Although overall sales in Dartmouth Dining Services are up by about 30 percent this term, sales at the Collis Cafe are down 15 to 20 percent from last year, following new initiatives instituted over the summer.
While DDS Director Pete Napolitano said many changes in DDS eating establishments have been successful, statistics show that students are still not completely satisfied.
Students complain less successful initiatives in the Collis Cafe have led to longer lines in Food Court and Home Plate where new programs have been better received.
Napolitano said some of the new concepts offered by DDS have gone over well, such as Westside Buffet and the smoothies in Collis Cafe.
"The changes are going over very well," he said. "From what I gather, students are saying they are very happy at the way things are going."
But he said some changes, such as moving the deli from the Collis Cafe to the Lone Pine Tavern, are starting off slowly.
Collis sales down
Collis Manager Stephen Gorin said sales are not anywhere near where he would like them to be and incentive programs are being started to draw more students.
Gorin said he is trying to build business at the coffee bar in Collis with a buy 10, get one free "caffeine fiend card."
He also said there is a new "baker's dozen card" for sandwiches in Lone Pine Tavern and with it students get a free sandwich after purchasing 12.
Napolitano said another special in Lone Pine is a free soda with every sandwich purchase.
"We are seeing repeat business in the people who come down [to Lone Pine]," Gorin said. "But there are not many new faces."
Freshman Lila Paul said she finds it "kind of annoying" to go downstairs to Lone Pine Tavern to get a sandwich.
Napolitano said about 60 students eat lunch at Lone Pine each day, and about the same eat dinner there. He said for late night dining, about 75 students go to Lone Pine.
Napolitano said the Collis Cafe also has "a loyal following," but not much has been done to increase new sales there.
"Collis has been on a spiraling-downward trend for three years," Napolitano said. "It is not going to turn around in one term, it is going to take people time to adjust."
He said about 450 students eat breakfast at Collis each day, while 500 eat lunch there and 300 eat dinner.
Napolitano said he thinks of Collis as a "programming place where food is served" and said programs in Collis will bring people to the cafe.
Gorin said he reads all comment cards by students at Collis and said, "I try to be sensitive to everybody's needs and make it the best place I can."
He said this week he increased options on the salad bar at the request of students and added two new homemade salad dressings.
Vince Cannon '99 and Tammy Weiner '99 said they don't eat at Collis as much this year as they did last year.
"The salad bar used to be so much better," Weiner said.
Freshmen Jaime Kleinman and Lila Paul said they often eat lunch at Collis.
"It's hit or miss," Kleinman said of the limited selection.
Food Court
Breakfast at Food Court, a new addition this year, has been successful, Napolitano said.
He said Food Court serves up to 300 students each morning.Food Court Manager Beth Jones said this term Food Court is "definitely busier than we have been."
But she said it is difficult to speculate as to why.
One reason could be "different changes have led to different dispersements of campus populations," Jones said.
She said both Home Plate and Food Court have been "ridiculously busy."
Napolitano attributed the crowds at Home Plate and Food Court to the fact that "people still want to eat between 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m."
At lunch time, which Napolitano defines as between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., about 1,100 eat at Food Court daily, he said.
He said about 1,000 people eat dinner there between the hours of 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. About 500 students eat at Food Court between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m., when it closes, he said.
Jones said most of the changes in Food Court have been positive and well-received.
The pizza is "better quality and a more consistent product," she said. "Concerns were raised that slices were made smaller but they were still the same price, but it is the same weight of dough and same amount of product."
Jones said many students say they want the old fries back.
"But for all the people who say they want the old fries, we are still cutting over 200 pounds of potatoes a day."
Home Plate
Home Plate Manager John Koiter said Home Plate has "enjoyed a great deal of success" so far this term, and he is "pleased at the way the Dartmouth community has responded" to the changes.
He said Home Plate sales are up 25 to 30 percent on a daily basis.
He said Home Plate's largest sales day ever was last Monday.
With increasing sales, Home Plate often fills to capacity, even though it is open for longer hours this year.
"I don't think it gets too crowded," Koiter said. "But sometimes we are unable to serve our customers the way we'd like."
Napolitano said about 800 students eat lunch at Home Plate daily, while 800 or 850 eat there for dinner.
Home Plate offers extended hours this year, and is open weekdays from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for lunch and 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. for dinner.
Koiter said the new Healthy Choice deli is extremely popular, making as many as 350 sandwiches each day.
According to Koiter, the sandwich line is often long because there is only space for two people to work at the deli.
He said he had a meeting recently to "resolve issues on how to make the grill faster." He said one way to accomplish this would be to "change shifts or add another person -- but without compromising the quality."
Brian Salazar '99 and Catherine Maxson '99 said they often eat at Home Plate and think the changes there have been positive.
But even though Home Plate's hours have been extended, Maxson said she wishes it was open all weekend.
Salazar said he thought having more than one non-vegetarian entree would also be a good idea.
Westside Buffet
Napolitano said the newly-opened Westside Buffet, housed in the former Full Fare, sees about 350 patrons a day. Westside is open from 2:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday to Thursday.
"Westside has a regular following," Napolitano said. "But we'd like to see around 450" students eating there daily.
He said Westside has "minimal leadership" and he is "almost ready to hire a new manager back there."
He said once Westside has a new manager he would like to start making small changes to attract more customers.
One idea he suggested was to close Westside at 9 p.m. because very few students come between the hours of 9 p.m. and 10 p.m.
He said if Westside hours are changed so it closes earlier, it will open an hour earlier, as well.
Flynn Murphy '99 said he ate at Full Fare twice a day all last year.
But this year, he said, Westside has no fruit or yogurt and serves the same thing every night, so he often eats at Food Court.
Murphy said he misses Full Fare's all-you-can-eat Sunday brunch.
"If Westside is not open on the weekend, Food Court should take over brunch," Murphy said. "Food Court has not picked up the baton" even though it now serves breakfast items.
Napolitano said there has been talk of reinstituting the Sunday brunch, but he will wait until the new manager comes in to discuss it further.
Murphy said he has noticed the lines at Food Court are terrible. He said he tries to "come at off times" to avoid them.
He said one reason for the influx of people could be "the overflow crowd from Collis" since not as many people eat there this year.
According to Murphy, the lines at Westside Buffet are also longer this year compared to last year.
East Wheelock Snack Bar
The new snack bar in the East Wheelock cluster opened last week and is now open from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. five days a week.
The snack bar features mini pizzas, soups, ice cream novelties and beverages.
Napolitano said the snack bar had a big night the first night it opened.
"It is a one-person operation," he said. "And we are meeting that goal. It is a small, modest snack bar -- it was never designed to be anything bigger."
"Students would love to have a mini-Food Court down there," Napolitano said. "But that can't be done at this point in time."
He said if the snack bar got larger, it would have to have an industrial kitchen, which would bring with it issues of coding and ventilation.
"Then it gets too costly for business to be done," he said.
