Cafeteria receives good news

It’s not exactly Gordon Ramsay’s at The London in New York, but the redesigned new Upper Residence Hall cafeteria is getting decent reviews.

Junior Katelyn Piorkowski, a Communication/Public Relations major, has been taking up on this new opportunity. Piorkowski was seen making her own homemade macaroni and cheese at the new cook-your-own-meal station, saying she also enjoyed making other homemade items suchas grilled cheese and even Chicken Alfredo.

“It’s gotten better,” said Piorkowski. “I still don’t really enjoy eating there but I like the fact that we can make our own food. I make some tasty food over in the cooking station.”

Last semester, the Kean campus underwent many changes. One of the biggest changes, was a complete makeover to the school’s new Upper Residence Hall Cafeteria.

New wall decor added to the Upper Residence Hall Cafeteria. Photo Courtesy of Breanna Palzer.

It now has new furniture, including brand new booths for larger groups of students along with new tables and chairs as well. The cafeteria was also given new wall decor showcasing where the cafeteria food is sourced from and other informative pieces as such.

Just like the main room in the cafeteria, the management for the cafeteria also got a makeover as well. The crew now has a new supervisor, along with a couple new cooks, for the day shift whose name is Michael Georgei.

Georgei has been making sure the cafeteria runs smoothly behind the scenes and aims to improve the quality of both the cafeteria and the food. Roman Bellanger, a junior who lives on campus,also likes the improvements.

“I think the food has gotten better,” Bellanger said. “I mean, it’s not the best but it’s definitely better than it was last year.”

Ashley Acupina especially likes the new addition of booths to the cafeteria.

“I really like how they added booths though, that was a pretty cool idea. My friends and I like to sit there when we go to the cafe to eat,” said the Kean Student.

As for the menu, she said the french fries are much better. “The food is better,” she said. “The fries taste a lot better too, those are my favorite.”

Upper Residence Hall Cafeteria adds new cook your own food station. Photo Courtesy of Breanna Palzer.

The cook your own meal station is a small area with two electric stoves that allows students to cook whatever their minds can come up with. Students can make items such as their own bowl of pasta, such as penne, or spaghetti, for instance, and add their own toppings like marinara and imitation crab.

In the morning, students can enjoy any type of eggs with toppings that change every day, and creative cooks can make any meal from an array of resources supplied by the cafeteria.

To Piorkowski, the cafeteria however does come up short in one area: vegetarian options. “Even though I am not a vegetarian there seems to be a small amount of options and it must behard for those that are vegetarian to find something to eat besides salads and tofu,” she said.