Students at the Culinary Council on Feb. 23 voiced concerns with many Winthrop dining locations, emphasizing Mein Bowl and Tres Habaneros and noting changes in food preparation and quality.
Culinary Council is a meeting between students and Dining Services administrators to increase student involvement in the dining options on campus. Student opinions and experiences were documented by those present, citing previous accomplishments of the Culinary Council, such as the addition or change of menu items in Eagle Eatery and the implementation of new pop-ups based on student input.
General Manager of Dining Services Helen Hoban said she and her staff value student feedback, so students should feel free to talk to any one of the managers if they have issues with the food.
“We can address problems quickly when we know them,” she said to the Culinary Council.
Students’ primary concern at the council was the decreased quality of food in many locations within the DiGiorgio Campus Center. Many students specifically cited the chicken at Mein Bowl as one such concern.
O’Bryan Warren, retail manager for Markley’s at the Center, said Mein Bowl, a franchise like Chick-fil-A, was previously using chicken provided by the university because they were unable to receive their brand’s chicken due to supply chain issues. Now, Mein Bowl is able to receive those shipments, but Warren said complaints about the quality of the chicken have gone up since then.
Similar concerns were voiced about the quality and recipes used at Tres Habaneros. Warren said that in the past, Tres Habaneros did not follow the recipes laid out by Sodexo but has begun to follow them again, leading to increased complaints as the food changed.
Plastic utensils in the Eagle Eatery was another topic of discussion. Hoban said university facilities has fixed the main issue with the dishwasher, which broke months ago. However, Hoban said parts and specialists are needed to complete the repair.
Suggestions for improvements were also given by students. Some wanted to see Tres Habaneros replaced by a Chipotle or Moe’s, while others wanted to see pizza come to Markley’s. Students also said they wanted to see Dining Services partner with local restaurants, which Hoban said she was already looking into.
In Eagle Eatery, students suggested including more cultural foods, such as Chinese, Indian and Latin. Hoban said Dining Services is already working with the International Center to develop culturally accurate dishes.
Hoban said Dining Services is planning to install comment boards in both Eagle Eatery and Markley’s where students can write both negative and positive comments about the food on cards and post them on the board. The cards will be taken periodically and reviewed by administration as an indication of how each location is performing.
Before feedback was taken, marketing specialist Aba Hutchison presented data on meal waste, which has dropped from an estimated 238 meals in Spring 2016 to 105 meals in Spring 2022.
The calendar of March events was also discussed by Hutchison, but it has not been officially released as of Friday, Feb. 25.
Dining Services will try to have a Culinary Council meeting each month.
