Your Comments:

Dear Dave, I hope you receive this e-mail because I did not get a response to the last one I sent. Anyway, I was reading this week's kitchen comments and just had to say something about the good ideas people had mentioned. I'm really in favor of a "Crossroads 2" in place of Burger King especially instead of a Chinese place. I LOVED the idea of an apple store because I have one every day!  Maybe by having a kiosk-type setup you could actually provide great apples, such as Pink Ladies, Braeburns, Galas, Jonathons, Jonagolds, Golden Delicious, Cameo, etc. that are big and juicy.  Let me emphasize that I would like to see bigger apples because whenever I go to Block and Barrel the apples are absolutely tiny, which, now that I think about it, also describes the amount of chicken they put in the wraps.  On more than one occasion, I have gotten a grilled chicken wrap and, out of curiousity, decided to see how much tortilla was not used that could have been.  I was shocked to discover that more than half of the tortilla had absolutely no purpose!  So I felt as though I was only getting half a wrap when I actually paid for a whole.  Like I said, this has happened more than once and I would like to see my wrap STUFFED. 

Furthermore, while on one of my visits to B & B, I received an attitude from one of the employees.  I wanted to use a meal exchange and only get a wrap.  So I told her I didn't want a drink or cookie just the wrap understanding that I wasn't taking advantage of two dollars, because I wasn't hunger for anything else.  The employee gave me an odd look, which I didn't appreciate, and a bit of an attitude.  I don't like to complain, especially since I've had good service most of the time, but this incident really upset me. Moving on...  I really liked the idea of offering whole-grain waffles and pancakes.  You should definitely look into that! I know many people have said it before but, the yogurt bar is amazing!  Whoever thought of it should get a raise.  I also like the topping selection.  The granola is the best because it is in big chunks not the scrawny clusters that I hate.   Please never run out of the Nature's Own granola! Also, the desserts on the vegetation station are surprisingly really good.  I'm not a hard-core Vegan, but those desserts are better than some at the Sooner Sweet Shop!  The small, round, chocolate cakes with chocolate frosting and a passionfruit sliver need to always be offered. I was curious as to why Chef Billy's chicken parm, the best meal at the Caf, is always offered with the lasagna?  These are two great meals that I don't get to have nearly enough.  I can't get them both because that's just way too much food, so I have to choose.  I just wish that you would offer the dishes seperately at some point so I could enjoy them both. Overall, I'm very pleased with the variety of foods that are offered and appreciate your hard work to keep OU happy.  Keep it up!  - Jessie

The operation that goes into Adams is still up in the air.  We certainly could put in a Crossroads 2 type of concept if we end up running the operation ourselves.  Having all that kitchen space we would be able to offer the whole menu all the time.  You know, it could be we just don’t put anything in Adams for a year and keep Couch open longer to see how that would go over?

I had my “tongue in cheek” with my answer about the Apple Store.  I figured the writer was talking about a store for Apple computers and iPods and stuff.  I was surprised by the reaction to the “Apple Store” idea.

There has to be some overlapping of the wrap in order for the whole thing to stay together.  Burritos overlap and they are readily acceptable so I’m not sure why a wrap can’t overlap.  We will look at the amount of chicken that goes into the wrap, I think we use about 3 ounces.  Let me check though, maybe we’ve gone into “snacker” mode.

I’m sorry about the attitude, I’m hoping that you just misread the employee.  I’ll pass the positive comments on the yogurt bar and Vegan foods on to Dot at Couch.

Dave, Boy am I disappointed with food services right now.  So I went to Taco Mayo in Cate on Sunday the 18^th 10:55 pm.  Now I eat there all the time, I love Mexican; I mean I was a manager at Taco Bell for 8 months.  So I get there and I see something that I didn’t like.  All of the veggies except for the lettuce and one thing of cheese were off the cold part of the line.  They were sitting on a cart next to the line, and they weren’t even in tubs of ice to keep them cold.  Then to top it off, they had pulled some of the meats and beans out and were trying to clean the inside of the warming area.  The salsa bar was being cleaned out, but I will say the salsa was in ice on the counter.  So I start to wonder if I should get food, because honestly I see like 100 health code violations in front of me.  So I get my nachos like always, the ones I love so much and eat all the time.  I go to my room after I eat and I am studying.  A couple hours pass by and that’s when the fun trips to the bathroom vomiting start happening.  Needless to say it was not a good night, I spent way to long throwing up.  The only good that came out of it was the fact that because I couldn’t sleep, I just kept studying for my Spanish 2 test the next day.  Now I don’t want to be hard on the workers, but come on, there is no need to be cleaning up an hour early.  I mean who else could have got sick that night because of this?  How long had that food been sitting out?  I knew I shouldn’t have ate there, and sorry to say it, probably won’t again now because of my one bad experience.  Another thing, what is with putting a trash bag over the grill where you slide the food to put the veggies on it?  They had it on that night, and they have it all the time.  I don’t want my food sliding across a random trash bag as it is getting made.  Who knows where that has been?  All I know is that, I am really disappointed with Taco Mayo right now, and that even as I right this letter my stomach still hurts.  Anyway, I just wanted to let you know about this, sorry if I seem a little irritated, it is just the fact that I know that they were doing a lot of things wrong, and to top if off I got sick.  A very unhappy stomach

