2009 Ivy Award Winner: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
At Virginia Tech, buffets, chain-restaurant outposts and made-to-order concepts featuring specialties such as steamed lobster make a meal plan the hottest ticket in town.
By Kelly Smith Killian, Editor-in-Chief -- Restaurants & Institutions, May 1, 2009
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| D2 dining hall offers all-you-can-eat choices. |
Many college students consider a visit from parents or friends the perfect opportunity to escape campus and be treated to a special meal. Bo Hart, a sophomore at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), sees it as a chance to show off the food he enjoys every day in the dining halls. “Every time I bring visitors, I say let’s stay on campus,” says Hart. When his guests taste the food, “they are stunned,” he says.
Wood-fired pizzas, Jamaican-jerk wraps, grilled rib-eye steaks and steamed Maine lobsters are just some of the made-to-order options available to students every day at West End Market, a marketplace-style dining hall with seven diverse concepts under one roof. “College food is [often] one of those things you dread,” says Hart, who also is student president of the Residence Hall Federation. “Our food is great. I guess we’re spoiled here.”
Hart is not alone. The Princeton Review consistently ranks Virginia Tech among the colleges with the “Best Campus Food” (granting it the No. 1 spot in 2007) based on student surveys.
Even stronger evidence of student satisfaction shows up in the number of meal plans purchased. Although the
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| J.P.’s in West End Market serves steak and lobster. |
roughly 9,000 students living on campus (which includes all freshmen) are required to have meal plans, what’s impressive is the additional 9,000 off-campus students who opt into the dining program.
“We believe we’ve sold them by the time they leave us freshman year,” says Rick Johnson, director of housing and dining services at Virginia Tech. “When it comes time to buy a meal plan, they [figure], 'It’s a good deal, we like it,’ and they’re familiar with the food.”
The flexible, à-la-carte-style meal plan (which the school began rolling out 10 years ago) allows students to eat whatever they like, whenever they like, wherever they like on campus. And it is this type of plan that allows Virginia Tech to offer such variety across its 11 dining facilities. In addition to a range of made-to-order choices at West End Market, there are traditional “all-you-care-to-eat” venues and chain restaurants for the choosing.
Higher Education
Hart refers to West End Market dining hall as the “place where you can get lobster and steak.” While that distinction certainly makes it unique, it only tells part of the story.
When it was built in 1999, it was one of the only marketplace concepts of its kind on a college campus. Modeled after two industry bellwethers—Foodlife (Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises’ food-court concept) in Chicago and Marché in Toronto—West End Market houses seven distinct “shops” under one roof. “We didn’t create the [idea]; we synthesized it and did our own take on it,” Johnson says.
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Student enrollment: 30,000 Meal plans: over 18,000 Dining centers: 11 Meals served annually: 5.5 million Annual food-and-beverage sales: $41 million |
There’s a bistro with a wood-fired pizza oven, a salad spot and a sports lounge serving burgers and nachos, to name a few. And of course there’s J.P.’s Chop House, the place that serves steak and lobster (as well as other higher-end dishes). Like Marché, each concept has its own distinct décor and ambience, and the food is prepared to order in front of the customer.
All in One
Following the success of West End Market, Virginia Tech broke new ground again recently when it remodeled its Dietrick Dining Center, applying a similar marketplace design to an “all-you-care-to-eat” setting.
Its dining hall, D2, has eight concepts, including a Brazilian churrascaria, a pâtisserie, a deli, and a venue dedicated to vegetarian and vegan fare. “Everybody wants something different, and they want it quickly,” says Robert Coffey, senior associate director of dining services. “It works great because the students have more choices.”
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A Taste of Virginia Tech |
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D2 Thai Coconut Soup Hawaiian Pizza Baked Catfish with Crayfish Sauce White Bean and Tahini Burgers Hokie Grill & Co. Carvel Chick-fil-A Cinnabon Pizza Hut Blue Ridge Barbeque West End Market London Broil with Mushroom Sauce Whole Steamed Lobster Spicy Asian Chicken Wrap Bacon Blue-Cheese Burger |
The marketplace setup has meant shorter lines because diners can select their food from stations rather than waiting in a single cafeteria-style queue.
D2 is known for its themed dinners, for which Virginia Tech has been recognized several times by the National Association of College & University Food Services.
A recent Medieval Feast and Faire, for example, featured a three-course meal consisting of honey-glazed quail stuffed with frumenty, venison rib chops, and cherry clafoutis glazed with vanilla-bean jelly and raspberry coulis for dessert. Other award-winning themes have included a Pirates of the Caribbean dinner for which Johnson hired a Capt. Jack Sparrow lookalike and an Oscars-night bash.
Brand Identity
Most of Virginia Tech’s chain brands—Carvel, Chick-fil-A, Cinnabon, Pizza Hut—along with the school’s Blue Ridge Barbeque concept are located in Hokie Grill & Co. Units of two other chains, Au Bon Pain and Sbarro, are housed in Squires Student Center.
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| Director Rick Johnson (center right) poses with some of the 1,400 employees of Virginia Tech Housing and Dining Services, which has earned numerous accolades for its work. |
What’s unique is the fact that Virginia Tech runs all of its own chain franchises, which Johnson says allows them to control the quality of the food and service. “With multiple franchises in the same facility, it’s better to be all part of the same family when you share work areas and refrigerator space,” he says. “From an efficiency standpoint, it works for us.”
The chains do big business here. The Au Bon Pain is expected to approach $5 million in sales this year, says Johnson, noting that sales are over a 32-week period. Spread over 52 weeks, the figure could be closer to $8 million, making Virginia Tech’s one of the company’s most successful franchisees. The university’s Chick-fil-A also is one of the chain’s top U.S. locations, with $1.1 million in annual sales, and its Pizza Hut ranks among the top college outposts, with $900,000 in annual sales.
Johnson is quick to point out, however, that the national chains represent only one part of the food-and-beverage landscape at Virginia Tech, making up just 22% of total sales. “The brands don’t dominate our program,” he says. “It’s just all part of a total package that we think is very balanced.”
contact writer at kelly.killian@reedbusiness.com
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