Your Comments:

I have three suggestions. First, if you have to close 1/3rd of couch every Sunday. Could you be consistent about which side is closed, or at least poast a sign outside of the door telling us which side is closed. Second, I got a burger at Sooner smokehouse, and fixed it up the way i like it, I sit down and take a bite of it, and almost gag, I had put pickles on my burger from the only pickle container in the area and they were sweet pickles. Do you know how horable that makes a burger taste. Could you please lable the pickles. Third, I know you don't want to hear this, but I would eat in Couch more if I cold go on the way to class, and keep my bag with my computer in it, but I will not leave it at the door, Could you please have lockers big enough for a backpack that we can put our stuff in and eather check out a key or bring our own lock to lock it.

We serve about 500 students at Couch on a Sunday night.  We don’t need to open all the restaurants for that number.  The folks at Couch decided to vary what lines were open on Sunday nights to give students more variety, something I agree with.  We will try to do a better job of identifying which restaurants are open.

I’m sorry about the pickles.  Hopefully you were able to take them off and save your burger. Different pickles for different people I guess.

We had lockers in Couch for many years but still had the same problems we do now.  I’m not sure what we will do.  I’m guessing we will go back to some kind of locker set up over the summer.

Dave - what's the deal with the online menu?  I work in the Union and specifically went to Couch today (Monday, 11/6) for Dot's deep dish lasagna or Chef Billy's chicken parmesan, but it wasn't there!!  What's the point of posting the menu if it's not correct?  I wound up wasting a lot of time to getting there, just to eat room tempature pasta.

I’m told we have the menu problem corrected.  I’m sorry the pasta wasn’t hot.  It is very hard to keep pasta warm on the line but we need to keep a closer eye on it.  Remember you can get your pasta baked, it is very good, very hot, and very fresh.  You sent me your e-mail anonymously, would you e-mail me directly so I can do something more directly to apologize for putting you out.

Wow. I cannot even begin to say how much better the "remodeled" taco mayo in Cate is. For the first time, it actually tastes somewhat like...food. I use to get disappointed when Crimson Crust would close early thinking, 'Well, I guess I'll just have to settle for some more grease 'n cheese burritos.' But no more! Whoever responsible for this, Thank you from the deepest pit of my stomach!

Hi Dave, I work in the National Weather Center.  In order to help you provide the best possible food services here, I offer the following suggestions based on early observations:

1.  Spell check the menus; espresso is spelled expresso on the coffee menu;

2.  Ensure quality training; an employee thought milk went in a double espresso;

3.  Check product quality; this morning the half-and-half was curdled with yellow junk around the seals. Also, and I realize you are probably stuck with the pricing structure, I will not buy the coffee as I feel it is overpriced.  The same size at 7-11, and just as good IMO, is $.85 compared with $1.25 downstairs.  I get 7-11 coffee on my way to work and the "convenience" does not justify the extra cost. I look forward to seeing some healthy food on the menu.  I enjoy the veggie burgers at Stephenson Center.  (Susan is great too.)  Best regards, Steve

Thanks for the suggestions.  We have Xcetera and Couch Express, why can’t we serve expresso?!?  Yea, I know, but I had to try.

Dear Dave, I thought you should know that I am boycotting Wendy's in the Union until further notice. I used to go there every day for breakfast, because it's the cheapest deal around. Well, I learned my lesson -- you get what you pay for! There have been mornings where I couldn't get breakfast at all, due to Wendy's shutting down breakfast production as early as 9:40 am, when it's supposed to end at 10:00 am. On the days when I'm able to get food, the orange juice is consistently frozen, and the customer service is awful. *********, the morning register girl, is frequently rude and apathetic towards customers.

I’ve shared your concerns with David, our Wendy’s Manager, he will look into the problems. In order to start serving burgers at 10am we do need to switch the grills over to burger production.  Maybe we should only advertise breakfast until 9:45am.

Dave, is it too much to ask that breakfast stay open until its customary time, that decent customer service be provided, and that I may drink my orange juice, rather than eat it with a spoon? Until these issues are resolved, I'm not giving Wendy's any more of my dwindling funds.

Same comment different form? 

