Last fall, the Chick-fil-A option, one of Marketplace’s most popular offerings, was removed. However, starting Thursday, students will be able to return to some of the fare that was so in demand last year, as Dining Services will be reintroducing Chick-fil-A sandwiches to Marketplace.
Dining Services announced in a March 17 press release that they are working with the Chick-fil-A located on Monticello Avenue to provide sandwiches to Marketplace on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
The restaurant will deliver pre-made chicken sandwiches to Marketplace, and the sandwiches will be served at the grill station until supplies run out. These sandwiches may be purchased through Dining Dollars or Express Dollars.
Resident District Manager Jeff McClure stated that Dining Services will listen to student feedback and gauge the success of the sandwiches to determine whether they should increase the number provided each Tuesday and Thursday.
“I think it’s cool to do it twice a week because it becomes a novelty,” McClure said. “I don’t want to get too haywire.”
This year, Dining Services has added new vendors in Marketplace, including Qdoba and a sandwich station, which took the places of Chick-fil-A, Capiche, and Zoca. The sushi station remains.
In past years, Chick-fil-A was a staple at Marketplace and attracted many visitors for lunch and dinner. Joseph Roth ’15 said he was pleasantly surprised by the reinstatement of the restaurant.
“I wasn’t expecting [this]. I really like Chick-fil-A”, Roth said. “Freshman and sophomore year, [Marketplace] seemed like it was crowded all the time. I think more people will come now.”
Paige Bermudez ’15 has eaten at Marketplace several times a week for the past two years. She said she has noticed a drop in students at the location this year. She stated that the implementation of the popular chicken restaurant would stimulate more traffic at Marketplace.
“I think when they reopened Marketplace it lost a lot of appeal to a lot of students,” Bermudez said. “Reintroducing Chick-fil-A would only make it more popular.”
In addition to implementing Chick-fil-A as a biweekly option, McClure said the food trucks are now up and running once more. Wholly Habaneros will be available during lunch on the Terrace, and the food trucks will also be available outside the Commons Dining Hall in the evening to provide late night service. McClure said that Dining Services expects the weather will make the food trucks a more popular option.
“We’ll keep listening to feedback. The most important thing is that [we] give students options,” McClure said.
