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The Quinnipiac Chronicle

The Student News Site of Quinnipiac University

The Quinnipiac Chronicle

The Student News Site of Quinnipiac University

The Quinnipiac Chronicle

‘Ratt’ to reopen in late September

The Ratt is expected to reopen in late September. Anna Brundage/Chronicle

Students on the Mount Carmel campus will not be able to purchase food after 10 p.m. from anywhere besides vending machines due to Bobcat Den construction delays.

The Bobcat Den used to be the go-to place for students after Café Q closed, as it was open until 11 p.m. on weeknights and 1 a.m. on weekend nights. Café Q extended its hours to remain open until 10 p.m. every day until the Bobcat Den’s renovation is completed.

The renovation started in June but construction issues pushed its reopen date back to late September, according to Associate Director of Dining Services Leean Spalding.

“There were a few things we ran into,” Spalding said. “We need to put in a new grease trap because it wasn’t up to code. Things that were acceptable are no longer acceptable when you do renovation.”

There hasn’t been a renovation of the Bobcat Den from the ground up for 12 to 15 years, Spalding said, and the facility needed to make accommodations for the increase in student population.

Similar to the Mount Carmel Dining Hall, the Bobcat Den will have one centralized cash register. Thus the same person that’s serving the food will no longer run the register. Spalding said this will speed up service.

“We tried to streamline it to eliminate the lines,” Spalding said. “We upgraded all the kitchen equipment as well.”

New features will be added such as fresh menus for Mondo Sub and a new cycle menu for the exhibition kitchen.

The Mondo Sub menu has expanded to include flatbread sandwiches as well as a larger variety of subs and salads. According to Spalding, menu items that weren’t selling were dropped and will be replaced with new items.

The Bobcat Den will still have the exhibition kitchen, basic grill, pizza, Outtakes, coffee and desserts. The “Food of the Day” will still be around, said Spalding, but on a different day.

The Bobcat Den has been a popular alternative dining option for students since it is located close to their residence halls. Its renovation has not only made lines at Café Q reach as far as the salad bar, but has also caused frustration for students.

“I thought it was pretty inconvenient,” sophomore Dylan DeNuzzo said. “We live in Hill so we’re right next to the Ratt and now I feel like the cafe is going to be so crowded.”

Sophomore Taylor Lombardi said the Bobcat Den’s construction was not a major inconvenience.

“It would be nice if it was available but I’m not like depressed or anything,” Lombardi said. “Hopefully it will look good when it renovates. I thought it already looked good enough in there.”

Spalding says the renovation is late but will be worth it.

“It’s a long time coming,” Spalding said. “And it’s going to be beautiful.”

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  • C

    Caleb GindlAug 31, 2011 at 9:04 am

    “‘There were a few things we ran into,’ Spalding said. ‘We need to put in a new grease trap because it wasn’t up to code. Things that were acceptable are no longer acceptable when you do renovation.'”

    Shouldn’t this be a bigger story?

    Reply
    • A

      AVAug 31, 2011 at 10:38 am

      What else isn’t up to code?

      Probably a lot.

      Reply