I really like the Shaghai Stirfry but the last couple of times I have gone my dish has ended up either cold, undercooked, or incredibly burnt. Once the man walked off with my food cooking and never came back. It was my favorite place to eat but now I can't eat it because it is such poor quality. When they cooked it, they poured too much water in it and I basically had soup.

I once again have forwarded your comment to the appropriate manager.  I am sorry and distressed that we cannot provide a consistent service.  You should be able to count on us to prepare your food quickly and correctly each and every time.

I eat at least 50% of my meals at Block & Barrel.  It's convenient, healthy, and delicious.  The staff do a great job, especially Ron, one of the supervisors.  He is always smiling and laid back, even when dealing with grouchy customers.  Thanks to everyone at H&F for your hard work!

Thanks for the positive feedback, I’m sure Ron and the Cate folks appreciate it.

Early in the year, I saw a lot of comments answered with the assertion that it takes time to train new employees, and that we can't expect the kinks to be worked out until some time has passed, 'til the semester has gotten itself underway.  It’s too far along, now, for those excuses to fly.

At Burger King, I ordered a Number Two Meal - a Double Whopper - with no onion, add mustard.  That's how I said it.  The cashier looked right at me and asked if I wanted cheese, to which I said "no" (the Double Whopper does not come with cheese by default).  Then I repeated my special instructions - no onion, add mustard.  She asked if I wanted mayonaise.  I wasn't sure why she asked, but I said, "yes, all the things that normally come on it, but no onion, add mustard."  That makes three times total.

So I get my food, quickly I should add, and the receipt says "No Mustard, No Onion."  I said it three times.  We had what could be considered a short conversation about my preferences, and it still got rang up wrong.  So I get the supervisor's attention and hand it back to her, telling her what's wrong with it.  She takes it back and my order is shortly replaced.  I take it back to the department to eat it, only to find that while it now has mustard (good), it also has cheese.

Cheese doesn't even come on these things, normally. I didn't ask for cheese.  The cashier confirmed that I didn't want cheese.  But I still got cheese.  And as a result, my dinner consisted solely of french fries, and I'm out the two bucks and change for the burger.

I really, really don't want to hear any excuses on this about how it takes time to train people properly.  I could train a five year old the difference between "cheese" and "no cheese," and I could do it in under ten minutes.  It's the difference between "add" and "subtract," and one presumes that college students would be able to make that distinction.  This is not a matter of training.  I'm not even sure it's a matter of not caring.  You have to work at it to be that useless.

Do they just throw cheese on stuff regardless of what people order?  Why do I bother ordering at all?  I'm going to get, apparently, whatever the cooks feel like giving me, and my preferences be damned.  Problems like this all come down to management, and I can't help but think the fact that the supervisor could barely be bothered to stop talking on her cell phone long enough to correct my order is a very clear sign of what's wrong here.  I just wonder how far up the ladder the problem extends.

We are way beyond the point in time where we can blame our problems on training.  True, students are leaving everyday and new students are being hired but our base should be here and trained.  I sent your comment over to Matt at Burger King so that he could address the problem.  I’ll be honest with you, since BK is not run by Food Services I have not been paying the same attention to their operation as I do our own.  I apologize for that.

I will say this though, Matt and BK will follow through when there is a problem.

I know it’s frustrating and from the sound of it you went above and beyond trying to make your order clear.  I can’t imagine your frustration of getting back to your department and finding the order wrong.  I know it would be difficult to go back to Burger King now but if you would e-mail me your name and address I’ll have Matt contact you.  Please give them the opportunity to make this right.

Hi Dave, A quick story of woe: I went to B&B this afternoon and ordered a wrap with ranch dressing and chicken. When the employee was folding up the wrap, he split the tortilla all the way down the middle. He scooped up all the toppings and dumped them onto a new tortilla (which made the result rather uneven and lumpy) and gave me the wrap. When I got back to my table, I realized that when he threw away the first tortilla, he also threw away all the ranch dressing that was on it, and that this second wrap was (almost) completely dry. I didn't go back because there was a line, but it made for an unhappy sandwich.  I notice that some employees have a tendency to make pretty bad sandwiches (I predicted a bad sandwich from this particular employee before I ordered)... perhaps they could get some sandwich-making lessons. Thank you Dave!

