New Cafeteria: Same Food, Cramped Design

I returned to the University of Tampa this semester to find a redesigned cafeteria. Instead of waiting for a specific day for steak, you can get steak over at the Deluxe Grill. Students can have pasta at the PastAmore station instead of walking over to Pandini’s. The cafeteria also has new wooden chairs and tables as well as new utensils and curvy plates. Overall, it was nice and pretty, but the amount of space students have to walk around was overlooked in the renovation process.

For the past few semesters, UT has slowly increased the number of students it accepts. According to the University Profile page on the UT website, the university is up to 6,900 students. The influx of students calls for more space. If anything, the new cafeteria is more crowded than before. These new chairs and tables are occupying more space than last semester. The dimensions of the cafeteria have not changed, so by adding more chairs and tables, there is less space to move around.

The space issue is most notable in the strip of walking space between the International and Deluxe Grill. It only takes two or three friends standing together to block someone from getting by. That is, if there’s not a line at any of the stations. At peak meal hours, these lines can get pretty crowded. A few days ago, I thought I was in line for pizza, only to realize the lines for the pizza and pasta stations had melded together into one big confusing mess. Just like the tables and chairs, there are more stations. However, these stations are packed tightly together so waiting in a line can be confusing. To make matters worse, in the patch of walking space in front of the stations, there are bulky cylindrical pillars blocking the path. With the triple threat of the lines, the pillars, and other students trying to get by as well, you would have better luck zig-zagging your way through the seating areas in order to get from station to station.

As someone who’s eaten at the cafeteria for four semesters, I can say that the food hasn’t changed. Some items can be fairly tasty and dependable while others, well, not so much. I in no way blame the cooks in the cafeteria. When cooking for nearly 7,000 students, you don’t have the time to make sure every dish tastes spectacular. All I’m saying is that when you take away the new design, it’s still the same cafeteria I’ve eaten at since freshman year, but with less space.

There are other eating options on campus, but those can be equally busy. Have fun waiting in line for that dinner burrito at Salsa Rico or a late night Blizzard at Dairy Queen. If you’re tired of lines, you may want to try some alternative meal options.

Class schedule permitting, try to eat when the cafeteria is not so crowded. It may seem odd going to the cafeteria for lunch right before they switch over to dinner or grabbing a quesadilla at Salsa Rico’s at 10 p.m., but you won’t have to wait long and there will be less people to squeeze past.

If you have a stove, oven, or just a microwave in your dorm, you can try to prepare your own food. You can make it a group activity and go grocery shopping with friends to pick out ingredients. Afterward, you can help each other cook anything from a three-course meal to a giant pot of ramen.

If none of your friends are good cooks or you don’t feel like cooking, you and your friends could save up some money to go out and eat. If you and your friends don’t feel like going out, you can all pitch in a few dollars and order a pizza or some Chinese food.

Those are just alternatives for when you want to try something new or you absolutely cannot stand how busy the cafeteria can be. I am not saying you should get rid of your meal plan or that the cafeteria is the worst part of UT. The cafeteria is more crowded than before, so creating more space should have been the priority. Once that issue is covered, then they should have focused on making the cafeteria prettier and adding more stations. The cafeteria’s new features are a step in the right direction for making UT a better place, but students would enjoy eating there a lot more if it was not so cramped.

Jake Koniszewski can be reached at john.koniszewski@spartans.ut.edu