Students who returned to campus looking for the old familiar Stag last week were in for a shock: Sodexho and Fairfield University were busy over the summer completely redesigning the school’s diner with the brand new Rob ‘ Iggy’s Pizzeria and the Sky Ranch Grill.
“The facelift was done in conjunction with Fairfield University and Sodexho,” said Steven Schleifer, executive director of dining services. “Rob ‘ Iggy’s is something unique to Fairfield, but Sky Ranch is a Sodexho design that has been used at many other schools.”
“It was done with non student funds. The construction didn’t affect the cost of a meal plan for students,” added Schleifer.
Students are happy with the new design.
“It’s much nicer than it has been in the past,” said Nicole McGuckian, ’04.
However, the look is not the only thing that has changed. The food itself, the service and hours of operation have changed as well.
“We revamped all the recipes, presentation, and overall standards at the diner this summer,” said Schleifer.” “We also have allocated more time and effort to training the entire team as well as setting new standards and goals.”
Some student responsed positively to the change.
“I like it. It’s good for campus food,” said Marisa Tolve, ’04.
“The comment cards we’ve received this year have said that the quality of food has been good to very good,” Schleifer. “The biggest concern we’ve received is the wait at the Sky Ranch being long. We’re addressing that issue as it is a very important concern according to the comment cards.”
However, one complaint that some students have strongly expressed is that there has been no change in variety at the diner.
“They wasted more money to have the exact same things,” said Jack kershaw, ’05. “They just made cute new signs,” said Jack Kershaw.”
“I like the new look, but I don’t feel that the food is very different,” said Rebecca DeSanto, ’05.
The biggest change in service at the diner began Sept. 15, where pizza and grinders can now be delivered directly to students’ rooms and townhouses by fellow students.
“For the first night, we had one person on, but I expect that we’ll have to add an additional delivery person very soon due to the volume of traffic,” said Schleifer. “The longest someone waited was 35 minutes because the delivery person was unable to enter the residence hall.”
“The average wait time per customer from the moment of ordering to when they received their order was between 10 to 15 minutes,” Schleifer added. “We hope to add new items and longer hours to the delivery service in the near future, but we’re concentrating on quality first.”
Pricing and food quality of restaurants including McDonalds, Burger King, Pennys, and Dominos were all evaluated by the new diner, according to Schleifer.
At Rob ‘ Iggy’s, for instance, the pizza is an 18 inch pie, the largest pizza available in the area. The sauce is now made in house, instead of being brought in.
The burgers at Sky Ranch Grill are 5.3 ounce burgers unlike the normal 2.3 ounce burgers served at most fast food restaurants. The combo meal with a 5.3 oz cheeseburger, fries, and a 20 ounce soda is $5.49, compared to the $5.29 combo meal at McDonalds with a 4 ounce burger. Along with a larger burger, Sky Ranch provides fresh meat instead of the frozen patties used in the past and at fast food restaurants.
At the deli, the only holdout from the old Stag, the sandwiches grew from 4 ounces of meat to 5 ounces of meat. The sandwiches are still made with Boar’s Head meat.
The hours of operation has changed since last year. Sky Ranch is open from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. on Monday thru Friday and opens at 12 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday and closes at 7 p.m. Rob ‘ Iggy’s is open from 12 p.m. until Midnight from Sunday thru Thursday. On Friday and Saturday, it opens at 12 p.m. and is open until 1 a.m. The Deli is open from 11 a.m. until 11 p.m. from Monday to Friday. On Saturday and Sunday, it is open from 12 p.m. until 11 p.m.
These changes are only the beginning, according to Schleifer.
“We want to continue to change our operations to fit student needs and wants,” he said. “However, we need constructive comment cards to do this, so I encourage all students to give us ideas and concerns so we can address them. We read every single card we get. We want to work with students to address their concerns.”
The student response to all the changes that have taken place at the diner has been mainly positive.
“It’s cool that they gave it a new look with some color,” said Steve DeVoe, ’05. “The food is good and is better than Barone.”
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