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Well we made it to the end of our first semester. Good luck on your tests and have a great Christmas and New Years’. Before we call the fall semester a wrap however, we do have a little house cleaning to take care of.
- Your Meal Plans end on the 15th. Some of you may not be moving out until the 16th but your meal plans will end at midnight on Friday.
- Your Meal Points WILL carry over to the second semester.
- Meal service begins again Jan. 10, 2007
- We have limited operations open during the break, so please check to see when your favorite restaurant will be open. We will have that information posted at all the restaurants.
- We will attempt to keep all of our operations open their posted hours but we have many of our student employees who are leaving or also taking tests. We will adjust as needed. We would appreciate your patience and understanding with this.
Monday Night – Free Food at Burger King in Adams Center. If you have a valid meal plan you can get free food from 8 pm. to Midnight this Monday December 11th.
You do not have to have any balance left on your card but you do need a valid meal plan and your ID to get the free food.
Your Comments:
Please get chocolate covered expresso beans at Roscoes! Those would sell like hotcakes!
I’m not sure we’d want them to sell like hotcakes, hotcakes are not all that popular with students anymore, too many carbs. and stuff like that. I think we’d want them to sell more like uhh chocolate covered espresso beans.
I guess you can consider this a "follow up" to my comment last week about Burger King. The bad news: they still screwed up my Double Whopper, again by putting cheese on it. Not everyone is on the same page about what gets cheese and what doesn't. The good news: The cashier, who was attentive and polite, caught the mistake as it was being made and was able to correct it before the order got to me. Well done! This doesn't address the fundamental problem in operation, but it is an improvement.
I again appreciate you writing. It does sound like progress.
Hi I just wanted to say that I really like it when you use the same turkey from Cate for the sandwich line in the cafeteria. The turkey used to be slimy and gross, so please continue to use the turkey from Cate in the Cafeteria. Also can you make sure that you always have cheddar cheese in the deli line as well?
We like the “Cate” turkey better too. Actually this is also the turkey at Crossroads and our other retail operations. We have always used a different turkey at Couch. We received enough positive comments about the “Cate” turkey to make us look at using it exclusively throughout our restaurants. It does cost more than what we were using but I think the quality of the product speaks for itself. Oh yeah, I’m glad you like it.
i love how crossroads is open late at night! and the food is seriously AMAZING! ahh!
Thank you, it’s not always easy running a 24 hour operation but Rick, Greg, and the rest of the Crossroads team do a pretty good job of it.
This is my second year here at OU and in OU Housing and I haven't had much to complain about so far, but I must admit that I'm a little torn. I love getting a Beef & Bean burrito from Taco Mayo, but the gobs of grease that often drips out of the bottom of it is just a little hard to jusitfy, and I'm no health nut. Actually, a lot of things from Taco Mayo that include ground beef end up tasting less like Mexican and more like beef soup. I realize that ground beef from a fast food Mexican place isn't the healthiest of food options in the first place, but isn't there some way to reduce the amount of excess grease even a little bit? I ordered one of the aforementioned burittos last week and, I kid you not, about a tablespoon of grease dripped out of the bottom of it and onto the paper wrapping. That's the worst case I can remember, thankfully, but it's definitely not the only case of appetite-killing amounts of grease dripping from my Mayo meal. I'm not asking you to make the food healthier, but could you at least look into making it less disgusting to eat? I'm sure Tex-Mex fans all over campus would be appriciative.
Taco Mayo’s meat is made in a food processing plant in Dallas. It is then cryovac wrapped and distributed to all the stores in the system. This ensures a couple of things. One consistency, what you get at one Mayo, you get at all. Secondly it helps to maintain the quality of the product. It’s more expensive to use 85/15 ground beef than 73/27 but the final quality is better.
All ground beef has fat in it. It is important that the grease be reduced in the final product by draining or skimming it off. You need some grease in the food to give it taste but as you observed a little goes a long way.
Assuming that Taco Mayo has not changed their meat specifications I would have to think the problem comes from the way we are handling and holding the food. The meat mixture does need to be stirred often to keep the oil in suspension with the rest of the meat. Letting the meat sit and not stirring the meat will lead to pools of oil on top. It isn’t just Mayo, You will often see the chili on the salad bar at Couch with a layer of oil on the top because it hasn’t been stirred. A can of Wolf Brand Chili will do the same thing.
