The line of Bruggers stretching out into the lobby even with the new line pattern
Share
Six months after the much anticipated opening of Virginia Tech's latest dining facility, Turner Place at Lavery Hall remains immensely popular. But while the throngs of diners testify to that popularity, the large crowds have also raised concerns.
Turner Place opened to great fanfare at the beginning of last semester. The first dining hall to be built from the ground up on Virginia Tech’s campus in 42 years, Turner represented a break from the cafeteria-style dining, modeled after the success of West End Market's marketplace feel.
This semester, Turner has grown even busier, serving, on average, almost 2,000 more daily customers than in the fall.
“The lines are really long because everyone comes here,” said freshman English major Erica Palladino, who visits Turner for its salads. “Basically, during the transition times between classes, you don’t want to come at all.”
Among those who cite long lines and crowded seating as major drawbacks to the new facility, initial excitement about Turner Place has waned.
A “Titanic” Problem?
A few weeks ago, frustrated Turner Place customers took to the Internet to air their grievances against long waits and scarce seating at Dining Services' newest facility.
A post on Tech’s community page on the popular social media site Reddit referred to Turner as the “Titanic of dining halls.” The original post negatively assessed the market-style dining at Turner as compared to the cafeteria set-up at Shultz, the venue popular among the Corps of Cadets that Turner replaced.
“Sometimes we need to take a break from inventing the future to realize sometimes, you have to stick to what was good,” read the original post by user y0ur_Liver. “Serving masses of people quickly outweighs nice interiors and facades.” Reddit users remain anonymous beyond user-selected screen names.
The post garnered 70 responses and became one of the most popular comment threads on Tech’s Reddit page. While some defended the Turner Place concept, many agreed that lines and seating were a problem.
The Collegiate Times conducted a poll to follow up on the online complaints. Answers from nearly 160 respondents revealed that, while a large majority of those surveyed felt that the dining options in Turner fit in well at Tech, lines and overcrowding indeed posed a problem for many.
The most commonly reported wait time was between 15 to 30 minutes, with some claiming that they had waited an hour at several shops, especially Q’doba, which the survey showed to be one of the more popular options in Turner.
“Having to wait in line for 20 minutes or more for a burrito is ridiculous,” said one survey respondent. “I recommend hiring more staff, or doing something to fix the issues with crowding.”
“
Every day we strive to be better”
No one takes these customer concerns more seriously than Dining Services Director Ted Faulkner.
Faulkner and his department worked closely with students throughout the planning and construction of Turner Place — and continue to solicit student feedback — in order to provide a facility that best meets the needs of the Tech community.
“We tried to create a location that we called 'destination dining,'” Faulkner said, referring to the variety of shops and dining environments available in Turner.
According to Faulkner, Dining Services strived — in response to student suggestions and comments — to provide private spaces to work over lunch along with higher-end sit-down locations for special events and celebratory meals.
Faulkner sees in the lines and crowds a tribute to the successes of Turner, but also understands that long waits frustrate potential customers.
“We’ve heard concerns about the lines and we are addressing the inconsistencies," Faulkner said. "Every day, we strive to be better than the next day. I think that’s a tribute to how we’ve been very successful.”
Faulkner cited extending hours for breakfast at some shops and providing more grab-and-go options from sit-down locations as some of the on-the-fly adjustments Dining Services has made to get more customers quickly in and out of Turner Place.
A version of this article appeared in the Feb 28 issue of the Collegiate Times.
Leave a comment 15 Comments Write a letter to the editor
All letters to the editor must include a name, e-mail, daytime phone number and affiliation to Virginia Tech. Affiliation includes: year and major for students; position and department for faculty and staff; current city for alumni and parents.
The worst part of this-somehow Turner still isnt even making as much money as they were expected to...so dining services is doing massive labor cuts (students getting less shifts/cut early) at Owens and Hokie Grill to make up for it (even though they operate incredibly efficiently). And even worse is now they are slimming down serving sizes at these two places while keeping prices the same. So if you notice you are getting skimped now, file a complaint to dining services! Right now the ones who are losing are the students who work and the customers. I don't get why there is such a money problem with Turner over capacity and good sales at the existing facilities, but something needs to be done (besides hurting the students)
Reply to this Top
Completely dodged the "staffing" question
Reply to this Top
I like that Turner is so close and convenient, and the food is good, but why would I stand in line at Qdoba for half an hour when I can order online at Chipotle and walk in and out? Something needs to be done about the lines and efficiency if my business is wanted there...
