Students enjoy Chartwells dining hall improvements

(Left to right) Jonathan Baumann, April Abbett, Marieka Kaufman, Sara Erickson, Josh Nikodym, and Rocco Fritz eat a meal in the Janzow dining hall.

Photo credit: Mi-Ree Zwick

By Mi-Ree Zwick

Chartwells Dining Services has worked on improving the quality and variety of food served in Janzow this semester, and students said they are happy with the results.

Some changes that the dining hall has implemented are improving how they cook the pizza and adding more barbecue options to the menu. Chartwells’ focus is on the students and their needs, and they are open to suggestions on adding or improving menu items.

Junior Marieka Kaufman said the food is very good, especially when comparing it with other college dining services.

“I have heard some horror stories,” she said, and added that the pizza has improved since she arrived at Concordia.

Patrick O’Brien, the director of Dining Services, has made it his goal to create more variety and improve food quality, pointing out that the grill wasn’t open at all when he started to work here three years ago.

Students gather for dinner and fellowship in the Janzow dining hall. Photo: Mi-Ree Zwick.

“When I first came, I did an interview with Student Senate, and I thought the food was pretty average,” said O’Brien. “They didn’t have a lot of creativity, didn’t touch a lot on global affairs, and didn’t have a lot of variety.”

The dining hall has offered various special events to break up monotony, including a meal of traditional Brazilian food on Sept. 20 from Chartwells worker Maria Kallenbach, who was born in Rio de Janeiro.

O’Brien said that Chartwells plans to offer 10-15 events per month, whether serving special food at the existing stations or setting up an extra table by the chalkboard.

Senior Kristen Welling said the “Flame” grill station was not often open during her freshman year but now offers some of her favorite foods, such as burgers.

“It’s been better than I thought cafeteria food would be because I wasn’t someone who ate in the cafeteria a lot in high school,” said sophomore Ray Price.

Sophomore Sasha Sam said that she couldn’t pinpoint anything bad about Janzow food, but sometimes she does not feel like eating certain foods.

“And if I don’t like it [the food], I go to the Doghouse,” she said.

Noah Ramirez, a junior and student athlete, said the food at Janzow “gets kind of a bad rap on some days, but I personally think that there’s always good options.” He said that he finds choices for every meal, regardless of the time of day or the day of the week.

Sophomore Ethan Sholey, also a student athlete, said that breakfast “for the most part is the best and most consistent,” but stir fry also has never failed him.

Ramirez was in agreement on the stir fry.

“It’s very macro-nutritious and tasty,” he said. “I think if they had a stir fry line on weekends and maybe for dinner time for some days as well, that’d be pretty awesome.”

There still is room for improvement in the food, Sholey said, especially with the meat served — it’s too dry. And, adding a second cook for stir fry could speed up the line.

“The lines are crazy long and yet we only have one guy doing that,” said Sholey.

Some students have difficulty finding food to eat in the dining hall due to accommodation needs or because none of the food is to their taste. Welling, who needs dietary accommodations, said it can be “hard to wait for them to bring something new” for her to eat. She sometimes needs to bring her own food to the cafeteria in case there isn’t anything she can eat on the menu.

O’Brien said he wants to bridge the gap between the dining service and the students and welcomes any student coming into his office with problems or menu suggestions. “I want them to feel comfortable doing that,” said O’Brien.

Favorite recipes from students for new menu items are welcome, O’Brien said.

“I want students to have more of a voice in their dining program, and it seems like there’s a bit of a disconnect,” he said.

Price said that Janzow has great food and a great staff. “I’ve had some of the best conversations I’ve had in Janzow because of the food,” said Price. She added that students should not be afraid to talk to the staff.

“The staff is really relatable and they actually like talking to you,” Price said.

Students can provide feedback on the dining hall by texting Chartwells at (402) 761-1212 or by emailing Patrick.OBrien3@compass-usa.com.