Your Comments:

Mr. Annis-  I had an extremely disheartening experience in the Couch Cafeteria earlier today. I decided the best time to eat was between my morning English class and my 11:30 lab. I arrived in the cafeteria five minutes before 11:00, knowing lunch would just be starting so I might have to wait a few minutes for all of the lines to be ready. I knew this would be fine, because I didn't need to leave until 11:20. According to the Couch Restaurants menu in Kitchen Comments, which you write, breakfast runs from 7:00-10:59, with lunch beginning at 11:00 and running until 2:00. Also in the menu which you published, it states that Shanghai Stir Fry will be operating for Tuesday lunch, as opposed to the breakfast all day sometimes served there. To sum up my concern, I waited until 11:20 and ended up not getting to eat (my entire meal consisted of two potstickers, which I had to dig out with a fork, and fried okra).

    This all disturbs and offends me for several reasons. First off, I know that they quit serving breakfast at 10:30 at Shanghai Stir Fry, because I have seen people get denied omelettes or waffles due to their request coming after 10:30. Surely it takes no more than thirty minutes to clean up breakfast and prepare lunch, and especially not nearly an hour. Yet, I do not for a second believe that this disappointing incident happened due to a shortage of workers, as there are often at least one or two workers at Casa del Sol watching people walk through the line. This is also true of other restaurants, where no service is necessary. Secondly, this greatly offends me due to the fact that that is mine and my parents' money lost. College costs more and more each year, and it is highly likely that President Boren will request a tuition hike again this year. I am not saying this is right or wrong, but it is a fact of college life. The $6.00 to $7.50 that that meal costs me, whichever figure you choose to utilize works, is money I could have spent on textbooks, personal goods, my outrageously overpriced dormitory, or classes. Yet, I spent that significant amount of money on a few pieces of fried okra and potstickers. Had I been to a traditional public restaurant, I promise you I would never eat there again, which is not an option for me in this situation. This is outrageous and unaccpetable. Finally, this incident disturbs me because the University of Oklahoma prides itself on excellence. Since the Boren revival of the University began, this excellence has permeated every facet of the University, from the building of state-of-the-art Journalism and Weather centers, ridiculously excellent numbers of National Merit Scholars enrolling, or even the addition of a sidewalk on South Greek, just for the safety of students. This tradition of excellence is why my colleagues and I chose the University of Oklahoma, because the pride Sooners display is evident most everywhere one can see. Thus, if the food service can not live up to this standard, the whole University is dragged down as well.

    Surely, Mr. Annis this was just a freak accident. Yet, I have barely had time to eat before, as this restaurant often opens late. I do not blame the gentlemen working there for this incident, because I don't know why this happened and they both have always treated their customers with the greatest of respect. This is why I am addressing you, and not them. I do not know the root of the problem, but you have the power to find out. I hope you do investigate this matter and encourage your employees to strive for the excellence that the University of Oklahoma demands, and I think you do, because I ususally have a very positive experience dining on campus. Sir, I hope you do not think I am overreacting to what could be considered a fairly minor problem, or just a lapse in a usually efficient machine. I am willing to accept that I lost that meal and will go hungry today if the quality of service improves in the campus eateries: employees must be held accountable. If you agree to investigate this situation, I will agree to continue to help you help students. I have written to Kitchen Comments before and have been published, which I hope helps you perform your job. I sincerely hope you view my letter as an opportunity for improvement and not an insult, because although I am extremely angry and frustrated, I would rather see this situation resolved than insult you. Please look in to this situation and please resolve it, because I do not want this to ever, ever happen again.  Thanks, John W. Jennings

John,  I can tell that this really bothers you and I do appreciate you bringing it to my attention.  I really can’t say for sure what happened that morning.  We do stop serving breakfast on that line at 10:30 so we can get it converted to the lunch Stir-Fry menu, usually that is enough time to get it done.  I never think it is acceptable for a customer to leave the building feeling like they were cheated.  We have a 100% Customer Satisfaction Guarantee and we mean it.  I asked my Administrative Assistant to look up your account and we put a meal back on your card.  Beyond that I would like to apologize to you by sending you a coupon for a free meal at one of our Union operations, you will receive that in campus mail very soon.

We don’t just want to be good, we want to be great.  I know we have a ways to go to accomplish that goal.  I believe we have one of the better Food Services in the country but there are still times that we mess up and we need to hear about it.  We also need to hear about what you like and don’t like.  Do you like the new Smokehouse menu?  How about the changes in Casa del Sol?  Are we making the right changes?  You’ll have a chance to let us know when we do our Customer Satisfaction Surveys starting Oct. 28, 2006.  We will be doing surveys at Cate, Couch, and the Union.  They take about 10 minutes to fill out.  You’ll get a bag of M&M’s when you turn the surveys in AND be able to sign up for some great prizes like DVD players and Ipods.

