Leona LabombarbeLeona Lambombarbe shows off the Mediterranean Grill and Burger Bar stations in the Marketplace food court.

Health and choice key concepts driving changes in Food Services

Changes to food services on campus this fall are driven by the keywords healthy and choice, says Anna Kirby, executive director of Campus Services.

New developments are based on student feedback and trends in the industry, with the goal of ensuring students have the best when it comes to options—especially healthy options. 

“Food Services plays an essential role in our customers UWindsor experience and knowing this, drives us to deliver a program that serves great, healthy food, offers our customers exceptional variety, excellent customer service, while being fiscally and socially responsible,” says Kirby.

Following are the changes:

The Marketplace in the CAW Student Centre has introduced two new concepts, a Mediterranean Grill and Burger Bar. The grill’s menu is both trendy and healthy: featuring Greek salad, gyros, souvlaki, falafels and dinner combos that come with rice and vegetables. The Burger Bar serves fresh-made ground chuck patties cooked to order on a flat top grill, which customers can customize with an assortment of fresh toppings including caramelized onions, sautéed mushrooms and selection of premium cheeses.

The Marketplace has renamed its home-style line “Chef to U,” featuring daily homemade specials at lunch and dinner. New this year is a daily lunch special for under $6.

Chef Paolo Vasapolli has created a number of new take-out meals that are now part of the Made Fresh to Go line, and has expanded the selection of pre-packaged sushi, made fresh daily by Au So Sushi.

Another new addition is Coca Cola’s free-style fountain machine that offers more than 100 different drinks, and the opportunity for customers to create their own concoction by blending different flavours.

The Marketplace also now hosts a self-serve Tim Hortons to help combat long lines at the Tim’s kiosk. Two outlets will better handle demand for Canada’s favourite coffee.

The Crocodile Grill in Vanier Hall has a new made-to-order menu at breakfast and dinner, featuring eggs benedict, steak and eggs, huevos rancheros burritos, egg white omelettes, fruit parfaits and smoothies. The Croc has a number of gluten-free items including bagels, English muffins and pancakes. The dinner menu includes salads, fresh made burgers, wraps and hot sandwiches, a “slim” platter for diet conscious customers, grilled tilapia, a Vietnamese noodle bowl, Korean barbecue style pork chop, chicken quesadillas, pasta of the day and dinner special.

The Bru in Alumni Hall saw a much-needed renovation this summer to its café convenience store. In addition to a fresh coat of paint and new fridges, the store now has a made-to-order pizza counter featuring a oven that cooks a pizza in two minutes. The Bru has a new line of Made Fresh to Go Bowls and meals designed for students to bring back to their rooms and heat up in a microwave, and still carries the popular sandwich counter and home-made soup specials.

The Brown Gold Cafés in the Leddy Library and Toldo Health Education Centre has re-opened to serve fair trade certified organic coffee and teas, including Marley coffee blends. Both shops have a full line of Made Fresh to Go sandwiches and salads.

The Hub in the Centre for Engineering Innovation has transitioned to a second self-serve Tim Hortons outlet.