Quiz night at the Armadillo Grill had a new twist Thursday with the addition of a new menu, made up of fried foods and other types of bar food, to accompany its existing services.
"Everything we do is fresh; we make our food everyday but these foods will come in frozen," said Ben Pace, co-manager for the Armadillo Grill. "We want to protect our image of fresh food upstairs but we also want to serve products that there's a demand for. It's a win-win situation."
The recently-added items on the menu--chicken tenders with the option of various sauces, fried jalapeño poppers stuffed with cream cheese, Monterey jack fried cheese sticks, french fries, queso fries and wings--are a mix of different brands which include Tyson and McCain food products.
"When people go to watch games [at the Armadillo Grill], the mind frame is toward an appetizer menu," Pace said. "This menu should add to the sports bar image; it will be a good thing for us and for the students. We're happy to provide an alternative to the menu upstairs."
Pace welcomes any suggestions for changes to the menu and hopes to add a few more items during the semester. Just as the bar represents a separate form of profit for the Armadillo Grill, the menu is independent of the type of food provided by the restaurant above the bar.
Jim Wulforst, director of dining services, said he encouraged Pace and his partner, Creed Spriggs, to research other restaurants and see what was commonly successful.
Pace said the idea for a bar menu was suggested some time ago. Wulforst had hoped to have the menu ready for the opening of the school year but the equipment used to make these foods--a self-contained fryer unit--did not arrive until recently.
"This new menu should add to the atmosphere and enhance the space," Wulforst said. "Our goal is to make this a destination for food, this is not a place where 50 percent of the business comes from the alcohol we serve since that is not our primary product."
Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs, was very enthusiastic about the improvement to the restaurant. "Any change that appeals to students and makes hanging out in [the Bryan Center] and the 'Dillo fun is great."
Wulforst explained that after he, Pace and Spriggs decided to implement these changes, they notified the Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee. DUSDAC, which provides student feedback to Duke restaurants, will help the eatery by assessing student reactions to the new menu and will assign one person from the committee to anonymously monitor the restaurant.
So far, students have responded very positively to the new menu. "The Armadillo Grill has always done a good job catering to students' needs and I think this change will be welcomed by the students," said sophomore Amar Shah.
There are two other Armadillo Grill locations in North Carolina and Pace hopes to bring this new menu to the other locations, although that plan is contingent on the level of success experienced by Duke's venue.
"Some people forget about us until we're way into the semester," Pace said. "Hopefully this menu will remind people that we're doing what we've always done and we have more options now."
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