Recently there has been a lot of commotion around SFSU’s Dining Center, City Eats.
This week there were two meetings focusing on the quality of the service provided and possible changes to the facility. On Wednesday, The Grub Club (a club in partnership with Residential Life, Sodexo, and SFSU aimed at being a bridge between students and the Dining Services on campus) hosted their first forum after hours in the Crossroads room. You may recognize the Grub Club from their newsletter that was sent out on Monday describing their goal to educate students, which is exactly what they did at their forum.
Present and leading the forum were the club’s president and advisor, Analisa Spina and Hee Bong Hyun, among other members of the Dining Services. For both the students who attended (including myself) and the workers, the meeting was filled with surprises and a ton of new information.
For starters, the number of possible services that the DC can provide for students is neverending. One of the features that is available is reduced pricing on catering for students through Sodexo. All students have to do is contact catering manager Joe Haley (or any of the team members) in their offices in the Seven Hills, which is connected to City Eats. The staff can also assist you in finding something to eat that meets your dietary needs. If you weren’t aware, you can make requests such as having an additional patty added to your burger, an omelet made only the egg whites, vegan cheese, etc. If you don’t see something you like out on display, chances are they’ll have another option in the back.
The forum was also to check up on how the students are finding the food and service itself. Majority of the comments or suggestions made were met with replies saying that they (the staff) could easily and quickly make them happen. One student commented on there being a lack of variety of beverages that met their own personal needs, besides water. After a few minutes, the idea of installing an iced tea machine came up, and Operations Manager Jeffrey Shafer stated “We’re actually talking with the vendor right now about having a brewer installed,” exciting news for the students. Another issue was the lack of variety of cereal options: only very sugary cereals being available at once was a big concern for students. To this, Hee Bong responded with saying that although she see’s students eating Lucky Charms all day, the team can make sure to divide the cereal options evenly.
Several other topics were discussed and a significant amount of progress seemed to be made in the hour-long forum. Students seemed pleasantly surprised at how well the DC staff met their needs, and many of them ended up joining the Grub Club that night as a way to continue voicing their opinions. The staff were happy too, always restating that their goal is to please the students as much as they can.
If you’d like more information on how to join the Grub Club, check your email for their flyer or email Analisa at aspina@mail.sfsu.edu. You can also always approach one of the Dining Center employees during your trip to City Eats and they will gladly help you find an answer to your question.