Damen Welcomes New Restaurants For Start of Semester

Damen Student Center welcomed two new restaurants this semester, as well as selling Mr. Pak’s Sushi in the food court’s fridges.

Chopsticks, a stir fry restaurant, is located in the food court and replaced Zen Sushi at the start of the semester. It offers a variety of rice, noodle and salad bowls, according to Loyola Dining Services website. Chopsticks is part of Foodlab, a rotating concept where the food offerings may change, Aramark marketing manager Cindy Valdez Barrios, wrote in an email to The Phoenix.

Another new restaurant, Rambler Express, is located at the south entrance of Damen. Prior to Rambler Express, the location housed vegan restaurant Can’t Believe It’s Not Meat and, before, smoothie restaurant Rollin’ and Bowlin’.

Rambler Express offers smoothies, acai bowls and grab-n-go meals, according to the website.

Mr. Pak’s Sushi is available in the to go fridges. The decision came from overwhelming student feedback, Valdez Barrios wrote in an email to The Phoenix.

“While we can’t promise that the restaurants won’t change in the future, we can promise that Loyola Dining Services is committed to listening and acting upon student feedback,” Valdez Barrios wrote. 

Third-year advertising and public relations major Hailey Dean, a frequent customer of Mr. Pak’s when it was in Damen, is frustrated by the constant changes and said there seems to be an institution problem.

“The constant changes have shown Loyola’s lack of organization and inability to keep one vendor,” Dean said. 

First-year student Tiago Huner recently tried Rambler Express. Huner said he enjoyed his smoothie and the service was great. 

“Drinks are not too heavy, so I could workout after without dying,” Huner said. “I would definitely recommend a drink from here for a quick energy boost,”

His only negative was the prices were a little high for college students, considering the size of smoothie he was given. 

Lutein Lammens, a third-year finance and economics major, said she misses Rollin’ and Bowlin’ as there was nothing like the “quick and fresh option” on campus.

Dean and Lammens said the rapid changes are frustrating, especially for students who have to rely on the restaurants to get breaks from eating in the dining halls during their first two years living on campus. 

“I think the reason they keep switching is because after the first few weeks when parents have left and students get settled in, the restaurant’s quality declines,” Dean said. “The popularity and buzz is gone, and then they shut down.”

This story was written by Isabella Grosso and Lizzy Buening

Featured image by Holden Green / The Loyola Phoenix