I will ask our Taco Mayo production staff to address this issue.
Dave, thanks for having Preston at Roscoe's. He's so great. When the line gets a little backed up, he doesn't panic, but just keeps pushing out the drinks and coffee. He doesn't get upset or mad or frustrated, he just does it. And he's so pleasant. As he hands you the coffee, he'll look at you and smile; he knows the regulars and anticipates their orders, and he's just, well, pleasant....as well as more than competent. Thanks!
Way to go Preston!
Dave, I'm a parent of a student that has a gluten allergy. This is my third comment and you never answer. WHY??? I'll start all over again! Why don't you offer "gluten-free" desserts like cake, muffins, etc? Also, gluten-free bread would be nice. Sure it's expensive but I'm paying a pretty penny to OU and was assured, by the director at the time of my childs' freshman year, that there would be a small variety of gluten-free foods (desserts) available on a regular basis. If you are not aware, celiac disease is becoming more and more common among americans everyday. Right now the number is 1 out of 103 americans have the disease. Wouldn't that make it likely that my child isn't the only student there at OU that has the disease? Then why don't you offer more "gluten-free" foods? You surely accomodate many other diets, this one should be a priority as well. Please post a response as I have been patiently waiting. Thank you, MOM
Of course I can’t respond to you directly because you sent the e-mail anonymously. I could have sworn I’d addressed an earlier comment on this but I see and answer so many comments I may be mistaken.
We do have foods available for our students who need a gluten free diet. There is a gluten free section on the Vegetarian line and we have been pretty good about putting out information on what entrees on the lines are gluten free.
The best help I can offer your student is to go talk to Dot Flowers, the Manager of Couch. She is the person that puts together the recipes and really knows what is available each and every day. Dot can help a lot. Have your student call her at 325-5185.
Dave, I have a major beef to pick with you. First of all, just because campus is closed, doesn't mean that the housing students don't have a life. Which is why I was shocked to find that over half of the on-campus food services are CLOSED!!! Seriously, Dave, the staff that takes care of the Room and Board plan told me that there was no room in the program for me, and then I find out that most of the employees that keep Cinnabon, Crimson Crust, Burger King, Crossroads, and all of the Union open ARE NOT residents. If you hired more residents, then surely these establishments would be able to stay open during inclement weather. I do understand closing the Union establishments, since most of the business probably comes from commuters, but you shouldn't have to close the food services nearest to the dorms simply because of weather. If the employees can't drive to work, you should realize the residents probably can't drive off-campus to get food. And not everyone likes Taco Mayo and Block and Barrel. I am just appalled at how little there is to offer today. This is the first time I have ever been truly disappointed in our Food Services, Dave. Usually, everyone does an excellent job to make sure the residents' AND commuters' needs are met, but today, it just isn't up to par.
First, many of the students who work at Crossroads and the other Union operations are probably residents of Housing. I’m glad you understand why the Union operations were closed. I think there is a more basic point here however. The University was closed. As much as you like Crossroads and Quiznos they are not essential operations to be kept open.
On this side of campus we were able to open Couch, Cate (limited services) Burger King, and Xcetera. I think that was pretty good. In hindsight I would do a few things differently. First and foremost I would not have opened Cate at all. We should have concentrated all of our human resources in Couch.
I think the Food Service staff did an incredible job of getting to work. They understand that when the weather gets bad you can’t go anywhere and it is up to them to keep you fed and happy. They went above and beyond and I am very proud of them. Any issues about what was open and when should come back to me, I made those decisions.
Dear Dave, I was sitting here today thinking about how much different this semester has been for me than this time last year. You see, a year ago last September, I fell and badly injured my knee. For other physical reasons I could not use crutches, and I was relegated to an electric scooter (yes, I was just featured in an article...a shabby piece of journalism that portrayed me completely opposite of how I truly am. But I digress.) During the time that I had to navigate campus in "Lucy" (as my scooter was dubbed) I saw a glimpse of the best and worst of what humanity had to offer.
