5 things: Expanded Pitt dining facility to feature 10 independent concepts

In this edition of 5 Things, Food Management highlights five things you may have missed recently about developments affecting onsite dining.

Here’s your list for today:

 1.    Pitt’s revamped Eatery to feature 10 independent restaurant concepts

The Eatery, the University of Pittsburgh’s largest dining facility, will undergo a complete transformation that will soon feature 10 independent concepts and dining innovations. The renovation will be completed in a phased construction approach that began this past May, with plans calling for dining concepts to go offline and be reactivated in segments throughout the 2023–24 academic year.

Read more: University of Pittsburgh, Pitt Eats reveal plans for revamped on-campus dining

 2.    Hospital reopens vocational program cafe

After being forced to close during the pandemic, the Valley View Cafe on the campus of Connecticut Valley Hospital in Middletown is back in business. While al fresco dining and to-go options have replaced indoor dining, the cafe, now dubbed Valley View To Go, is still serving up its well-known favorite dishes and hot desserts while providing hospital clients who are in recovery the opportunity to gain valuable vocational skills by assisting customers.

Read more: CT Valley Hospital vocational program cafe is back in business serving affordable meals

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 3.    UD opens two dining halls for late evening service

In response to student feedback expressing a desire for additional benefits to their meal plans, University of Delaware Dining is keeping two popular campus dining halls open from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. on weekdays. During the extended hours, students can enter the dining halls by using an additional meal swipe and enjoy a late-night menu offering a variety of options that include burgers, made-to-order sandwiches, salads, pizza and sweets.

Read more: UD Dining Introduces Late-Night Dining Hours

 4.    Thompson gastropub concept to open in Amazon’s HQ2 complex

A unit of Makers Union is coming to Amazon’s second headquarters in Pentagon City this fall, the third location for the upscale gastropub concept from FM Top 50 firm Thompson Hospitality. Makers Union joins a variety of new businesses and dining establishments such as the local Taqueria Xochi and Toby’s Homemade Ice Cream concepts slated to get in on the ground floor of the first phase of Amazon’s HQ2, known as Metropolitan Park, which opened earlier this summer.

Read more: Makers Union pub slated to open this fall in Pentagon City

 5.    College deals with offering temporary dining service while new student center is built

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Northwest College in Wyoming is dealing with providing campus dining services to students until its new student center opens next school year. For 2023-24, a temporary dining facility has opened next to the school soccer field that will offer five 30-minute lunch period meal blocks and four dinner blocks—three of 45 minutes and one of 30 minutes. In addition, campus dining services provider Sodexo is offering four pizza options—pepperoni, cheese and two specialty pies—daily from the Yellowstone Building that are made in a flex lab in the building.

Read more: New NWC temp dining facility opens to students

Bonus: Flexible station concept addresses company's post-pandemic foodservice needs

Contact Mike Buzalka at [email protected]