Managing the Night Day Night part Day part

FM Staff

No one has to tell campus dining services directors that their student customers are on a different meal schedule than the rest of the world. Students typically eat their first meal of the day when the average adult already is well into his or her work day. And the rest of us are probably several hours into a good night's sleep when college students sit down to dinner.

Most campus operators already have responded to their students' rotated internal clocks by extending breakfast hours so they bump up against lunch and by expanding late-night dining options. Even when core residential dining facilities close at 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. each evening, it's easy to find c-store and fast-food facilities open past 10 p.m. on many college campuses.

But some colleges and universities have responded to nightowl student habits with a giant leap forward—offering dining options 24/7 or throughout the night. And we're not just talking pizza and burgers here. One size does not fit all, however. Campus directors customize their offerings to deliver more of what their own students really want and will use at a cost dining services can afford to pay.

That means, when it comes to all-night dining, some colleges and universities offer limited menus, some offer all-night service only on weekends, and some define all-night service as ending at 4 a.m.

University of Missouri-Columbia:
A C-Store with a To-Order Food Concession

Students at the University of Missouri-Columbia can get made-to-order Subway sandwiches and Noble Roman's pizza round the clock at full-service stations located within Mizzou Market-Hitt Street, a c-store measuring out at more than 3,000 square feet.

Introduced nearly 13 years ago as the first campus food facility open past 1 a.m., the operation has been popular with students since its opening. Nearly 70 percent of the business comes from off-campus students, according to Robert Curry, manager of convenience stores and snack bars, so it appears to fill a special, untapped niche for students who are not on residence hall meal plans.

"At a 24-hour operation, there is no time frame that has no traffic," says Curry, "although it does slow to 15 to 20 customers an hour between 4 and 7 a.m."

Labor costs have not been a problem. "There is prep work that can be done late at night that would normally have to be done during the day. Additionally, there are costs involved in shutting down that we no longer have."

Curry says the same 24/7 schedule is currently-being considered for a new c-store that is under construction on the university campus.

When asked the biggest surprise of operating 24/7, Curry replies: "I think the biggest surprise for me is that the top seller at 4 a.m. is hair coloring. I guess it has to do with folks not wanting anyone to know they color their hair."

University of Oklahoma:
If the Union is Open, Why Not Food?

At the University of Oklahoma, in Norman, its 24/7 facility, Crossroads, located in the Oklahoma Memorial Union, was open for 94 straight days without closing between the start of the school year and Thanksgiving break. It began life as a round-the-clock venue five years ago, when the Oklahoma Memorial Union went through a major renovation.

"The feeling was since the union was to be open 24/7, we wanted to have at least one food service operation open all the time," says David L. Annis, Oklahoma's executive director of food services and special assistant to the vice president for student affairs.

Crossroads grosses approximately $6,000 a day selling made-to-order sandwiches, upscale burgers, an assortment of pastries and a very popular 24-hour breakfast menu.

Initially, Annis admits the food service department was concerned "about the lack of foot traffic at 3 a.m. and how we would cover our labor costs at that hour but that has not been a problem. The slowest point of the day is between 4 and 7 a.m. when we average $100 an hour. We are very busy at exam time, often having a $400 hour at 3 a.m."

The menu is the same all day and has remained pretty stable since Crossroads' opening. At the beginning, "We did add items because the students requested them —things like chicken wings, poppers, onion rings and other snack foods. We also expanded our breakfast menu to 24 hours because the students wanted omelets and Belgian waffles at night.

"Student response has been great," says Annis, and word-of-mouth has been the only promotion needed.

"We allow our students to use their meal plans at all food operations on campus so we do get a lot of students from the residence halls after our other operations close at midnight. They like being able to get hot, fresh, made-to-order food any time they want. No pre-mades or microwaves."

George Mason University:
They Like Ike's

At George Mason University, in Fairfax, VA, students can relive their Cinderella trip to the March Madness national basketball tournament over traditional diner menu selections at Ike's from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. Mondays through Thursdays and from 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays to 11 a.m. the next morning.

Opened in March 2005 as an extension of Eisenhower Hall, in the heart of the university's housing complex, Ike's has served as many as 1,600 customers in one night from a Denny's-style diner menu. It is a retail operation but at least 90 percent of sales are meal plan equivalency and declining balance meal plan dollars.