I’ll have to talk to the Cate folks to find out what is going on.  I’m not sure why the food was pulled from the line.  In and of itself that shouldn’t cause any major problems in an hour.  I would assume the food was hot when it was pulled and it would need to sit at room temperature for several hours for there to be a problem.  If on the other hand the hot well was not working and the food was not hot then it should have been thrown away.  I have not heard of any other complaints so if there are others out there who had problems I really would appreciate you contacting me.  Was it food poisoning?  I don’t know, the only real way to know is to have a stool sample taken and tested.

I’m totally oblivious to the trash bag concept, again, I’ll check into it.

Dave, please please please get rid of Burger King and put in a Panda Express. That place is the most disgusting restaurant on campus and is one of the worst fast food establishments I've ever had to eat at. That says a lot about it. The buns are soggy and the burgers often fall apart before you can even open them. The staff is either incompetent or impolite, depending on who is working the register. While Panda Express may be no better I think it's definitely worth giving a chance to. I hope this helps you decide.

All opinions are appreciated.

If Peter Piper picked and packed a peck of pickled peppers, how many pickle packets did Peter Piper pack? That's what I'm going to say the next time I want an extra pack of pickles for my burger at CR.

Ah but you can get a pickle pack for your burger now and that my friend is the point.  Someone wanted extra pickles and a means to extra pickledom was found.  I appreciate our managers and staff being so willing to adjust and take care of customer requests.

Dear Dave, I am deathly allergic to any milk products - anything with lactose. That includes milk, butter, cheese, you name it. I just love the Tofutti additions in XCetera! I appreciate your constant efforts to accommodate all of the on-campus students. My friends just love to watch movies and eat a pint of ice cream. I usually resort to a bowl of jello. I know that there are Tofutti pints. I'm not asking for anything elaborate, but if you were to look into getting a couple of pint flavors, that would be absolutely amazing. Thank you for the consideration!

Dave, I'm so happy with the Vegetation Station this semester!  My husband is a vegan, and it's been so nice for him to be able to clearly see what's okay for him to eat.  Plus, everything's so tasty, I often fill my plate from that section as well.  One thing, though--we need more sweet potato fries!  I've missed them the last few times I've been to Couch.  Also, the folks at the stir-fry area have gotten much, much better about the amount of sauce they put on the vegetarian stirfry.

The Valentines' meal was, as usual, very good, with one exception--the steak had the approximate flavor and texture of beef jerky.  Now, I can see where it might not be a good idea to serve rare steak to everyone (I realize other people might not like their steak still practically alive), but can't we have just the tiniest bit of pink in the middle? 

It is very hard to cook steaks “en masse” and still get them to the customer the way they want their steak cooked.  To this end we have the “Grill to Order” station at Couch where you can order a steak everyday cooked the way you like.  One on one steak cooking, made just for you.

I don't know if it is too late to look into other options for replacing burger king, but one option that would be great is whataburger. They have a much wider variety of both breakfast and dinner foods, including healthy options and dessert options, and they also have a wider selection of condiments and toppings.

I know there used to be a whataburger in the basement of the Union at Texas A&M University that is now using the same food just not the name, and it is one of the most popular dining establishments on their campus. Just an idea Jesse

I appreciate your comments.

Hi Dave! I love going to Cate center for lunch. The food is pretty great but I really go to see the nicest employee on campus. Her name is Ebony and she is wonderful. Ebony greets everyone, makes conversation, and also does an incredible job keeping Cate Center clean! One day I was making flashcards and she talked with me about what I was studying. When I finally finished the flashcards after an hour or two, she told me what a good job I did and that I was a good student! Another day, I asked Ebony when she got off work and she told me four o'clock but she loves work so much sometimes she doesn't want to leave. What an incredible person. She comes to work everyday with a great attitude and loves to be there. She deserves a raise, or promotion, or maybe a trophy! She really makes a difference in peoples lives. Thanks! Why don't the workers at Burger King wear gloves when making food?

