A year and a half in the making, Lakeside Dining Hall opened its doors to the Elon community on February 4. Patrons waited in long lines to sample the new eating options, which several students praised as a departure from the routine of the Colonnades and McEwen dining halls.
“I’m pretty impressed by the classiness of the layout and the food in general,” freshman Kim Temlak said. “They have really fancy dishes at Lakeside and I was not expecting that at all.”
The opening attracted about 1,200 people for lunch and dinner Monday alone, which was about in line with expectations, according to Katie Nelson, ARAMARK’s marketing manager. The dining service was prepared well in advance, and the opening went smoothly, she said.
“We’ve been planning this opening for the past academic year so we were pretty prepared,” she said. “We were afraid that we might run out of food so we had to borrow from other locations.”
But borrowing food from other dining halls was not an issue, seeing as McEwen and Colonnades dining halls both fell far short of their average people served on Monday. According to Nelson, Colonnades served 175 people for lunch and 250 for dinner, while McEwen served a meager 75 all day. Colonnades usually averages 600-800 patrons each day.
“Especially without having class Monday, students didn’t have anything set to do,” Nelson said. “We’re just excited that people knew and happy with the turnout.”
But some students expressed frustration with the hours Lakeside operates, especially given that it is not currently open for breakfast. Nelson said ARAMARK always takes student feedback into account, but hours are still largely dependent on the traffic patterns of consumers – essentially meaning they can’t serve eggs if no one is there to eat them.
“It comes down to university approval but obviously it’s built by student feedback and traffic patterns,” Nelson said. “We can’t open a facility and run it if there’s not a need or a demand.”
And while students don’t agree on everything Lakeside does, they do seem to share an appreciation for the food itself and some students just needed a change from the usual.
“We needed some diversity because Colonnades was throwing out the same stuff and McEwen was the same old, same old,” senior Ethan Fraser said.
Apart from the food, the Lakeside Dining Hall is not without its fair share of critics. Several students criticized the long lines, limited seating and size.
“I don’t like the seating arrangement. I was hoping there would be more seating outside or space for more students,” junior Immanuel Bryant said.
In addition to seating, lines were an issue for some.
“The lines are just too long,” senior Scott Durand said. “The high ceilings are nice, but I thought it was going to be a little bit bigger. It can be difficult to find a seat.”
Despite its faults, Lakeside overall has been a success in Fraser’s opinion. He said the extra competition for students’ appetites can’t hurt McEwen and Colonnades, either.
“They have a lot more diversity than Colonnades,” he said. “It’s getting a little more competitive with everything, and students are going to go to the best place.”
The gimmicks of Lakeside have attracted some, from the Coca-Cola Freestyle Machine, capable of dispensing over 100 unique kinds of soda, to the cereal options available.
“If nothing else, I do like that we have Frosted Flakes here,” Bryant said. “It’s not offered anywhere else on campus.”