DUSDAC assesses plan for adding new MOPs

Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee discussed plans to look for new Merchants-on-Points vendors at its meeting Monday night.

The meeting—which was split into off-campus and on-campus vendor committees—focused on expansion and developing questions that should be addressed before restaurants officially join the program. Restaurants discussed by the off-campus committee included a pizzeria, a bakery and several Latin American restaurants.

“Establishing that first point of contact will be great because we can start getting vendors in relatively soon,” said sophomore Julia Medine, who led the off-campus vendors committee.

Potential MOP restaurants that the committee members will reach out to over the coming weeks include Luna Rotisserie and Empanadas, Pizza Mia, Guglhupf Bakery and Patisserie, Mexican restaurant Don Marcelo’s and Epa Chamo—a Caribbean and Venezuelan restaurant.

Points that DUSDAC plans to discuss with interested restaurants include changes in pricing under the program, the range of menu items the restaurant will plan to offer to Duke students and delivery logistics.

DUSDAC also talked about how to communicate with MOPs to deal with student complaints and feedback that they receive before the official review process that occurs at the end of the academic year.

“We’ve had some awkward student complaints that are very serious,” Medine noted.

Common complaints include long wait times for delivery from Enzo’s Pizza, TGI Friday’s and MediTerra. In addition, some students expressed dissatisfaction with the food truck schedule, which currently slots Gussy’s Greek food truck and Belgian Waffle Crafters—two of the most popular trucks—on Thursday instead of spreading them out to different days of the week.

The committee is also working to increase student feedback. Medine said that she wants DUSDAC to have access to MOP comment cards, which it would combine in a monthly or bimonthly summary and distribute to vendors.

In other business:

Director of Duke Dining Robert Coffey said that breakfast equivalency for freshmen would likely move from Penn Pavilion to the Skillet in West Union once construction is completed.