Plans readied to improve dining

With an increasing number of students on campus and longer lines on the horizon, food service facilities on campus and on the Hill are preparing to expand and upgrade their eateries.

Angela Marciano, the director of UCLA Housing and Hospitality Services organizational planning, performance, and development, said the campus plans to build a new residential restaurant seating 600 people, which is the size of Covel Commons.

The new restaurant would primarily incorporate platform cooking areas, which are self-contained spots providing “just-in-time” cooking where the food is prepared in front of guests fresh, said Connie Foster, the director of Dining Services on the Hill.

Foster said the new restaurant would also showcase different themes such as Latin American cooking and a granary.

Marciano said the restaurant will accompany the construction of a 2,500-bed residential hall which is being built in order to accommodate the student-housing master plan.

“The campus is unable to meet the master-plan goals of providing four years of guaranteed housing to new entering first-year students and two years to transfer students with existing housing inventory,” Marciano said. She added that the new facility would be built in the northwest end of the campus and is slated for completion by 2012.

Though the new facilities won’t be built for years, Foster said the current residential restaurants will be adding some new items, such as organic foods and paninis.

“We always want to provide quality food and offer flexibility in our dining program and facilities,” Foster said.

Restaurants managed by the Associated Students UCLA will also be expanding and remodeling in the next few years.

Cindy Bolton, the director of ASUCLA Restaurants, said the Cooperage in Ackerman Union has been under extensive construction in order to accommodate more students.

“Currently we are working on remodeling the Taco Bell and increasing the number of production lines from one to three. Next to the new Taco Bell we are also building a new mini coffee shop called Bruin Buzz,” Bolton said. She added that both new concepts will allow for greater flow and capacity.

Bolton said she expects the larger Taco Bell and Bruin Buzz to be open this fall.

The next phase of construction at the Cooperage will occur either next school year or the following summer and involves remodeling the entire dining area to create a “sense of daylight,” Bolton said.

“The Cooperage will become an open facility with entertainment and recreation and the ability to accommodate students even after the food service restaurants close,” she said.

This coming fall will also see the addition of a small coffee bar at the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Center that will serve light lunches, coffee drinks, and snack foods.

“This will accommodate more customers in the northern part of campus,” Bolton said.

A future facility in the works from ASUCLA is the demolition of the Bombshelter and the construction of a South Campus student center as its replacement.

“I anticipate this new center will consist of five food facilities, increased seating capacity, flexible meeting space and a small shop. It would create more of a central spot for students and faculty in the south campus,” Bolton said.

Bolton added that there is no timeline for the South Campus project, but she estimates its completion to be in three to five years.

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