Students living in the Ellicott Complex now have an alternative to ramen noodles and macaroni and cheese, with the grand opening of the renovated Ellicott Food Court.
The food court, located in Fillmore, consists of five separate stations, each serving a different type of cuisine.
Among the new stations are "Greens and Beans," a self-service soup and salad bar; "Sizzles," featuring grilled sandwiches and hamburgers; "Wrap It Up," a deli specializing in wraps; and "Salsa," a Mexican eatery. Pizza and subs are available at Hubies, which was relocated from its former location in Fargo Quadrangle.
Cindy Youngers, assistant director of the Faculty Student Association's Food and Vending Services, said student response to the new food court has been "absolutely wonderful."
Colleen Snyder, a junior classical archeology major, said she preferred the new food court to similar eating centers on North Campus, such as Bert's and Putnam's, due to the quality and selection the Ellicott Food Court offers.
"At Bert's, I just went to the Mexican-food place," Snyder said. "They have baked potatoes and taco salad stuff, but here, they have all different kinds of varieties of foods."
She said the quality of the food in the new dining hall reminds her of the food served at Applebee's.
According to Dennis Black, vice president of student affairs, the idea behind the food court was to create a central meeting place within the Ellicott Complex, something he said the complex has been lacking since it was first built.
Black said the new food court, though functional, is not complete. He said construction on a coffee and dessert shop is underway, and the university will begin building an outdoor patio for the area later this semester.
According to Black, the project is being built in stages because the administration did not want to inconvenience the students who live in Ellicott more than necessary.
"It would be real neat, clean, and easy to be able to do a project like that, and take as long as you want to do it and to do it right," Black said. "But that would have kept students out and our goal ... was that we didn't want to deprive people that live in Ellicott from the convenience and the services that were there, for more than a semester."
He said the coffee shop will provide a gathering spot for students to enjoy, not a "stand where you walk up and grab a cup of coffee in a Styrofoam cup with a plastic cap on it and then you run off to class or to catch a bus."
"The idea would be that it is a place where you not only come and get a drink, but you sit, and you stay, and you talk," said Black.
