The plan is timed around the closure of the McShane Campus Center’s Marketplace cafeteria, which will shut its doors Columbus Day weekend to prepare for a top-to-bottom gut renovation.
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Billed as a bridge to a radically different approach to dining that will culminate with the new Marketplace facility in fall 2024, Destination Dining will expand current dining facilities and add eight new ones, bringing the total number of options to 14.
The biggest addition, which opened on Sept. 19, is an “All You Care to Enjoy” facility at Faber Hall’s Bepler Commons, with seating for 96 indoors and 192 in an adjacent tent. It features hot and cold stations with options like omelets, pasta, grilled items, and a salad bar. A second similar facility with seating for 486 will open Oct. 10 on the second floor of the McShane Center.
The University has also added two electric food carts, a new “Grab N Go” spot, and a bagel shop.
Mobile Dining Options
This fall, a 30-foot “CHOMP Truck” offering everything from grilled cheese and poke to gyros, egg sandwiches, and donuts will arrive and shuttle between three spots on campus. A three-wheeled “Bronxie Bike” stocked with snacks will also be dispatched around campus later in the fall.
The university is also expanding two existing facilities: Two heated tents capable of accommodating nearly 300 diners have been installed next to the Starbucks at Dealy Hall and Cosi at Campbell Hall.
Maintaining a Sense of Community
Michele Burris, interim vice president for student affairs, said creative new concepts like the CHOMP truck and coffee carts will likely stay even after the newly renovated Marketplace opens.
Burris also noted that the University will tweak operations as necessary to make the facilities appealing as places of community as well as sustenance.
“It’s like at your home when you gather with your family. That’s what the dining facilities become here at Fordham. It is where people spend time getting to know each other,” she said.
“We didn’t just set up dining venues where you run in, grab your food, and go, so we’re going to be as flexible as possible. If we notice, for instance, that we have more demand in one place than another, we’ll adjust whatever we can as we get used to new traffic patterns.”
A Focus on Trends and Preferences
Deming Yaun, University dining contract liaison, said the new facilities are meant to be a step forward.
“These had to be set up to serve the students with the needs that they are bringing to campus today, the trends they’re interested in, their own personal preferences for dining—and ultimately provide them with more access to food than they’ve ever had before,” he said.
A Step ‘Even Further’ Forward in 2024
The changes will continue with a completely reimagined dining experience in the fall. The new Marketplace will feature stations where food is prepared on the spot. The salad bar area will feature its own kitchen, prep, and service area, as will a halal kitchen and a delicatessen.
“We’re going from what the Marketplace was, which served us well for 50-some-odd years, to this destination dining, which is a step forward,” said Yaun.
“The renovated Marketplace is going to be a step even further forward.”
Destination Dining at a Glance
Ram Central Station Electric Food Cart: Next to Loschert Hall
Mon–Thu 7:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. and 8 – 10 p.m.
Fri 7:30 a.m.-2 p.m.
(Weather permitting)
Ram Roadega Electric Food Cart: Next to Walsh Hall
Mon–Thu 7:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. and 8 – 10 p.m.
Fri 7:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.
(Weather permitting)
New Grab N Go BKG Roasters & Sambazon
First Floor, McShane Center
Mon–Fri 7:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Sat–Sun Closed
Self-Checkout
Mon–Fri 7:30 a.m. – 12 a.m.
Sat–Sun 10 a.m. – 12 a.m.
Bronx Bagel Company: Dagger Johns, McShane Center
Mon–Fri 7:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.
All You Care to Enjoy Dining Hall Hub: Faber Hall in Bepler Commons
Mon–Thu 7:30 a.m. – 8 p.m.
CHOMP Truck
(Coming Soon)
Behind Martyr’s Court: Mon–Fri 7:30 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Next to Finley Hall: Thu–Sat 10 p.m. – 1 a.m.
Dealy Hall: (Next to Starbucks): Sat–Sun, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
All You Care to Enjoy Dining Hall Hub: Second Floor, McShane Center
(Starting Oct. 10)
Mon–Thu 7:30 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Fri 7:30 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Sat–Sun 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.
