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The Student News Site of Saint Louis University

The University News

The Student News Site of Saint Louis University

The University News

Chartwells aims to please, yet misses

In its “Dining Services Guide,” Chartwells-the food services company with a monopoly on Saint Louis University eats-claims to be “committed to providing quality and nutritious food with exceptional service.”

Though Chartwells does, in fact, serve food, the price of this food, quality of service and current hours of operation are questionable. The products that Chartwells sells are neither consistently high-quality nor uniformly nutritious, and the service is, in some venues, sub-par. Though hardly a dietary garbage dump, Chartwells’ failure to live up to its printed mission leaves us wondering, wishing and waiting for something better.

Though SLU restaurants like Terra Vé, Jump, Subway and the library’s Libros Café have expanded their selections in 2008, we’d like to see even more. Terra Vé’s popular stir-fry is delicious but costs nearly $7 when combined with a salad. Let’s lower prices to something students and visitors can afford.

Reinert Resident Dining Restaurant will offer a Sunday brunch this fall, but whom will it serve? Will it attract students outside of Reinert? And the Simon Recreation Center’s Refresh Juice Bar, though true to its name, is a bit redundant, with Kaldi’s in Fusz Food Court serving smoothies less than a block away.

Let’s not forget the high cost of meal plans themselves. The all flex plan, which comes with 1,100 flex points, costs $1,855. Can Chartwells really justify an overhead greater than $755? Smart students have learned through word of mouth to purchase the commuter plan at 150 flex points for $200, and then reload their flex points. That way, they actually get more value, as flex points can be bought at 1.25 per dollar.

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To be sure, Chartwells does try to acknowledge its customers’ qualms: Comment sheets and suggestion boxes edge every cash register, begging for feedback in SAT-style bubbles. Most of the food service workers are friendly and polite, especially after having to work on their feet for hours, serving hungry-often grumpy-patrons.

But we’d demand a little more time, if we could have our cake and eat it, too. Though Salsarita’s is open until 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and Fusz is open until 10 p.m. on most nights, many other restaurants are closed by 3 p.m. on Friday. Most Chartwells restaurants are open until 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday; this includes Griesedieck cafeteria, Au Bon Pain, The Grand Market and Fusz Food Court.

As soon as the weekends roll around, students had better take a stroll to the Schnuck’s on Lindell Boulevard, because there’s little to be found on campus after 3 p.m. on Friday. Where are students living on campus to use these expensive meal plans, which everyone must purchase, on the weekends?

The Grand Market may soon be open until 2 a.m., if the BSC building coordinator’s plans pan out, and that’s a start. The next step is a 24-hour eatery somewhere on campus for late-night studiers and night-owls. Then, Chartwells will increase food quality and lower prices, and our edible utopia will be complete. Until then, we’ll keep filling out those comment sheets, waiting for Chartwells to beef up its game.

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