By VERONICA SANSUR
This semester Dining Services has surprised students with new eating choices. The new Star Ginger and Mindful, located in Morsani Hall, replaced Asian Bistro and Jazzman’s. Star Ginger is an Asian concept that incorporates Vietnamese and Thai food flavors while also touching on popular options from China, India and Korea. Students can choose between the Asian grill and Mindful.
Asian grill offers dishes such as the Thai BBQ Chicken or Lemongrass Tofu, with sides like potstickers, egg rolls or fresh vegetables.
There are also bánh mì sandwiches, with thai BBQ chicken or tofu with veggies. Also, students can enjoy noodle bowls, like the Vietnamese pho with tofu and veggies or the spicy Thai pho with beef. There is also the hot wok that includes orange chicken, Thai chicken curry and the special of the day.
Although many students enjoy having a vegan-friendly option, some are not happy with the decision of removing the old restaurants, especially Jazzman’s. Although Greig Roberts, a sophomore marine science major said that he is comfortable with the new changes.
“Star Ginger, it is nice,” Roberts said. “Although I miss Jazzman’s, I feel like the quality of food is better. I just got the orange chicken and it was pretty good.”
Other students expressed sadness after losing the beloved bakery options from Jazzman’s.
“I kind of miss Jazzman’s because of their teas and some of the sweets they had like the cookies and muffins,” Deandra Randall, a senior allied health physical therapy major, said.
Samantha Marcado, a senior biology major, said she does not care about the removal of Jazzman’s, as students still have good coffee and tea from Starbucks. Marcado also said that workers could be more careful while preparing the food.
“I like the new dining choices,” Marcado said. “The Star Ginger place is good, but I just got the chicken pho and the vegetables were a little bit raw.”
At Mindful, students can choose their own sandwich fillings, like vegetables, cheese, sauces and even the type of bread or wrap. Mindful also serves salads and soups. Students can choose any of these as a Meal Exchange. Moreover, there are different type of sweets, like lemon and chocolate cakes and oatmeal cookies. Mindful focuses on “transparency” with ingredients, food, portion sizes and making well thought-out choices in regards to food options to where it becomes second nature.
Rob Roberson, a junior cybersecurity major, said that he liked that the place was clean and he did not have to wait a long time. “
This tastes good; I commonly do not eat spinach wraps but this is awesome,” Roberson said. “I prefer Mindful over the old places because it is healthier. I saw that they make sandwiches and then I said: ‘Man, is this like Subway?’ So, I decided to give it a chance.”
