Meal plan changes are coming fall 2020 to help accommodate dining needs for students on meal plans; dining hall remodels and other additions will begin fall 2020 and 2021.
Upcoming enhancements at Commons and Harris dining halls include expanded seating, happy hour, table-side service and steak and shrimp service. Also, the LBJ Lair, Den and Jones Dining Hall are planned to have their own additions and enhancements.
Four new meal plans will be available for students to choose: bronze, silver, gold and platinum. With the new meal plan, bronze options include meal equivalency usage up to three times a week unlike before at once a week and silver options will include meal equivalency usage up to five times a week instead of twice a week. Meal equivalencies for gold options can still be used seven times a week, but are no longer limited to one-per-day.
Meal equivalency value will change from six dollars to seven while the maroon meal plan will be renamed to platinum in order to exemplify its highest meal plan selection.
Chartwells Director of Marketing and Guest Services Steven Granados said these alterations were made after analyzing feedback from students.
“Now that we went through an entire semester hearing the students and hearing the (administration), we had the opportunity to improve the meal plan and make it more easy to use,” Granados said.
Jaden Crumpton, psychology freshman, believes the meal plan change will benefit students, especially those who are unable to select a higher meal plan such as gold.
“Being able to use more of your meal equivalencies with a less expensive meal plan like bronze or silver is beneficial for myself and other students because we’re getting more out of the meal plan,” Crumpton said.
Enhancements at Commons and Harris dining halls have started with happy hour 5-7 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays with table-side service. Steak and shrimp night occurs twice a month, being the first Tuesday at Harris and third Friday at Commons.
Construction for new additions on campus have already begun with Starbucks inside Alkek, scheduled to conclude summer 2020. Chartwells Manager-In-Training Deverick Lewis-Houston said fall 2020 brings the Den enhancements with a new Einstein Bros. Bagel and a redesigned atmosphere.
“The Den enhancements and renovations will start on the second floor; the first floor will still be open to students,” Lewis-Houston said. “The second phase comes after the completion of the first floor, meaning they’ll redo the first floors entire atmosphere.”
The Lair enhancements and reconstruction are planned to start April 2020 and be completed August 2020, with Paws Market switching to a new ramen noodle bar. The Lair’s additions include a full salad bar and a global kitchen that has a rotating menu.
Lewis-Houston believes these upgrades will be popular among students, faculty and staff on campus.
“The excitement that’s building on our end is the ramen bar and the Lair innovation, those two are going to be the most popular in our opinion since Texas State is the first university to have its own ramen making machine on campus,” Lewis-Houston said. “This location brings in Mediterranean, Soul and Indian food.”
Fall 2021 brings in a new retail concept at the Den, meaning new food options for students, faculty and staff. Other alterations include expanded seating and offerings at Commons and Harris dining halls and a new Google Lounge in Jones by fall 2021.
Granados said all enhancements and additions are due to feedback from students.
“We’re trying to figure out different ways on how we can enhance the dining experience as a whole—retail and resident dining,” Granados said.
Students, faculty and staff can visit the Texas State dining website to keep up with the latest information on future plans, blogs, stories and more.