With another year of construction left on the West Union and upcoming construction on Marketplace, dining options on campus remain in flux at the end of the 2014-15 academic year.
Without many dining vendors on campus, Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee has been tasked with ensuring a variety of options for students through food trucks and the Merchants-on-Points program. Although food trucks remained consistent, this year saw an unusual amount of turnover among MOP vendors, with several potential new MOP options either falling through or being delayed, said DUSDAC co-chair Brian Taylor, a junior.
“Usually, we try to set the program a year ahead of time,” Taylor said. “This year, we tried to make some changes that didn’t quite pan out and then we spent a lot the year adding new [options].”
After the Pizzeria—commonly referred to as Cinelli’s—unexpectedly closed in September, DUSDAC faced the task of replacing its spot on the MOP program. Instead of opting to replace the Italian restaurant with a similar vendor, the committee decided to look into adding a delivery sushi option.
Vine Sushi and Thai was the initial frontrunner to fill this role, but after a change in management, the restaurant was no longer interested in joining the program. Sushi Love was eager to join the program in its place, however, and was met with student enthusiasm.
“Sushi Love was familiar with the process and prepared with a lot of the material they needed,” Taylor said. “We wanted a sushi vendor, but it didn’t work out. Sushi Love filled that gap.”
Despite some initial difficulties with delivery delays, Sushi Love remains one of the most popular MOP options, according to a student survey conducted by DUSDAC.
“I think [adding Sushi Love] was a big win for us,” said DUSDAC co-chair Greg Lahood, a senior. “It’s always exciting to be able to make a decision that you know people are going to be happy with.”
DUSDAC was also tasked with filling a second vacant MOP spot this Fall. Satisfaction, a local sports bar, was initially selected to fill this spot in November, but eventually decided not to join the program, Taylor said, leaving an MOP spot still unfilled. The eatery had previously been a member of the MOP program in the 1990s, but left the program in 2007.
Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin Robbins were then unanimously selected to join the MOP program and fill the spot left open by Satisfaction. Despite its eagerness to join, however, Dunkin’ Donuts faced setbacks in contract negotiations and was unable to begin delivery in the Spring.
“Sushi Love was the reason we hoped we could push Dunkin’ through,” Taylor said. “We were hoping we could accelerate this process, but it ended up taking the full two months.”
Dunkin’ Donuts is still slated to join the program and will likely be available for delivery when students return to campus next semester.
“Our rationale for trying to add them this Spring will still stand in the Fall,” Lahood said. “There seems to be a pretty healthy demand.”
In the Spring, DUSDAC also considered five food trucks to add as on-campus dining options—AmigoSan, Belgian Waffology, Bull City Street Food, Stuft and Taco Grande—and received student opinions on the trucks via an online survey after a free food truck rodeo subsidized by the Duke Student Government.
The two most popular candidates for addition to the progarm were Belgian Waffology and Bull City Street Food. Among current food trucks, favorites include Parlez-Vouz Crepe, Deli-icious and Gussy's Street Greek Food, according to the survey. The trucks with the lowest ratings were Mac-Ur-Roni, Captain Poncho's and Chirba Chirba.
Contract negotiations for next year’s MOPs and food trucks will occur this summer and next year’s lineup will be finalized in July.
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