Savannah Weishaar
Reporter
Parkland College’s new restaurant made its debut on Monday, September 10th, and has been well received by many.
The new restaurant, Betsy’s Bistro, has been in the making since Chartwell’s Dining Services made the decision to not renew their contract with the college this past year. Betsy’s Bistro has now signed a five year contract with Parkland. Students have been anticipating the grand opening since the start of the new semester. Parkland provided temporary food trucks outdoors until the restaurant was ready for business. Betsy’s Bistro was actually one of those food trucks, providing a sneak peek of what was to come. While that was fun for a time, students were getting antsy for the new restaurant to open up inside. Betsy’s Bistro provides a wide variety of fresh made food stations including a wood burning oven for pizza, a grill for breakfast items as well as burgers and wraps, and even a “global food” station.
Not only are students and faculty excited for the new addition to campus but the company itself is excited to join Parkland as well. Juan Molina, General Manager of Corporate Catering for the company said in a previous article regarding choosing Betsy’s Bistro that “We’re ready for the opportunity to be even more involved in the community than we already are, both to offer our services to Parkland College and to introduce the Parkland community to what we do.” Molina is referring to their work within the district as well as their use of locally grown ingredients.
As stated by Vice President for Students Services Mike Trame in that same article “our students seemed to think the company would understand what Parkland College students would want in a cafeteria: diverse and quality food for a reasonable price.” So far, he was right and the new vendor has not disappointed in reaching those goals.
Betsy’s Bistro has had good reviews from students in the first week of its opening. When questioned about the previous vendor in comparison to the new, many students felt that Chartwell’s Dining Services was overpriced. Mykaela, a student at Parkland, said “I don’t want to spend that much money on a hamburger.” This opinion is shared by many; nobody wants to pay an outrageous amount of money for a mediocre meal. However, the new vendor seems to have moved in a positive direction, not only with their pricing, but with the quality of their food as well. Mykaela went on to say “the new restaurant food tastes a little better and I feel like it isn’t as expensive as last year’s was.”
With affordable prices and good food, Betsy’s Bistro already has Chartwell’s beat. However, another great aspect of the new restaurant is the style of food service vendor that they are. Whether it be at the pizza, wrap, or grill station there is an employee there to make the food and serve it to you. This style is in drastic contrast to the old vendor which simply had employees at the register. It is obvious that people appreciate this as Parkland student Dante said “it’s a lot better because they are more helpful. It used to be a lot of self-serve stuff but now they actually are getting the food for you.” Dante is right. College is hard enough, and the last thing anyone needs is confusion in the lunch line.
So, thus far it seems that Betsy’s Bistro was the right choice in replacing Chartwell’s Dining Services. Many people are enthusiastic about the variety of food offered. As mentioned previously, students and faculty can create their own pizza, salads, wraps, burgers, and much more.“They have sushi–which I love, so I’m excited about that,” said Mykaela. Because after all, who doesn’t like sushi?
