A buzz of excitement among DePauw students began after The Den, located in the basement of Longden Hall, underwent changes to their menu last week.
These changes include an assortment of "wings and things," the addition of hamburger options and more variety in the "stack," the create-your-own sandwich area. Most of the changes made came from comment cards by students.
Executive Chef Jordan Hall, who oversees many of the menu changes at DePauw, has received nothing but positive feedback about the changes.
"I think it's been a positive change," Hall said. "It seems to be that it's a positive outlook on what we're doing and the requests that we try to fulfill."
According to The Den's night supervisor, Laura Dobson, the changes were made in an effort to accommodate students after receiving several suggestions from comment cards.
"The response cards we put out for students have brought out most of the changes," Dobson said. "It was a general decision made through the entire Den staff, including Executive Chef Jordan Hall and General Manager Jason Rose."
Dobson claims that the response cards were the driving force behind the changes, but not every opinion was taken into consideration.
"We can't meet all of the [students'] needs," Dobson said. "But we're trying to get as close as we can to having options out there. You can mix and match and get totally what you want. Especially halfway through the year you're getting bored with what's available."
Regardless of the options that were not added to the menu, Hall has faith in Bon Appétit and believes strongly that the company is doing everything in its power to make its food the best tasting and the best in terms of variety.
"If you go to another restaurant or you go somewhere and you try their fish, we want our fish to be better," Hall said. "And I am very confident in saying that our food is better."
Bon Appétit's management team wanted to offer more options than what was being served at local restaurants.
First-year Justin Barnes is one of several students who has been pleasantly surprised with the new changes in the menu.
"I, for one, love the changes made to the menu," Barnes said. "I think it's a much needed rejuvenation."
Although most students are raving about the new changes, some are not excited about the heightened prices. Dobson believes that the higher prices are due to the fact that this is Bon Appetit's first year at DePauw, and she thinks that the health benefits of the new food service outweigh the high prices.
"Most [prices] have stayed the same, but with the company just starting out this year they've had to fluctuate and be cost effective," Dobson said. "Nutrition has something to do with the prices because we're trying to get the best quality we can get out there for students. Students can't eat junk so we tried to get the best products we could."
First-year Luke Hartline believes that, while the changes are welcomed, the prices are still unreasonable.
"I like the changes because I feel like it allows students to choose what they want and gives students more options," Harline said. "The items are really good, however they are way overpriced."
First-year Ulyana Sinkovitch disagrees with Hartline, but believes that more variety could be added.
"The items served come at a reasonable cost for their quality," Sinkovitch said. "I do like the changes made to The Den, although I feel like there can be more additions made. I still feel like The Hub has more variety than The Den."
The addition of the new menu items and recent staff absences due to the unusual weather this winter have caused some backup in The Den, leading to student frustration. Hall, however, is proud of The Den staff for cooperating with the changes and keeping up with the demand.
"[Students] only have a certain amount of time that [they] can get over here to eat, so we experience a little rush," Hall said.
According to Hall, in addition to changes in The Den, other ideas for changes in DePauw's food service have been adding more variety to the "Grab 'n' Go" section and pizza delivery. A sit down restaurant in the upper deck of the Hub will also open in March and serve students one day a week.
So far, though, students say The Den's "wings and things" is their favorite addition.