Aramark Offers New Food Options at UC

There's something new on the menu at UC. Officials in Campus Services say it will be a mouth-watering experience for members of the UC community, but it won't give their wallets indigestion.

UC has agreed to a seven-year contract with the ARAMARK company to provide food services for students, faculty and staff. The company is a world leader in cooking up meals for 375 educational institutions in the United States and abroad.

ARAMARK will operate the residence hall dining facilities, provide meal plans for students in Sander Cafeteria and Siddall Dining Hall, and operate selected food outlets in Tangeman University Center (TUC), the UC Bookstore, College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning (DAAP), and College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). Future venues are planned for the College of Applied Science, according to Steven Sayers, assistant vice president for Campus Services.

"We plan to change the looks of the residence hall facilities dramatically," he adds. "Siddall will have the most significant change. It will have the feel of a marketplace...more display cooking."

Sayers says the food will be higher quality, but the cost of the board plan will remain the same as last year. The casual meal rate has been reduced for those who want to pay separately for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

"The old Pic-A-Deli will feature a couple of new concepts from ARAMARK, including their Pan Geos (a brand name product) and other international cuisine, display cooking and Java City Coffee service. Basically, it's a new cafe concept," says Sayers.

The UC Bookstore will remain a deli and DAAP will have a cafe with the Java City Coffee theme. CCM's food outlet will feature a sandwich shop, and the Alley Cat Restaurant area of Sander will include a Pizza Hut as well as vendors that serve sandwiches and burgers.

Sayers says ARAMARK was selected because the company demonstrated how easily it could adapt to a campus that is constantly changing with renovations. During its proposal presentation, the ARAMARK team took just one hour to convert an unused basement parking garage into a food service location, then the team served lunch to the UC staff and got rave reviews.

"For that transformation, we drew on our company history," said Jack Donovan, president of ARAMARK Campus Services. "In 1996, ARAMARK took an existing parking lot in Atlanta and in one month, built the main food service venue for 15,000 Olympic athletes, staff and media. We operate well under pressure and can draw upon a vast number of ARAMARK resources to make sure any job exceeds customer expectations."

"The university is committed to plans for improving the quality of campus life, and that includes enrichment of its student life amenities. We chose ARAMARK because they mirror our desire for campus life enhancement. They have a proven track record, and they've demonstrated their flexibility in helping to work through any campus renovations that need to take place," Sayers continued.

Renovations are planned for TUC in December following the end of classes, according to Greg Robinson, UC construction manager. "We'll be building temporary facilities that will accommodate the food service functions, and ARAMARK will be supporting us with food service out of those venues." The proposed relocation of TUC eateries are still in the early planning stages. However, Robinson says the "Mr. Jim's" cafeteria and other restaurants will be housed in a temporary building on the Baldwin Quad.