North Campus Student Center opens after renovations
Changes To North Campus food stalls
All food stalls in the North Campus dining facility have been redesigned.
"¢bull; Pizza Fresca is transitioning from serving large pizza slices to personal-sized pizzas made with fresh dough.
"¢bull; Burger Express was removed and replaced by Tacos del Norte, a stand serving a simplified taco menu influenced in part by the refined menu of taco trucks.
"¢bull; Casa del Norte, which had a comparatively complex menu while only accounting for 10 percent of sales, was replaced by the panini and hamburger stall Northside Grill.
"¢bull; The Grab and Go sandwich stall was replaced by a Curbside brand sandwich stall, the same brand found in Ackerman Union.
SOURCE: Cindy Bolton, director of ASUCLA food services
Compiled by Gordon Murray
By Gordon Murray
Jan. 5, 2011 3:05 a.m.
The newly remodeled North Campus dining area opened for business on Monday. Coupled with the projected opening of the redesigned South Campus Student Center this summer, 2011 is set out to be a big year for Associated Students UCLA’s restaurants.
Although ASUCLA typically remodels one food stall at a time when addressing issues of declining food revenue and aging facilities, the board decided to completely overhaul the North Campus dining area. The board saw that food areas that were significantly remodeled, such as Ackerman Unions’s Avenue A, generated higher revenue.
“We hadn’t done anything new here for several years. North Campus was due for a new refreshment,” said Cindy Bolton, director of ASUCLA food services.
Bolton said the board began making plans for the new area in November, and said the amount of work done since that time was dramatic.
Every food stall was redesigned. To wrap everything together, a new tiled floor was installed.
“It makes a big difference,” Bolton said. “We had people coming in and asking if we moved the walls. The new floor just makes it bigger.”
Despite the sweeping transformation of the North Campus dining area, the ASUCLA board of directors considers the remodeling a temporary solution until a more radical overhaul happens to the building several years from now.
“Right now, it is just a bridge solution,” Bolton said.
Joey Enthoven, a fourth-year political science student, said the new signs were the first thing he noticed when he walked into the new North Campus food court.
Other students had similar views.
“It looks more modern,” said Daniel Matusov, a second-year law student. “It’s like the 1980s instead of the 1950s.”
Christina Kantzavelos, a social welfare graduate student, agreed that the remodeling is aesthetically pleasing.
“And the grilled cheese sandwiches are the bomb,” she said.
Still under construction is a new cafe in the Charles E. Young Research Library, projected to open its doors in spring 2011.
ASUCLA plans to name it Café 451 in homage to Ray Bradbury’s novel “Fahrenheit 451,” which was written in the library’s basement, said Bob Williams, ASUCLA executive director.
Across campus, the South Campus Student Center is projected to open in summer 2011.
There were many complaints about the Bombshelter, Bolton said.
“It was really aging and didn’t have a real kitchen,” she said.
The university was also interested in the development and partnered with ASUCLA to design a newer, bigger South Campus Student Center to replace the Bombshelter.
The South Campus Student Center will provide an indoor dining space, including Yoshinoya and Subway restaurants. In addition, the center will feature a bistro-style restaurant, an international fusion-style restaurant, a frozen yogurt store, a coffee shop and a small ASUCLA general store.
