Subway, the international sandwich chain, is coming to Cal Poly’s campus this September after nearly a year of waiting for the restaurant famous for five dollar foot longs.
Subway will be replacing the closed campus dining facilities The Park and Dexter Subs & More, and provide another dining option for people on a side of campus that typically has few dining options, Prasayus Construction project manager Daniel Aguilar said.
“Options are fairly limited from my experience over in that area,” Aguilar said.
Currently, people can eat at Tacos-to-Go, the only other food option at Dexter Lawn, but Subway will change that, Aguilar said.
The new dining facility will be similar to other Subway locations featuring the familiar option to design individualized subs, but will have two stations for people to order from instead of one, Aguilar said.
“There will be two lines, two different order points, two different transaction points,” Aguilar said.
In addition, the new dining service will also feature an outdoor Subway Grab-and-Go window, with pre-made cold sandwiches for people in a hurry, Aguilar said. The Grab-and-Go window is located in the old Dexter Subs & More window, and designed specifically for students in a hurry, Aguilar said.
“It’ll allow for a quicker transaction, I think, for students between classes,” Aguilar said.
The campus Subway will also cater to students’ varied schedules, staying open all day, Cal Poly Corporation marketing and public relations director Yukie Nishinaga said.
“It’s going to be breakfast, lunch and dinner,” Nishinaga said.
Though the indoor Subway location only seats about eight people, the dining facility has been designed to take full advantage of the outdoor patio between the new Subway and Tacos-to-Go.
Students can also take their sandwiches to picnic in the shade on Dexter Lawn, Aguilar said.
Though the dining facility and Subway banners on the side of the Dexter Building sprung up over the summer, bringing Subway to campus has actually been in the works for years.
Subway has been in touch with Cal Poly Corporation, which oversees campus dining facilities, since 2006, according to a Mustang Daily article published in November.
Campus dining announced last fall that Subway was coming to Cal Poly, with plans to open in the spring, though the date was soon moved back.
The project was slowed down by planning and consulting, Aguilar said.
“It’s been a long time coming. The planning process took forever,” Aguilar said.
But the planning was a necessary part of keeping costs down, meeting state architecture standards and providing disability access, Aguilar said.
Currently, Cal Poly’s Subway is set to open on Sept. 13, just under a week before fall quarter classes begin, Aguila said.
“We’re hoping for it,” Aguilar said.
Even with the wait, having a Subway at Cal Poly is worth it, said architecture senior Nick Lafaro.
“I’m stoked it’s going to be there; it’s going to completely change our campus,” Lafaro said.
As an architecture student, Lafaro spends most of his time in the architecture building and around Dexter Lawn, and has struggled with the lack of dining options, he said.
Now, though, Lafaro believes the addition of Subway will make Dexter Lawn more of the “campus hub” that it used to be, allowing students to eat on Dexter instead of going across campus to the University Union Plaza, Lafaro said.
Lafaro is also excited because he likes Subway sandwiches a lot, he said.
“Five dollar footlongs all day,” Lafaro said.
And freshman, as well, are looking forward to subs on campus.
Incoming biological sciences freshman Daniel Park has visited campus and eaten at 19 Metro Station several times, but Subway will provide familiar food that he likes, he said.
“I feel excited. I love Subway,” Park said.