There is a restaurant in the Union that I now refuse to patronize, as one day I sat there for nearly 15 minutes in my scooter as three workers chatted and laughed behind the area where the food is. They were staring right at me as they did this, and I am positive that they saw me. Someone else came up and squeezed between myself and the counter and they immediately took that person's order. I suppose they assumed I was sitting there for the scenery. Needless to say, I drove off angrily and have NEVER been back.
Now, the Adams Burger King, however, is completely the opposite. When I had trouble navigating the line ropes, workers rushed out to help move them for me (as did other students.) After I ordered my customary salad, they had me drive over to the larger area where the drink machines and things were, and someone personally brought my order out to me. After the first few times, everyone knew my dressing of choice and made sure that my order was absolutely correct to save me the trouble of coming back. When it was late and the doors were no longer propped open, they would hold one open for me and ensure that I had no trouble driving over the metal floor seam there. I got more than one offer to help me carry my order back to my residence in Walker. Dave, they never, ever made it seem as if I were a nuisance or came across as if they were put-out. As small as it may seem, with what I was going through at the time, I appreciated their service immensely. I realized just before! I set to writing this that I'd never told them, and I'd like to do so now. They get such a bad reputation from student comments, most of the time made by students with ridiculous expectations. I'm sorry that this has become so lengthy, but please express my warmest regards to the staff at Burger King, and let them know that they are in my thoughts this holiday season, just as they were last, as shining examples of how to treat others. Thanks, J. Townsend
I appreciate your perspective on our services from the perspective of a person with a disability. I can’t say I’m not deeply disappointed by your comments about the Union operation. Just as I am disappointed by that I am very pleased to hear the positive comments about Burger King. BK has had a tendency to get beat up a little in the “Comments.” I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the BK staff for their great service to someone in need.
Dear Dave, First and foremost, I want to note that up until this Saturday, in four years of living on-campus, I have never truly been disappointed in Food Services. Usually the service and quality is exemplary, and for this reason I have chosen to continue to live in the dorms throughout my academic career. I always believed that I would be able to get a hot and decent meal at any time somewhere on campus for a swipe of my student ID. We have had bad weather before, and this never seemed to affect the service you and your staff have continued to provide. Sure I have had small bad experiences that I have whined about it, but never anything that made me as angry as I was on Friday night and Saturday morning. When I read that Cate was closing at 3:30 and that the cafeteria would be open, I thought that would be okay. But to not have anything open from 8:00 PM to 10:00 AM is absolutely unacceptable! I had to take my LSAT at 8:30 in the morning on Saturday, and I had planned well in advance to ride my bike to Crossroads and get a nice, hot breakfast so I would be prepared to do well on the exam. Instead of having a nice hot meal on Friday, I had an extremely disappointing one bite of an overcooked and cold hamburger. I don't eat bread, pasta, or potatoes for a variety of reasons, so there was quite a bit of food I could not eat. I left feeling very sad and with a very empty tummy. I was able to procure a tub of oatmeal and a banana from Excetera for breakfast, but I could not even get cereal, as the store was completely out of milk. I was very upset by all of this, and as I understand, it could have been prevented. I have a number of friends who tried to join the room and board program, and were denied entry and told there were not any open slots. However, I noticed that the Food Services on campus were closed due to a lack of employees who could not get to work. If more residents worked for you, I am willing to bet the establishments that were f orced to close could have stayed open. I chose to write this message to you because I thought it was too long and too personal for Kitchen Comments. Also, I did want to hear what you had to say about this. I understand that you did what you had to do with limited means, but I really feel as if the ball was dropped in this situation. Residents cannot simply go without Food Services for 10 hours because your employees can't come to work. I do appreciate everything you do for us, Dave, and I know our Housing and Food Services is excellent usually. Thank you for listening to me, and I look forward to your response. Sincerely, Christina
Christina, First I want to say I'm sorry that you found our service less than expected over the past weekend. I'm not going to make any excuses, and I don't think you want any. I feel that we did what we had to do to take care of the greatest number of students with limited food, supplies, and staff. I will admit that if I had it to do over again I would have opened Cate and Crossroads at 8 am on Saturday. This would have been difficult for them to do but we should have made that effort. Other than not opening Cate at all on Thursday and Friday, I don't think we would do much differently. I do appreciate you writing.
