The Huddle underwent serious renovations this last year. While in the past The Huddle has received high levels of student disdain regarding their menu, many believe that the changes have been for the better.

Previously only offering Tex-Mex style quesadillas, brisket and tacos, the menu has been extended to include a variety of pitas, sandwiches, starters and sides.

“I really like how The Huddle took on diversity this semester,” sophomore Jasmine Kim said. “I can’t get enough of their lamb and beef gyros, and I love how they have Korean bulgogi as an option.”

The menu also includes a variety of foods catered towards students with special dietary needs and preferences, including several vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free entrees.

General Manager of Bon Appétit Michael Smith said that the changes began with last year’s Lunar New Year.

“We started with two weeks of Chinese food, then two weeks of French, and then two weeks of Middle Eastern food and then two weeks of Greek food,” Smith said.

Smith was trying to start a pop-up restaurant concept, so each time the menu changed, the decor changed with it. The Huddle looked completely different after every two-week period, following the newly added menu items.

“We took the bestsellers from (the new foods), well, the most popular, and that’s how the new menu came about,” Smith said.

Many students are surprised and pleased with the new food options.

“I was actually abroad when the menu changes happened, so I only got to hear about it via Facebook,” senior Morgan Carlson said. “That was a really nice change to come home to. The sweet potato fries are my favorite!”

The cultural variety of the foods now offered is also well-received by students.

“Being Korean, my expectations were pretty high when it came to trying out the pork bulgogi, but it was fused well with American food, and I’m glad Bon Appétit is trying new things,” Kim said. “I really hope they keep this up, because now I can look forward to eating in the cafeteria.”

The menu is not the only thing that has been updated — the entire internal ambience also got revamped. Students can now come grab a bite to eat while playing board games, darts and foosball. The redecoration also brought in booths, giving The Huddle more of a diner-like appeal.

Bon Appétit also implemented a number system, which gives a little more structure to students ordering, waiting for and receiving their food.

Smith said that there are no more plans to make any immediate changes to the menus of any of the dining locations across campus, but he did say that The Huddle will open at noon rather than 2:00 p.m., hopefully beginning within the next two weeks.

“We’ve done it before, and we’ll do it again. The faculty lunch is from 12:00 to 1:00, so they are never able to make it out to The Huddle,” Smith said.

Bon Appétit also has big plans for this year’s Lunar New Year on Feb. 19.

“(South Congress Market) is going to be a Chinese restaurant pretty much, and we’ll have food from four different Chinese regions,” Smith said.

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