, I think, would enhance it more,” Tuttle said.