NONCOMMERCIAL TRENDS: From French Fries to Flatbreads

Indiana University students seeking healthier, customized fare create a fast-casual winner.

By Christine LaFave, Associate Editor -- Restaurants and Institutions, 10/10/2008 4:31:00 PM

IU’s Read Residence Center

To be sure, students at Indiana University in Bloomington aren’t giving up their burgers, pizza and fries. But when given a blank slate to create a new concept after an on-campus McDonald’s closed, students opted to forego standard fast-food fare in favor of an amalgam of the fast-casual favorites they know and love: made-to-order burritos, flatbreads and upscale deli sandwiches.

The Hoosiers named their creation El Bistro (that’s Spanish for “The Bistro”), and this fall, one year after its debut, the concept has far exceeded initial expectations of it, says Sandra Fowler, director of residential dining services. “We thought it would build a little slower and it would grow and we would market it,” Fowler says. Instead, word of mouth about the new as-you-like-it operation got around, and “almost from Day 1 it was extremely popular,” she says.

El Bistro opened in IU’s Read Residence Center in the space left vacant when a contract with McDonald’s was not renewed in 2006. During the 2006-2007 school year, Indiana’s 16-member Meal Plan Committee, chaired by students, tested various non-franchise menu concepts—tacos, breakfast items, sandwiches—and came up with the plan for an operation with a broad menu focus but an emphasis on customized preparations.

“[Students] don’t seem to mind standing in line waiting for that omelet with exactly what they wanted in it and prepared exactly how they want it,” Fowler says. “We’ve been very pleased and really happy that we’re offering something that students really want.”

Creative specialty selections have proved popular at El Bistro, too; outside-the-box burritos, for example, include the Spring Delight, with lime cilantro rice, black beans, tofu, lettuce, tomato, alfalfa sprouts, sour cream and mango salsa, and the Crunchy Chicken, with pinto beans, chicken, crumbled tortilla chips, lettuce, shredded Cheddar cheese, sour cream, avocado ranch and mild salsa. On any given day, students can select from 10 or more breads—vegan oat-bran, challah, cranberry walnut and ciabatta among them—as the base for their sandwich. El Bistro marks Indiana’s first foray into baking breads on campus.

In addition to delivering a menu with the bolder, layered flavors that today’s college students have come to expect, the concept aims to “create a different atmosphere,” says Fowler. With seating limited to 65 students inside (an adjoining patio offers umbrella-covered tables), El Bistro boasts a more café-like feel than other dining options on campus. “It is kind of a more-intimate experience,” Fowler says. “It’s not just this big massive room.”

Not to say that El Bistro has gone completely for a coffeehouse or bakery-cafe vibe—it might be the only fast-casual concept to give guests the chance to order either a Super Carne burrito or waffles with ice cream and blueberry syrup at 11 p.m. And the average check is slightly lower than when McDonald’s was on campus—$5.45 to $5.66 versus $6, notes Fowler.

El Bistro’s menu might blur the lines of dayparts and cuisines, but the appeal of more-healthful, more-customizable options is undeniable, she says, and the result is a concept that markets itself. “It’s been a lot of fun for the students,” says Fowler. “Campuswide, we’ve seen that they want a different setting.”