And what a tale of woe it is.  When the wrap split the employee should have started all over again.  They could have either thrown that wrap away or better yet put it aside for pick-up by the food bank.  If a taco shell splits or breaks at Taco Mayo we throw it away, we don’t try to salvage the taco, same principle here, I think, although it is a little more expensive to mess up the wrap.  I appreciate you writing.  I will share this with the Cate management.

I just ordered a Tendergrill sandwich from Burger King, and in the middle of it there was a long black hair. It definitely wasn't my hair because mine is blonde, and I am just totally disgusted. Yuck

I would be too.  Did you take it back?

Dave, It's been a while.  I stopped by campus this morning to do some work in the Union.  All of the unoccupied tables in crossroads were dirty (about 80% were free as it was Monday morning at 6AM).  I had a sandwich for breakfast, but they didn't have any cheddar cheese.  These things happen.  Later, I purchased some fries and a drink to help me stay awake.  Unfortunately, your drink ordering system needs some improvement!  I don't have a drink.  I stood next to the dispensor for a while and people blinked at me.  I'm going to go over in a moment and complain to get their attention to solve the immediate problem.  But, I shouldn't have to complain to get the drink that I ordered and for which I've already paied.  I've seen the system change from having a designated drink-maker to not and vice-versa.  It always seems to confuse the servers as to whose responsibility it is to ensure that the patrons receive their drinks.  Surely there's a better way?  Long-time gone, Jeremy PS - As intuitive user interfaces go: "agree [x]" is not all that helpful on the website.  I assume it applies to the previous statement regarding how one must complete the entirety of the form.

Hey Dave, I traveled to Waco for the Baylor vs. Oklahoma game this last weekend. It gave me the chance to brag to some of my friends down there about how awesome the food service is here at OU. Then they brought to my attention that they have a Chilis Too on campus... That they can use meal points at! Dave, is there any chance that we make that an addition here at OU in the next few years. I think anyone would agree that its hard to beat Chilis. -A Chilis Fan

Chilis Too is a great concept one that we would be happy to look at if they bid on the Adams Center space we currently have out for bid.  We did contact them.  We contacted a lot of companies to see if they were interested.  Once we get the bids back we can determine which operation offers us the best overall options of concept, food, service, and income.

I am a freshman living in Couch center. I was not sure as to whom I was to issue my complaint to. Sunday evening I went to the Couch Cafeteria and had a salad, 2 slices of cheese pizza, fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy. (It was my first meal of the day) During the night I became very ill, and had cold sweats, I threw up many times and still have diarrhea. My sweet-mate also suffered similar symptoms (he also had the fried chicken). I had to miss all my classes Monday, and stayed in bed all day. Every time I got out of bed I felt like I was going to pass out. Today (Tuesday) I feel much better. I just wanted to bring to someone’s attention that the chicken was possibly under cooked giving me (and my sweet-mate) food poisoning. I would appreciate a reply and to be told what is being done to make sure this does not happen again.

Thank you, R.

Hi R. Frank forwarded your e-mail to me.  I'm concerned to read that you were sick and even more so to read that you think it was the food in the cafeteria. The fried chicken we use at Couch is a pre-cooked product meaning that it is breaded and cooked at the manufacturers, quick frozen and then boxed and shipped.  It is certainly possible that the chicken could cause a food borne illness if it is not handled properly but it is doubtful that it is from being undercooked.  Most chicken today retains a pinkish color near the bone even when it is fully cooked.

What time did you eat at Couch?  Early? late?  This would help us determine if the food was somehow mishandled. Also, what time did you get sick?  This information can actually help us identify what type of bacteria may have caused this sickness.  Our records show we prepared and served over 200 servings of fried chicken that night. If it was a food borne illness I would expect a number of additional complaints.  We will keep an eye out for other reports.

On a personal note, there is something going around campus, I'm not sure what it is but I missed work on Monday with many of your same symptoms.  I did not eat at Couch.  I can see how two room-mates might come down with the same illness.

We take food safety very seriously.  As far as prevention our full time employees are all trained in proper food handling.   I am forwarding this e-mail to the Couch management so that they can review all of their preparation, holding, and serving procedures. 

With your permission I would also like to include your comment and this answer in the next issue of Kitchen Comments.  I will use only your first Initial.  This exposure may bring forward additional cases, if they exist, and that is something we would all like to know.