Just weeks after renovations finished on the Faculty Commons, the Oak Room is set to play catch-up.
Despite a continued student push for an outside vendor to take control of the Oak Room, Dining Services has announced plans for its own major overhaul of the upscale campus eatery. Officials hope the changes, which include a revamped menu and physical renovations, will satisfy long-standing student dissatisfaction with the Oak Room and will quell calls for privatization.
"When you hear students talk about the Oak Room, the most common complaint is that the menu never changes," said Jim Wulforst, director of dining services. "It's our goal to be trying new things all the time."
Wulforst said that the Oak Room is planning to launch new menus this week featuring up to three specials each day while keeping the most popular meals. Over spring break, the eatery will get new furniture and carpeting, and once students leave in May more sweeping construction will begin on the ceiling, lighting, and entrance as well as a new wine bar. Administrators are also considering extending the restaurant's hours.
The Oak Room is the latest on-campus eatery to undergo changes. Along with the renovation of the Faculty Commons, the last two years have seen the opening of four new outside vendors on campus-the Armadillo Grill, McDonald's, The Loop and the Breyers ice cream kiosk. But the Oak Room has remained under the control of Dining Services.
Discussion of bringing an outside vendor to the Oak Room intensified last spring when Jason Freedman, then a Duke Student Government legislator, sponsored a referendum on the issue. The ballot question-which asked whether Dining Services should pursue a replacement-received hugely positive support. Freedman now chairs the Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee, which is leading the push for an outside vendor and is using the referendum as a mandate.
"I think it has been proved throughout campus that when you privatize a vendor, you end up with people who are more willing to work hard for customers and improve food quality and menu options," said Freedman, a junior. "If you have a place like Papa's Grill, students will be much more likely to eat there."
Last June, Wulforst announced the pending privatization of the Oak Room, but reconsidered after appeals from alumni and faculty about the potential loss of the restaurant's 55-year tradition as a University-run, sit-down restaurant with a unique Duke flavor.
In addition, Wulforst said, all of the restaurateurs who mentioned interest asked for expensive renovations. "The grandiose plans proposed by the different vendors had costs that were astronomical," he said.
Instead, the restaurant made slight changes last semester to its menu and began plans for renovation. But competing in an ever-crowded market for on-campus eateries, the Oak Room's revenue declined about 8 percent last semester, Wulforst said.
At least one local vendor remains interested. "We are very interested in coming to Duke," said Angelica Papanikas, owner of Papa's Grill, located on Hillandale Road.
Although Wulforst said he is open to discussion on the subject, he also said that it remains unlikely at this point.
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