Melissa Brown finds herself going to the new grill more than before because of the variety of food and the better location.

Brown, a junior in Business Management from Smithton who is a resident of Mae Smith Hall, said her work schedule changed since last semester, and it is more convenient for her to go to the new grill in Grinnell Hall.

A bigger selection of food and the fact that it is closer than Trueblood makes it more convenient for me when I eat later at night, she said.

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Brown said the only problem with the new grill is that there are no hot sandwiches that are low in fat.

They need to have low-fat hot sandwiches like chicken sandwiches, Brown said. If you want healthy food now, you have to have a salad.

Brown said she goes to the grill twice a week for her dinner whereas before she never went to Trueblood, the former location of the grill.

In the way Trueblood currently is, they don’t like to change the menu, she said. They seem to serve the same things over and over.

Before you had an option of going to Trueblood or Grinnell for traditional entrees, but ever since the consolidation you only have a choice of fast food or the entrees.

Residence Hall Dining made these changes at the beginning of the semester to accommodate space restraints and to add more of a variety of food.

Bill Connors, head chef for Residence Hall Dining, said the new area where fast food is being served (Grinnell Hall) has seen an increase in patrons over previous semesters when the Grill was in Trueblood.

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We are up over 50,000 swipes year-to-date, Connors said. We are experiencing over 2,000 swipes per night. That is a huge increase and we’re really happy with that.

Grinnell Hall grill is now serving hamburgers, fries, salads, onion rings, chicken strips and a variety of chocolate snacks. Last semester, Grinnell served the traditional entrees that are now being served at Trueblood.

Connors said despite the sudden surge to late night fast food at Grinnell, the business has not slowed down at Trueblood.

We’re really happy with the way things are going. They haven’t stopped going to Trueblood.

Connors said the number of students that are showing up at Grinnell range between 1,300 and 1,700 nightly.

It’s definitely the wide variety of products, Connors said. We’re able to offer a lot more options. We have three to four times the variety of what we had.

Residence Hall Dining also added a coffee house in the basement of Trueblood and a Pizza Place in the basement of Grinnell that has students either using cash or a $52 declining balance that students sign up for at the beginning of the semester. Those two additions have not met their expectations.

It is a bit on the slow side, Connors said. The coffee shop is holding steady and the Pizza Place is something that we’re still looking into.

Connors assures that only hours were cut back from the Pizza Places’ original plans.

Nobody lost their job in this transition. We cut back hours in the Pizza Place because of lack of business.

Connors said Residence Hall Dining will fight the battle for the rest of the semester to help boost student interest in the Pizza Place.

They have offered a $4 coupon for a cheese pizza on the weekends and will see if that helps the business, he said.

The Pizza Place is offering delivery to eastside campus residents in their effort to improve interest.

Erman Basim, a junior in mechanical engineering from Turkey, said in order for the Pizza Place to be more successful, Residence Hall Dining must take a look at cost and quality.

If they decreased their prices and kept the same pizza or increased their prices and got a better quality pizza then I may go there more often, Basim said. Other than that I think they do a great job.

Brown said that they are more comfortable ordering from a pizza place in which she is familiar with.

If I used my declining balance, I would rather spend it on [fast food in the Student Center], Brown said. People feel more comfortable ordering from [local pizza places] than to try something they know little about, and those places deliver too.

Connors said despite the little troubles they are having with the specialty places, Residence Hall Dining is satisfied with the move.

We’re really happy with the way students are pleased with the changes.