Finally, being a little flexible in life is a good thing John.  I understand that you were looking forward to the Stir Fry but when time began running out maybe you could have gone to another line, that way you would have had a chance to eat before you had to run, that way the meal would not have been wasted.

Hi Dave, I'm a junior, and though I live in Traditions, I spend quite a bit of time on campus.  Thus I've noticed some cool changes you made over the summer.  First off, Thank you so much for getting rid of the MTVU TVs in Cate!  That improved the atmosphere in Cate enormously.  Also, the new tables, chairs, and booths are quite nice.  The chairs are more comfortable than the previous design, since there is no longer a horizontal bar jabbing me in the lower back.  Even the new trash cans are prettier. The new couches that I noticed today are also pretty, and look comfy... But it seems that there are about half as many couches now?  During busy lunch times there are almost no free places to sit.  And there is no longer a couch in my favorite spot by the ficus trees.  :(   My friend would also like to ask: "Why are there disposable dishes on Sundays in the Caf?  It seems wasteful." Finally, the pizza and pasta in the Caf gets 4.5 hearts out of 5 for being tasty and fresh.

We have some more furniture coming for the lounge.  Somehow the manufacturer didn’t get the fabric for the chairs in time.  The couches showed up but no chairs, that was a surprise.  We’re told the lounge chairs will be here by the end of October.

I hope we still aren’t using disposable plates on Sundays.  We did at the beginning of the semester for a couple of reasons but I was under the impression that everything was fixed, the dish room was staffed, and we could get back to normal.  I’ll ask about it again.

I’m glad you like the other changes at Cate; I think the new booths and tables look very nice.  It was a long time coming, I’m glad we were able to get them this year. 

Hello there I'm having serious issues with the tomatoes at Couch. Every tomato I have is either flesh colored or has a bad taste to it. It's hard for me to tell whether the tomatoes are under-ripe, over-ripe or just some variety from some yet to be named continent. Something is amiss. I've had the tomatoes in burgers, salads, etc, and they all taste poorly. They are definitely not garden fresh. They make me gag. Literally. I usually soak my tomatoes in condiments to hide the bad taste. I've never been sick from them, they just taste bad. Are there no local farmers that could provide tomatoes? Why are they so pasty and anemic looking. As always thank you for providing so many vegan/vegetarian options. It makes us veggie killers ever so pleased. I have a request. I think that celery sticks should be on the salad bar daily. They aren't just empty calories you know. They have a lot of nutrients and are delicious with peanut butter! Please be more consistent with the celery!! Thanks! - Veggiesaurus Rex

Tomatoes right now are pretty bad everywhere.  The market reports that we are getting tell us it will be 6 to 8 weeks before tomatoes start to improve.  Many of the fast food franchises are dropping tomatoes all together until they improve.  This is something that happens every once and awhile when there is too much rain in California.

Oh dave...I am a big fan of wraps at Cate...but after my experience today, I'm not sure when I'll go back. I am a vegetarian, so of course I get a wrap full of veggies and some cheese. To my BIG surprise, as I was chewing this veggie yumminess, I bit into a piece of PLASTIC!!! Where did this plastic come from? I don't know. It wasn't plastic like from a bag...this is THICK plastic..more like the plastic packaging you would find cheese in at a store...really thick!! Dave what if I swallowed this and choked or got sick?? This is a big deal and really gross!! I still have the piece of plastic and I'll keep it til 6:00 tonight (if you want to see it!) Also, I would like to see some of the items from the old c-store in xcetra...like the fresh fruit and the uncle bens rice bowls (that don't have meat)...I miss that stuff!  Thanks Dave...I love you even though there was plastic in my sandwhich!

Look on the bright side, the plastic probably tasted better than the tomatoes in the earlier comment!  Seriously, I apologize for the plastic.  If this ever happens to anyone in the future, please take the object to the restaurant manager.   I will try to see if I can track down the source.  My guess is it was the corner of the bag that the lettuce comes in.  We buy the lettuce already shredded and ready to use.  I think a piece of that plastic found its way into the lettuce and it would be very hard to see it once it was there.

We have fresh fruit in Xcetera, I was just commenting the other day to the Xcetera staff how well they are doing keeping it stocked and fresh.  The Uncle Ben’s rice bowls come and go, we have to special order these and we can’t seem to keep them in stock.  I’ll mention that we need more of the veggie varieties the next time we order.