First off, the Holiday dinner, amazing. Not quite up to par with last year's, but still good nonetheless. Here's my question. Was the punch carbonated? I was under the impression that it wasn't, and then I was told that they were pouring a carbonated beverage into this punch. I gave up carbonation several months ago and was doing great until this punch. Please tell me that I didn't give into the fizz unknowingly. -"Blockhead"
I think it’s safe to assume that the punch is going to be carbonated. Dot likes the way the little bubbles tickle her nose.
Dear Dave. First I would just like to say that I enjoy reading Kitchen Comments every week. I've noticed some people who have been residents here for a few years commenting on how food services has improved since they were freshmen. I'm now a junior and still living in the residence halls, however I feel like the caf has declined since I was a freshman. During my first year at OU the caf had a very wide range of food and it changed all the time, now though it's the same thing almost everyday. Don't get me wrong the food is good, but it seems like only one line now rotates food, unlike the 4 or 5 that rotated my freshmen year. Now it's chicken, pasta, mexican, and something else everytime. The addition of Chick-fil-a was good, and La Roma's pizza was very tasty at the beginning of the year, but I got tired of pizza and chicken pretty quickly and crave some variety. I've had mexican the last couple of times I've been there and will probably tire of this soon too. I suppose I'll understand if you can't pump up the variety, but it would sure be nice.
We do get a lot of folks who start to get bored with the food. This is a major challenge for us. We do need to make sure we are rotating entrees on the lines. I met with the Couch management team a few weeks ago to discuss this very issue. I believe you will see a lot of new entrees coming in January.
The Amish Sunflower Bread served at last night's Holiday Dinner and that was on the Vegetation Station today was absolutely delish. Do you think we could see it more often than just the special meals?
I’m sure we can.
Happy Holidays and GOOD LUCK on your Finals!
Just to make sure you are all in the proper Holiday mood I submit for your singing pleasure our own versions of some popular Christmas Carols.
The Caf Song (Jingle Bells) by Rohit
Walking through the snow On my way to the Caf A familiar smell hits my nose One that I smell everyday As I walk inside I am greeted with a cheer Everyone is excited because Winter break is almost here
Shanghai Stir fry makes me what I like Every single day Athens Café, Chick-fil-A What am I going to do when it is May Salad Sensations and Freshens President Boren do we have to go on vacation?
Workers (Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer) by Rohit
Mary at Couch Cafeteria, everyone’s name she knows. And whenever you see her, she always has a smile that glows.
Jared in Xcetra is just the same, if you go enough he will learn your name. I have heard girls ask him when he goes to the huff, they want to see him there because he is so buff.
Once I was having a really bad day, I got hungry and went to Cate to get some food. I saw Mason there and he had a huge smile, he made my wait worth the while.
Then there is our favorite Tim, he makes our amazing coffee. If you are hungry in the afternoon, visit him for some fresh sushi!
Bread Bowls (Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas) by Rohit
Have yourself a Couch Express Bread Bowl Broccoli and cheese is nice From now on I will add both toppings for extra delight
Have yourself a Couch Express Bread Bowl Every single Tuesday From now on Visit there every week till May
Potato should be mentioned too It always leaves me wanting more Bread bowls officially make Couch Express my favorite sandwich store
“You’ve Got to Eat at Cate” (author unknown) (sung to the tune of “Santa Clause is Coming to Town”
You’d better not shout, You’d better not cry, You’d better not pout, I’m telling you why, You’ve got to eat at Cate Café.
With cold French fries and squishy yogurt, Don’t throw that tot; someone’s gonna get hurt, You’ve got to eat at Cate Café.
The meatloaf is disgusting, The fish is even worse, Sometimes this food is oh so bad, It makes me want to curse.
I’ve got a hair here, I don’t know whose, At least it’s better than OSU’s You’ve got to eat at Cate Café.
“We Came to Eat”(author unknown) (Sung to the tune of “It came upon a Midnight Clear”
It came that time of day again, Standing in line for food The sights the sounds the smells you know Hoping the staff won’t be rude
We have such hopes when we come inside That everything is hot and good But often as not the food is cold And tastes a lot like wood. |