I went to Qdoba at 2 pm (thinking there'd be no line!) and the line was STILL out the door. Well, only one side was open. It's like they WANT the line to be out the door - otherwise money is being wasted on staff. So it appears that my time isn't worth much... And so, I will order online at Chipotle today.
Reply to this Top
2pm is the middle of the day near most of the classes........ most people would think that that would be a busy time for turner. unless you're a freshy
Reply to this Top
We are also having our hours cut and most of the time its not that they are slimming down what you are getting, management is enforcing the portioning we were supposed to be doing all along but some employees were putting more than the portioned amount. Qdoba is short staff but sometimes that, like in any shop, is from students being sick and calling out. Also with going to qdoba at 2pm and their being a line, we have been open for a semester. There are trends in when people come to get food but even with that there are freakish times when we get a rush when on most days we will have 4-10 customers.
Reply to this Top
Honestly I think Turner has been extremely disappointing. Minus Qdoba, the food is so-so.
Reply to this Top
Why do they keep building these places without enough seating
Reply to this Top
thats a great question, you would think they would have learned from west end. very puzzling. (I saw the part about budget cuts, but why not scrap 1 shop in favor of seating?)
Reply to this Top
I work in Turner Place and yes there are huge issues with lines, staffing and space. We recognize all of these problems and try to serve our guests to the best ability every day. We are still learning the ins and outs of having a dining hall on the academic side of campus and of course it's going to be busy, especially during class transition periods.
With the staffing issue, there are department wide budget cuts that we can't control. Also, if you have to many employees working you're going to reach a level where it's inefficient (monetarily and productively)to have them in the shops because there's not a lot of space behind the counters either.
Eating used to be an experience to enjoy your food and take the time to satisfy hunger. We as students are always in a rush because we've got so much going on, but just be patient and the process will get better, slow down and enjoy the food prepared FOR you. Other dining halls have had years to figure out what's the best method for them to operate, I think we deserve a little more than one semester to sort through the kinks.
Reply to this Top
If you are intelligent, eating at Turner Place isn't an issue. Instead of waiting in the line right when classes change, go grab a seat while everyone else is in line. Sit at the table and talk with friends for about 20 minutes until the rush dies down, and then go get in line to get food. The problems people have are easily solved if you just think a little bit. I eat at Turner every single day with at least 3 other people and I have never once had a day where I could not find a seat.
Reply to this Top
Great – I should definitely pronounce, impressed with your website. I had no trouble navigating through all the tabs and related info ended up being truly simple to do to access. Kirk http://www.englishteachingdaily.com/2012/02/worksheet-guess-the-animal-game/
Reply to this Top
I absolutely love your blog and find a lot of your post's to be exactly what I'm looking for. Does one offer guest writers to write content for you personally? I wouldn't mind creating a post or elaborating on a few of the subjects you write concerning here. Again, awesome blog! discount red bottom shoes http://buydiscountredbottom.webs.com/
Reply to this Top
Hello! Do you know if they make any plugins to assist with SEO? I'm trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I'm not seeing very good gains. If you know of any please share. Thanks! Charla Bearce http://www.diggygames.com/fibreswamp62
Reply to this Top
iuzlbrjllb <a href="http://www.timberlandschuhede.eu/26-womens-timberland-sandalen-stiefel/" title="Frauen Timberland Sandalen Stiefel">Frauen Timberland Sandalen Stiefel</a>
Reply to this Top
People go there most often in between classes, of course there are going to be huge lines, its the only dining hall on that side of campus. To expect otherwise would be moronic. The lines for the most part are not because of a low amount of staff but by the sudden influx of a large number of students in short periods of time. Seating is a problem at every dining center, and some have had additions to improve that. Turner is brand new, but if you didn't notice, it was placed in between two other buildings and that limited its available space.
When i heard that Turner Place was being built i expected it to be more of a short snack and grab type of place because of its location. Not including subway, its the only sit down place near most of the classes and would never be able to keep up with the demand like the residential side of campus and its many dining halls.
Reply to this Top