Tired of eating at the same restaurants every day? A change may soon be on the way.
Monday night, the Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee and some executive members of Duke Student Government heard a proposal by Food Factory to establish a new venue on campus. DUSDAC is a student body that meets weekly to discuss issues related to food at the University. In the past few weeks, it has been investigating various new restaurants to bring onto campus.
Food Factory serves New York-style sandwiches and offers a rich variety of menu options, such as the Chicken Breast Foccacia Sandwich, the Grilled Greek Wrap, home-style potato salad and many dessert options-all of which meeting attendees had the opportunity to sample Monday.
The quality and variety of the food was met with positive reviews from DUSDAC and DSG members alike. DSG President Jordan Giordano, Executive Vice President Sunny Kantha, both seniors, and sophomore Mike Lefevre, vice president for athletics and campus services, joined DUSDAC's meeting to give their input in the review of the restaurant.
"Compared to the other places we've looked at... none of the other places had this kind of menu," junior Michael Kramarz said.
Food Factory is competing with several other eateries for the spot expected to open on campus. DUSDAC members, however, said the restaurant was the group's favorite.
"This is the place we thought was coolest," said DUSDAC Co-Chair Jason Taylor, a junior. "I would be thrilled to see them here."
Owned by Jimmy and Lisa Schmid, the restaurant opened in 2000 in Cary. It has been received well by the community there, voted the "Best Place for Lunch" by The Cary News reader's poll back-to-back in 2004 and 2005.
"We always tell people it's not brain surgery," Lisa Schmid said about Food Factory's philosophy. "We're not making a soufflé. It's good ingredients. It's fresh."
In other business:
DUSDAC members also discussed implementing a Merchant Quality Review program. The MQR program calls for monthly review of Merchants on Points eateries by committee members as well as interested students. In exchange for a free meal-reimbursed by Dining Services-reviewers would complete a detailed evaluation of the food, service and overall experience of a Merchants on Points restaurant.
"With this program, students will be able to eat off campus for free," Taylor said. "What Duke Dining wants to do is have it so that you get paid to eat a meal and then tell us what you think."
DUSDAC hopes to launch this evaluation program Spring semester, as a supplement to data collection from online surveys.
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