Hello! :)  I have eaten an all organic diet for over 10 years now. Knowing I had to have a meal plan, I was prepared to abandon this diet as I came to OU. Unfortunately, it has been a digestively painful experience, and I miss my organic foods dreadfully! I realize that Xcetera has an (amazing and beloved) organic foods aisle, and there is organic coffee in Crossroads, and I thank you (SO MUCH!) for that! :) But I am exhausting my meal points in Xcetera living off the organic pb and J. And man cannot live off off snacks and PB and J alone! :) Ive seen the Organic granola in Couch (which I do not eat), but could you possibly bring in some other organic foods, like vegetables, and MILK!! Or Yogurt? Organic dairy is vital! If not, as organic meals do not exist in Couch, could Xcetera accept meal points for those with organic diets? My points are almost gone...gah! May I may make one more request for Xcetera? My organic PB and J is missing Rudys Organic honey sweet Wheat bread, the greatest bread ever conceived (or baked) by man(!), and jelly of a nature other then grape (Cascadian farm Apricot, strawberry, etc)! Just a thought for Xcetera, as they have no organic bread... Please forgive the length of my request! I really love and appreciate all the work you do, and thank you very much! Thanks for giving students a voice in their meal plans!!!

I would be happy to work with you on converting some of your meals to more points if that would help.  I realize that is sort of a short term solution but it might be good for you if you would like this option.  In the long term we do need to increase our offerings of organic foods.  I think Couch would be the best place to try to expand our organic foods.

I will see if Susan and Chris in Xcetera can find a few of the organic foods you suggested.  Where do you find the Rudy’s Organic Wheat bread?

Dave, It's my forth year here at OU and that wouldn't be the case if OU Food Services weren't the way they are. I love the selection, quality, and student input in the whole process. Kitchen Comments might just be my favorite weekly reading. But the best part is the employees. A listing of everyone who's been great over my years here would take up an entire issue of kitchen comments, but you do have great employees. OK, I'll admit a lot of them are my friends, but still, they're great. Especially the staff at Crossroads and Roscoes, but everywhere else in Cate and the places I frequent like the bookmark has awesome staff too. Not to mention the Director, he's great too. ;)-Karen

Thanks, we have a lot of good people who really do want to do a good job for you.

Cheers Dave, how are things?  Lets get down to business.  I have been noticing that at the Shanghai Stir Fry there is a severe lack of Mongolian Sauce.  Now, I don't know about you, but this is a dilemma.  That Mongolian ambrosia kept me coming back for more and more of that delicious wok-fried goodness.  Please bring it back.  I also went to the Sooner Smokehouse and I saw that the menu was taken down.  The wonderful girl who is always working there said that they would no longer be doing the different menu items each day.  This is disappointing.  I always looked forward to being surprised with a turkey leg or ribs.  On a final--and supremely drastic note.  After I ordered a burger at the Smokehouse I asked for the potato wedges.  They were not being served.  WHAT!!!  You can't just take away my potatoes like that Dave.  Those things were amazing.  I hope they find their way back to the menu soon.  Thanks. Wes

As I mentioned earlier we have revamped the Sooner Smokehouse menu a little.  We wanted to offer the brisket, ribs, hot links, and rotisserie chicken all the time.  We will still have some occasional specials.  Of course burgers are still there as well as “Grille to Orderâ€? and the veggies.  Our basic potato is the French fry we have been serving but again, you will see the roasted potatoes and even some good onion rings pop up on the menu more often.

Burger King is ticking me off.. Throughout last year Burger King offered breakfast in the early morning hours of 1 a.m. to  4 a.m. and I was a regular visitor of Burger King. Although due to  reasons i am not aware of, Burger King has decided to not offer breakfast services at that time anymore. I would like to say that this has been a major disappointment for me and my friends. I do not understand why Burger King has been changing their hours and the services that they offer.. If they are going to be open that late, they might as well serve breakfast anyways, while we are at it, why dont they just serve it all day and make our lives even better.  I bet that the revenue that is incurred by serving breakfast in the early morning hours outweighs the revenue they receive just by selling regular menu items. They served breakfast last year from 1-4 a.m., can we not go back to the good ole days?? "If it is not broken dont fix it"  It is now 2:05a.m. and i am feeling a bacon/egg/cheese biscuit, but I can not get one due to Burger King! Thanks a lot, A CONCERNED UPPERCLASS RESIDENT.

I’ll ask why they changed but it may be for the same reason we changed the hours and services of some of our operations.  Last year Wendy’s in the Union was open until 10 pm and Quiznos was open until 7 pm.  This year they close earlier.  Why? It was mainly because there wasn’t enough business to keep everyone busy and profitable.   I would guess it is the same for Burger King.  They probably had very few requests for the breakfast items and they wanted to simplify the night shift a little.  I can’t blame them for that.

Congratulations to Josh Colts, our S’Mores Trivia contest winner at Xcetera.  Josh won a S’mores pack and free refills on fountain drinks.