Chartwells completed renovation plans for the top floor of the Bobcat Den this past summer in an attempt to mitigate excessive crowding and encourage more student faculty connections.
The Bobcat Den, commonly referred to by students as “The Rat,” offers several late-night dining options to students including Mexican-style bowls and burritos, grilled sandwiches and salads.
The new, open layout replaced the previous snack shelves and cashier counter that were positioned in the middle of the upper dining room. New smart lockers were also added on a side wall for students to pick up online food orders from Q Diner.
The smart lockers send students a QR code to their phones through the Quinnipiac mobile order app, giving them a 15-minute window to pick up their food. Adjusting to any new system does come with its challenges, and students say the new technology will take some getting used to.
“It’s kind of like rolling the dice with them,” said Allison Garner, a sophomore law and society major. “When it all works it works really nicely, but the few times something goes wrong it makes the process longer and harder than it needs to be.”
Modern shelving along each of the walls has opened up the middle area for students to form a line at Pico Mesa, the popular Mexican-style food option. The cashier counter has also been moved to the back wall in front of the entrance and exit, with new and colorful tiles behind it.
Norbert Ponte Jr., Chartwells’ resident district manager at Quinnipiac, noted how important it is to see faculty and staff interacting on a regular basis and how the new space has already contributed to a better experience for both even in such a short time.
“We really enjoy that interfacing with the students and our staff,” Ponte said. “We want to be able to open up the space more so they can do that and just have a better student experience.”
The student response for the Bobcat Den’s updated look has so far been a positive one. Students noting the renovations have contributed to less stress during mealtimes and even improved air flow.
“I kind of like that they took out all the stuff upstairs so it doesn’t feel as crowded and overwhelming and busy,”said Emma Hatzel, a sophomore nursing major. “It also doesn’t feel as uncomfortably hot in there.”
Even for the first-years who hadn’t seen the previous look of the Bobcat Den, the new layout has proven to be straightforward.
“I don’t know really what I was expecting but I think on first impression you walk in and see the counters and you know where you need to go,” said Megan Marcille, a first-year behavioral neuroscience major. “Even as a freshman I felt like I knew where each counter was and what it was for.”
As for the future of Quinnipiac dining, Ponte said Dining Services has multiple projects in the works that they hope to introduce to students in the coming years.
“In the near future we should have some really great additions,” Ponte said. “One being in the new School of Business, we are doing an internal coffee brand that’s going to be a retail location there … it’s going to be awesome.”