Thanks for the kind comments about Ebony, I’m sure she has made her presence know to everyone who comes to Cate.  I’m checking again into the glove issue.

Ahoy, Dave! Could you investigate having a large sign menu printed up at Roscoe's Coffee Shop? I know chalk signs are popular at coffee signs. My cousin has one at her coffee shop in Florida, but it's about 9 feet by 12 feet. The one at Roscoe's is too small and I have trouble finding what I want. Maybe you could have a printed sign for the normal menu and a chalk for the specials! Thanks! S.

Arty and Tim have been working on a new sign (actually two of them) to replace the current chalkboard.

Dave, Lets talk I just got back from the Cafeteria (2/23/07) and I had a bad experience.  First of all for us Catholics I was not pleased with the selection of food for lent.  There was cheese pizza, salad, and salmon but that was it.  Also I get sick every time I eat Salmon from the Cafeteria so that really isn’t an option.  Anyways, I would like to see more of a lent selection on Fridays could we maybe get an all day breakfast bar with waffles, eggs, and hash browns.  Here is the other problem I had with the cafeteria all the little kids!  I stood in line for 10 minutes just to get in the door. I walked around trying to find the best non-meat option and found that cheese pizza was the only thing that looked appetizing.  I counted Dave and there were 7 Pizzas out and only one of them was cheese.  As you can guess all the rude little kids ate my cheese pizza so I had to stand in line waiting for the pizza even longer.  As for the kids more specifically they were rude and there were too many of them for the cafeteria to handle plus the normal lunch crowd.  In the future when there are groups this large would you please warn us that we won’t be able to eat in the cafeteria in less than an hour. Thanks     

EEEEEEGH!  I sat down with Frank and we came up with a lot more meatless options for you on that meal.  You could have had the stir fry which they can do meatless.  The smokehouse has okra, fries, and black bean burgers that are all good.  Our Casa del Sol line had nachos, cheese enchiladas, bean burritos, or a bean and cheese taco available.  Of course there is cold cereal.  On the sandwich line you could have made a grilled cheese sandwich, there was the salmon, the veggie line had veggie entrée which would have worked out well.  The salad bar had a lot of different foods for you and in the pizza pasta area beside the cheese pizza you wanted there was pasta so you could have made a baked fettuccini with parmesan or mozzarella cheese in addition to your cheese pizza.  No, there was a lot of food available for someone observing lent. 

The additional students you saw were with the Model UN.  They were here for two days and they did make the lines a little longer but any time we can get 250 cash customers into Couch we will certainly take that opportunity.  This is also a great recruiting tool.  I’m surprised you don’t want to help the University in its recruiting efforts.

I do not appreciate your total lack of response to my concerns about Burger King, though you managed to post it on the web. If you could comment on why every OU-run restaurant aside to Burger King requires their employees to gloves it would be appreciated.  I don't understand why there is not a single standard. 

Justin, It has been mentioned to the manager of the BK operation.  Furthermore, I called the owner of BK today about this problem not being corrected.  BK is one of the very few food operations on campus not run by Food Services but I do oversee the contract.  I have told them this has to be fixed immediately.  I appreciate you keeping on top of this.

Hi Dave, I haven't ever written in about Burger King, mostly because I eat there very rarely (only about 4 or 5 times in 3 years on campus). This is because of all the horror stories I hear about the service and food there. Unfortunately it seems the stories are true. I ordered a regular #1 (Whopper), and the cashier, who was apparently in a bad mood that day, scowled the entire time I was at the register. When my order was ready (which was pretty fast, under five minutes), it had cheese on it. I did not want cheese. I did not ask for cheese. I was never asked if I wanted cheese. I got charged for cheese. My friend, who ordered right before me, also got cheese. She did not ask for cheese. She got charged for cheese. The Burger King employees enjoy pushing the Cheese button. I decided to not go back and get a correct Whopper without cheese because of how angry-looking the cashier was.

I don’t want this to be the “beat up on Burger King” issue but it is interesting at the outpouring of comments both pro and con for that operation.  We had a similar comment about the cheese last semester.  I’m not sure what the policy is on that. 

Please keep the Burger King, just make some changes to provide better service. If Burger King is replaced the new reasturant must serve breakfast and drinks at a resonable speed, I like the idea of a Sonic or another crosroads. Does Panda Express even serve breakfast?

Again thank you for your input.  As I said earlier we are still talking to our bidders.  At this time, I’m not sure where we will end up or with whom, but you will be the first to know.