New dining options until 'Fluh opens in spring

The newly renovated Weisenfluh Dining Hall is scheduled to open for students at the beginning of the spring 2012 semester, according to Rick Bruckner, the chef  manager of the University Club dining center.  

"We are looking to open in January, and construction is going very well," said Bruckner.

In the meantime, students have access to dining services located at North Hall and the Campus Drive Grill.

The University Club, on the first floor of North Hall, is open for lunch from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and for dinner from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.  Bag lunch services are also being provided at the Club all day from 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.  

The Campus Drive Grill is temporarily serving breakfast items from 7:30 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. and lunch from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

One student, Mike Camera, an art major from Mohawk, Pa., is not impressed with what the Campus Drive Grill has to offer.  

"It'll do in the meantime, but I don't want to see it next semester," he said.

Camera said he dislikes how crowded the small area becomes around lunchtime, as well as the amount of bees swarming around him while he's eating his breakfast or lunch.

He also said that the food at Weisenfluh was much healthier than the choices provided at Campus Drive Grill.  Other complaints include the pricing at the temporary food service.

"At Weisenfluh, $5.50 could get you as much food as you wanted. Here it's a sandwich," said Camera.

You are not permitted to use debit or credit cards at either Campus Drive Grill or the University Club.

However, students around campus remain using the dining services until Weisenfluh re-opens in the spring.

"Students love it," said Bruckner. "We had 365 students purchase items from Campus Drive Grill on Wednesday."

Three workers also agree that the Campus Drive Grill is providing students with what they want, since they are receiving compliments of the dining service.  

Sharon Fleeger, Rami Coulter and Diane Beachem are employees from Weisenfluh that have been in charge of working the Grill for the fall semester.

"Students are happy because we have been overwhelmed with positive feedback," Fleeger, a ten-year employee of Slippery Rock University, said.  "We must be doing something right."

Fleeger said that the most popular item is the breakfast bowl, which is served with scrambled eggs and the students' choice of meat.  

Regardless of the opinion of the temporary dining services, students will be impressed with the renovation of Weisenfluh.    "It's moving from a dining hall to a retail atmosphere," said Bruckner.

Deb Pincek, assistant to the vice president for student life administration, has been involved with the planning of the new Weisenfluh from the beginning. She said there will be four new restaurants that will offer a wide variety of food.

There will be an Asian restaurant called Umami, which will serve stir fry and other related dishes, a Mediterranean and Greek restaurant called Elia, the Met Grill which will serve a variety of burgers such as turkey, bison and veggie, as well as baked fries, and Agave, an upscale Mexican food restaurant that makes its own tortillas and salsa.

Amy Kellerman, a cashier at Weisenfluh, gave details concerning the transformation of the dining center.  

"The entire inside of Weisenfluh has been wiped out and there will now be conference rooms located by the windows," said Kellerman.

Campus Drive Grill will not disappear from Slippery Rock University once Weisenfluh opens in January.

"We will move the facility to another location on campus once the 'Fluh opens, but we are not sure where it will be placed," said Bruckner.