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If your tummy is rumbling between classes, or you’re hungry before heading home, on-campus dining options may be what hits the spot.The University of Louisville and its dining services provider, Chartwells, offer a variety of quick food choices just a short walk away, so students with hungry bellies and little time needn’t leave campus for a fast meal.And surprisingly for some students, not all of the food found on campus is fast food, said Chartwells campus operations manager Andrew Shires. “Everyone thinks of [us] as just fast food, but they forget the healthy options we offer. There’s more than just Subway, Wendy’s and Papa John’s.” Shires said Chartwells tries to offer a minimum of five healthy options at each of its locations.Melissa Pompa, Chartwells’ senior food services director at U of L, said her company is trying to get away from “that fast-food stigma.”Pompa and Shires explained that Chartwells has been working with the university administration, as well as with the athletic department and nutritionists, to develop healthy options for students.Chartwells has also added some new choices in recent months to boost the quality of food it serves its student, faculty and staff customers on campus, Shires said. For example, Mitzi’s, an Italian bistro-style restaurant in the Miller Information Technology Center on the south side of campus, serves made-to-order omelets and pasta dishes. The restaurant also offers several choices for soups, salads and desserts.The biggest change students will see at Chartwells locations is the evening schedule at the SAC. An all-you-can-eat buffet is available 5:30-8 p.m. at the Terrace Court (second floor) on weekdays, and the Halftime Grill, formerly called “Grill in the ‘Ville,” offers the same over the weekend until 7 p.m. The later hours appeal to students living on campus, many of whom either cook in their residence halls or turn to off-campus dining for evening meals.Other locations spread around campus – including those in the College of Business, Ekstrom Library and University Tower Apartments – also offer items ranging from grab-and-go snacks and pastries to deli-style sandwiches and coffee drinks.Students with meal plans can also take advantage of several programs the campus dining services offer. Students who use meal plan money to purchase food at Chartwells’s dining locations receive a six-percent discount on their purchases. The discount does not apply to money stored on the Cardinal Cash spending account.”I love the meal plan,” said freshman electrical engineering major Jason Hobbs. “You don’t have to spend your own money. Well, it is your own money, but it’s already paid off.”Meal plan users can also order pizzas from the Papa John’s location in the Student Activities Center, charge them to their meal plan and schedule delivery for later in the day. For example, students with meal plan money can stop by the Papa John’s window during lunch, and buy dinner for that night.Features like this, paired with the extended dining hours, come in handy for some students who prefer to eat after most on-campus eateries are closed. “They’re not open as late on the weekends and that’s expected, but they’re open until 9 on weekdays so that’s great,” Hobbs said. “I work at UPS and sleep most of the day, so it’s good that I can come over and get something before 9.”Aside from the hours, students cite long lines as one of the major inconveniences of eating on campus. But Shires said that is just the nature of campus dining.”People don’t realize that college campuses are different than if you went somewhere else in Louisville,” Shires said. He explained that in a span of just 15 minutes, more than 400 people move through the lines at on-campus dining locations. “And that’s as much traffic as any other restaurant would see during one day,” he said.Some students have mentioned that fast-food locations like Wendy’s stop preparing certain items near the end of the day. Diners should come a little early if they hope to get their favorite sandwich before a restaurant closes, some advise.For more information about dining on-campus and nutrition, visit the Chartwells U of L Web site at http://www.dineoncampus.com/louisville.
Reporters Glypie Grider and Curtis Creekmore contributed to this story.
