Say goodbye to food trucks on West Campus.
At its Thursday meeting, the Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee discussed how the food trucks in the Wellness Center lot have lately been operating at a loss.
Currently, six food trucks operate on two evening shifts, one on Swift Avenue from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and one near the Wellness Center from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. The committee decided to continue the Swift Avenue food trucks and discontinue the Wellness Center shifts.
"We’re being pulled at both ends and in this situation, unfortunately, it wasn’t working out for the food trucks and this hopefully will give the opportunity to have us find a situation that works out for both parties,” said Aris Marton, assistant director of retail operations for Duke Dining services
Marton said that Duke Dining is concerned with the needs of operators as well as students.
“Ultimately we want to do what’s best for everyone involved,” Marton said. “We want to make sure that the students are satisfied with their needs on campus, but we also have to make sure that our operators…are also having a viable business."
The food truck vendors can now swipe or tap their DukeCards, so students will not have to give their card numbers when purchasing food from the trucks. These readers are also equipped to recognize the new Apple Wallet tap feature for DukeCards.
In other business
The committee also discussed renovations to Café Edens with operations manager Chris Holloway and with architect Ted Van Dyk, Trinity ’83. Van Dyke previously designed Red Mango, Saźon and Beyu Blue.
Plans include doubling the seating capacity by turning the back patio into a enclosed space walled by glass. Renovation plans also include turning bathrooms into kitchen space and adding separate fryers for vegetarian and gluten free food.
Currently, Café Edens can only seat 58 people, but with more beds being added to the area when the Hollows opens, the committee agreed that seating should double. Expanding kitchen space may also make it feasible for Café Edens to potentially offer its breakfast menu for 24 hours.
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