Mike’s Pizza, a popular local restaurant and long-standing tradition of Fairfield’s students, will be opening a pizzeria in The Levee, the university’s seldom-patronized campus bar.
“I couldn’t be more excited than to have Mike’s Pizza here; it’s something we’ve been trying to do for years,” said Matthew Dinnan, associate dean of students and coordinator of the effort, as he announced the agreement at a press conference Tuesday afternoon.
“We’re really looking forward to this,” said Bobby Giagkos of Mike’s Pizza. “We tried to do this last year and the year before. It’s great that it’s finally happening.”
The move-in will be complete by early March, according to Dinnan.
Part of The Levee in its current form will survive the revamp. While the pizzeria will be owned and operated by Mike’s, the bar will continue to operate under the management of the Office of Student Life and University Activities.
Under the agreement, Mike’s will be open from 11:00 a.m. until midnight seven days a week, and the bar will be open seven days a week from 4:30 p.m. until midnight.
Other features of the new campus dining venue include eat-in and take-out options, the same menu as the original restaurant, and the acceptance of StagBucks.
Also, The Levee will be looking to hire four or five new workers to cover the hours of operation, which will essentially double from the previous number.
Dining dollars will not be accepted at Mike’s since they are part of the Sodexho system, but StagBucks will be.
According to Giagkos, a percentage of the gross profits will go back to the university and Mike’s will be fiscally responsible for renovating The Levee’s kitchen.
Besides being an obvious victory for Dinnan and the Office of Student Life and University Activities, this agreement represents a feather in FUSA’s hat.
According to information provided by Dinnan, the initiative to move Mike’s on-campus was first “facilitated” last year by former FUSA President Kevin Neubauer ’05.
FUSA leaders active in the process this year were Kristina Chomick ’06, Brett Ritterbeck ’05 and Paul Duffy ’05.
“Within FUSA, Matt Dinnan brought up the idea of putting something in The Levee to make it popular again,” said Chomick. “We threw a few ideas around for a while, and Mike’s Pizza, being really popular with students, was an obvious choice.”
Student reaction has been enthusiastic.
“I think it’s awesome that they’re moving in,” said J.P. Ryan ’07. “Their pizza is wicked good.”
Erin O’Conner ’07 agreed. “I have a feeling my friends and I will be going there all the time.”
Leave a Reply