Stanford Dining postponed the opening of The Dish, one of its late-night dining options, to Sunday, Oct. 16, after having previously postponed it several times since the Arrillaga Family Dining Commons opened.
The Dish’s schedule has also changed–shortened to being open Sunday through Thursday each week, down from seven nights per week when it was previously located in Stern Dining.
The Dish will be closed on Friday and Saturday nights, which have traditionally been The Dish’s busiest nights in past years.
Originally scheduled to open Oct. 6, the Dining Commons’ sign displaying the date just inside the facility was changed to Oct. 13, and then again to Oct. 16. Signs also indicated The Dish’s reduction in days of operation.
Food Services Manager Eric Montell said that the hours of operation for The Dish had to be reviewed by the directors of Stanford Dining in order to “balance” late-night dining with other late-night events that happen on campus.
Montell said that he and other dining directors have been holding meetings with ASSU this week in order to discuss the new features of The Dish. The administrators are seeking to ensure that the new hours of The Dish coordinate with the other late night events that happen around campus, which Montell said would maintain a balance in Stanford nightlife.
This concept of “balance” has been a concern to Dining, because of the large volume of people that have shown up at the new dining commons since its opening two weeks ago, according to Montell.
Focus has been placed on operating the Arrillaga Family Dining Commons’ continuous dining services between 7:30 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Montell estimated that, since its opening, the dining commons feeds between 30 and 40 percent of Stanford students in a single day.
The high volume of students has “overloaded” the dining commons and Stanford Dining is asking students who do not live in Toyon or Crothers to eat elsewhere, according to ASSU President Michael Cruz ‘12 at Tuesday’s Senate meeting.
Should The Dish also see a similarly high volume of students, Montell said that Dining would have to hire twice as many employees as they had hired when The Dish was located in Stern.
Several students The Daily interviewed expressed surprise to the changes in The Dish’s schedule.
“Are you kidding me?” asked Matt Walter ’14, reacting to the news The Dish would be closed Friday and Saturday nights.
“Where do they expect people to go get food late at night?” he continued. “The only time you’re out late typically is on weekends. It’s just silly.”
“I’m a little disappointed, but not entirely surprised,” said Matthaeus Weinhardt ‘13. “For them, they are still working on getting things running [sic] smoothly.”