McLaughlin Dining Facility a Hit with Students

Lucia+Alfaro+picks+her+food+out+from+one+of+many+stations+in+the+McLaughlin+Dining+Center+%28Photo+by+Ryan+Dukes%29

Lucia Alfaro picks her food out from one of many stations in the McLaughlin Dining Center (Photo by Ryan Dukes)

Mark Barden

Lucia Alfaro picks her food out from one of many stations in the McLaughlin Dining Center (Photo by Ryan Dukes)
Lucia Alfaro picks her food out from one of many stations in the McLaughlin Dining Center (Photo by Ryan Dukes)

For students at Siena Heights University (SHU), dining in Benicasa is a thing of the past; replaced with the new, expanded dining facilities in the McLaughlin Student Center.

At the beginning of fall semester some students were not yet aware that McLaughlin was operational. Gianni Chesnick remarked that “There was a small transition period” before the first week of classes. “They [SHU] were introducing select groups to the cafeteria.”

However, many students interviewed for this story praised the layout of the cafeteria, saying that the furniture was both colorful and accommodating.

Steven Simons, a junior, spoke about the lines at the beginning of the semester. Referring to the line at the card-reading counter, he said, “The line stretched to the doors”. He gave the benefit of the doubt, however, and said that “There was a card-reader problem at the time”. Other students said similar things, and the message became clear. It was a case of being in the right place at the wrong times and being forced to wait longer than usual.

However, long lines for the dining room don’t mean students are left without meal options. If students need a quick bite between classes they can stop in at the SHU Shop.

Among the favorite stations at the McLauglin Dinning Center is pizza station from last year had been upgraded. Pizza production has doubled while pasta has been expanded with more choices.

The students that were interviewed were unanimous in agreeing that the best part of the new dining facility was the HALO grill. Instead of settling for predetermined dishes at the kitchen, a student can choose what they want to eat at the HALO grill when they choose their ingredients. Even the protein, the meat, is a choice that the student can make.

“Sometimes the best part of the meal[referring to the HALO grill] is watching it be made,” said Donald Bargo, the director of dining services as well as a representative of Chartwells on the SHU campus,  “Anytime you can do something directly in front of a person, they love it.”

Bargo also spoke about many of the improvements to dining as a result of the new student center. He spoke about the different menu choices, new action stations, menu cycles and vegetarian options available for students. “We run an odd-day cycle,” he said. What this means is that a menu choice may be the same on a certain day as it was four weeks ago, but the menu as a whole will never have the same choices. When asked about problems at the beginning of the semester, Bargo replied that the cafeteria’s staff were going through an adjustment. “For the majority of the staff, this is a complete change.” They had been transplanted from Benicasa to McLaughlin and needed to get used to the new environment, which led to different training.

The staff has worked hard over the fall semester to make McLaughlin Dining feel welcoming.

“This is your home,” said Judy Campbell, the Baker’s Crust baker. “We work basically for you… we try to make you feel as comfortable as you would at your own home.

Emily Dunckel, Alexsandra Dubach and Angel Noworyta enjoy their sweet treat from the dessert station. (Photo by Ryan Dukes)
Emily Dunckel, Alexsandra Dubach and Angel Noworyta enjoy their sweet treat from the dessert station. (Photo by Ryan Dukes)

Campbell could hardly contain her enjoyment working for the students. “Deserts make people happy,” she said. Because Benicasa did not have much space, a sweet shop like Baker’s Crust was not possible. But at McLaughlin, sweets are a reality. Just be careful not to overindulge. “I’m the mom,” Campbell laughed. “And as the mom, we’re also starting to make the portions smaller!”

The new dining facilities has also increased student purchases in the dining hall.  Participation, or the percentage of students coming in to eat at the cafeteria, has gone up tremendously thanks to the new location and accommodations. “At this time in the year, Benicasa would run about 58-59% capacity. Right now we’re running close to 80% capacity,” Bargo said. “On a weekly basis, we were probably using $14,000-15,000 in food a week last year. This year we’re averaging about $19,000-20,000.”