Matt WechterCampus Dining has announced the opening of a new eatery on campus this fall; Garden Grille.
The Light House’s cafeteria-style dining is out and restaurant-style dining is in.
Stark white walls have been painted yellow, pink and purple, while redwood benches and plants now adorn the entire dining room giving it an outdoor ambiance. Trellises and fences have been brought in providing diners with a more secluded restaurant experience.
“We are offering a really upscale menu with large portions,” said Claudia Boller, assistant supervisor at Garden Grille. “We’ve opened up two sections for large parties.”
For meals, students will have a variety of exhibition food stations to choose from where they can watch as their selection is prepared. Menu items include: Tuscan chopped salad, Jamaican prawn salad and Caribbean chicken salad at the salad station; linguini chicken alfredo, spicy Cajun shrimp pasta and linguini and chicken with pesto cream sauce at the pasta station; tandoori wrap and Thai marinade wrap at the wrap station; sandwiches and burgers at the grill and boiler station.
At the comfort food station, chefs select a daily menu that includes carved meats and home cooking chosen to remind students of mom’s culinary delights.
“Our pasta station is going to be real popular,” said Steve Archuleta, Garden Grille supervisor. “During meal trials it has been the most popular.”
The Garden Grille is open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The Garden Grille will exist only one year. At the end of this school year, the Garden Grille will close for major renovations and a new restaurant is scheduled to open in the Fall of 2008. The dining options will be similar to those offered at the Garden Grille.
“Through our experience with the Garden Grille, we will know what students want,” said Alan Cushman, Campus Dinning associate director. “We will be able to plan renovations wisely.”
From casual dining to a quick snack on the go, Cal Poly students have a variety of unique dining options to choose from.
Start your day at the Sandwich Factory, where you can enjoy breakfast burritos, croissants or waffles. For lunch have a sandwich built to order or try one of the Sandwich Factory’s prepackaged items.
Looking for a pizza to help you get through another night of studying, BackStage Pizza offers free delivery on campus. Occasional live entertainment, a 40-item salad bar and a variety of drinks makes BackStage Pizza the dining choice of many students.
The Avenue provides students with food court-style dining options. The Avenue features Chick-fil-A, offering chicken sandwiches, nuggets and salads; Tapango’s for Mexican entrees including custom made burritos and taco salads; Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs also offers tri-tip sandwiches and sweet swirls cinnamon rolls; Red Dragon Wok for stir fry including vegetarian options and City Deli for custom-made sandwiches.
The avenue is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, Monday through Friday.
A customer can enjoy buffet”style dining at the Veranda Cafe. Choices include fresh made sandwiches, salads, soups, a lunch special and desserts.
Late for class, grab a cinnamon roll or a quesadilla for breakfast at Tapangos’s. Their express lunch choices include quesadillas, burritos, tacos, rice and beans.
Craving a little extra attention, the Vista Grande Restaurant offers sit down dining with table service. Meals include salads, sandwiches, soups, desserts and a variety of traditional and ethnic dishes.
A favorite of dining plan patrons, VG Cafe offers pastas, grill items, a salad bar, sandwiches, meat specials and desserts.
Looking for an extra boost to make it through a grueling day of lectures, exams and studying, Julian’s offers a vast array of coffees. Julian’s also sells an assortment of pastries, sundaes, milkshakes and ice cream.
There is no excuse for missing your daily serving of fruit when there are two Lucy’s Juices available on campus. Smoothies are created using whole fruits, juices, yogurt, wheat germ and a variety of other nutritious ingredients.
At the Park, vending machines accept Campus Express, and offer students soft drinks, coffee, candy bars, chips, sandwiches and other snack items. The park’s dining area is open 24 hours a day.
The Campus Market offers a quick one-stop shopping location that carries everything from sandwiches, pizza, gourmet coffees, grocery items and fresh-made pastries to last-minute school supplies. The Campus Market will be offering a larger selection of produce items this fall.
The Campus Market is open seven days a week from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., except Fridays and Saturdays when the market closes at around 5:30 p.m.
All students living in the on-campus residence halls are required to have a dining plan. There are three options available; through the Freedom Dining Plan students receive five meals each week in VG Cafe or Sandwich Factory and 687 plus dollars to be used at campus eateries per quarter, through the Flexibility Dining Plan students receive eight meals each week in VG Cafe or Sandwich Factory and 414 plus dollars to be spent at one of the campus eateries per quarter, through the Security Dining Plan receive 10 full meals each week in VG Cafe or Sandwich Factory and 232 plus dollars to be spent at the campus eateries per quarter.
Dining plan meals are set back to zero every Saturday; if you don’t use them, you lose them.
Plus dollars are available through students’ Poly Cards, and roll over from fall through spring quarter. At the end of the contract period in June any unused plus dollars are forfeited.
“When we notice big extremes in a students spending we call them on the phone,” Cushman said. “If they’re spending too slowly, we ask if they know how to use their dining plan.”
Dining plans can be changed during the first two weeks of the quarter by filling out a change request form. Dining plans cannot be transferred.
If a student drops out of college, dining plan funds are refunded only when housing costs are refunded. For students that have been evicted, there are no refunds.