"Self-service was out of the question," says Michael Galvin, director of marketing and community affairs for George Mason Dining Services, a Sodexho account. "Our students wanted high-quality, fresh-cooked food from friendly, white-suited chefs and servers, and the pace at which we serve means everything is served immediately after cooking. Nothing is prepackaged except cold cereals. At the peak of the shift, usually around midnight, there may be 10 persons cooking and serving at a 20-foot wrap-around counter, with up to 75 customers served in a 15-minute period.

"Our biggest challenge was storage and cooking surfaces. Ike's was built to serve about 300 customers in a shift and, from day one, we were serving between 1,400 and 1,600," says Galvin. A truck started making shuttle runs to and from a larger facility for fried and other frozen foods about four hours into the shift. Storage and cooking-space has recently been expanded.

"The students are crazy about Ike's," says Galvin. "It's the place to meet and the place to eat. Ike's has built profound and enduring customer satisfaction and loyalty and integrated gracefully into our resident dining program. With the great number of equivalency dollars spent there, Ike's really is an additional service to the growing residential program. As our resident population approaches 25 percent of our total enrollment, we envision a similar facility on the other side of campus, in an area currently under development."

Bucknell:
New Life for Old Space

At Bucknell University, in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, customers at the 7th Street Cafè can choose from among four sandwiches and four to five salads and pair them with biscotti from the campus bakeshop and a made-to-order latte or cappuccino any hour of the day and night.

The 7th Street Cafè was an already popular-and established foodservice venue when it became the university's first all-night option last fall. Adding to its appeal and success as a 24/7 operation is the fact that "it is a small, homey, manageable space with old wooden booths, a wood counter, and hardwood floors," says Rick Slear, retail general manager, Bucknell Dining Services, which is contracted to Parkhurst Dining Services.

The idea for a 24-hour facility grew out of Bucknell's new President Brian C. Mitchell's expressed desire for a campus location where students could go at any hour. The 24-hour schedule was also encouraged by the success the college has had with a coffee shop in the library that stays open to 1 a.m. and goes onto a 24/7 schedule during finals week.

The menu is simple and basic: lots of teas, Starbucks coffees, lattes, cappuccinos, cold specialty ice cream and fruit drinks, juices, fruit, coffee shakes and on-the-go sandwiches and salads. There are admittedly quiet periods with the new schedule. There are even times when there is almost no customer traffic.

"Around 4 in the morning is a tough time and 3 to 6 a.m. is slow so we staff it with one person who can take care of customers and also stock for the next day," says Slear.

"We will continue to monitor traffic, but I think the general feeling is that it is a good idea, a smart idea, to have something open for students 24 hours a day."

Florida State:
Setting the Bar High

At the Park Avenue Diner (PAD), at Florida State University (FSU), in Tallahassee, wait staff won't check their watches no matter when you walk in.

You can order a tomahawk breakfast skillet of two eggs scrambled with ham, bacon, sausage, onion, green peppers and cheddar cheese served on a bed of hash browns at 8 p.m. You can order a green chili burger or fried shrimp platter at 8 a.m. and no one will bat an eye. The service is truly roundthe-clock, the extensive menu is available for all day parts, and the food is prepared to order.

"They don't get up early but they do stay up late," says Randy Clay, resident district manager for Aramark at FSU. Clay admits not even his years of experience throughout the industry and the country prepared him for the success of PAD, a 95-seat, full-service diner that serves 5,500 customers in a typical week and — believe this! — sees its heaviest traffic between 2 and 5 a.m.

PAD, which opened in July 2004, was a pet project of Patrick Sullivan, a student government president, who proposed a 24/7 operation three years ago. Clay's initial reaction was that "I've always said I would try something before deciding it wouldn't work. But I was certain this would hold up till about 3 a.m. and die after that."

Many concepts — sports bar, waffle house — were kicked around the allnight proposal "but we kept coming back to the idea of a diner," says Clay. "The menu is simple and straightforward — like a '50s diner. The jukebox plays '50s music. The Park Avenue Diner name capitalizes on both its Park Avenue location to give it an urban feel and the idea of a hometown diner for the atmosphere. It's a throwback to Joanie and Chachi [from the 'Happy Days' television series]."

The diner is a resounding success. "When it is running full tilt, the place really jumps," says Clay. Part of the reason is the diner's location in the heart of the campus, with a new campus bus route through the area. But Clay says a bigger reason is the friendly atmosphere and ambience that complement both the campus personality and university efforts to build a sense of community on the sprawling campus.

The only "dead time" at PAD is from 6 to 7:30 a.m. but "we need that time to get ready for the morning breakfast customers," says Clay. The design is such that seating areas can be closed off at slow times, when it is staffed with one cook and two wait staff.