Thanks to new manager Mike Falconer's streamlined layout, many students are finding that trips to Hodgdon Take-It-Away are much easier than last year. Falconer's arrival to Tufts in July ushered in a new era for the dining hall turned take-out caf?©. His mission, he says, is to usher Hodgdon into the new millenium.
THUMBNAIL: STUDENT LIFE
"I'm just going to keep trying to make it more appealing," Falconer said. "We're trying to make it look a little more 21st century."
Calling last semester's layout "inefficient," Falconer moved the stations around over the break to make better use of Hodgdon's limited space. The dining hall's new layout uses more shelving, puts sandwich fixings closer to the sandwich bar, and includes actual menus so students can read the prices of each item.
Falconer has also moved the Mexican hot food stand next to the Italian one and provided staffed service for it. He plans to rename the stand "Mike's Marvelous Mexican" in hopes of increasing patronage.
Dining Services Director Patti Lee Klos has other ideas in mind, though. "It's a working title," she said.
Klos said that the changes to Hodgdon's layout were long overdue, since many students have complained that the menus and layout were confusing. "We've studied how people cue up in line, and how they go in and out. We always try to make the best utilization of the space," she said.
They based changes on informal observations of the staff and the input from a few students who voiced concerns. "Some stations were reoriented, hopefully to improve the flow," Klos said. "Changes were implemented so the staff could access the areas and observe."
The change was so smooth that many students did not even notice that the layout had changed over break. Some, however, found that it was much easier to get their take-out.
"They're really good at thinking about how to put things together to make it easier for the students," junior Paul Berry said.
The most popular change for students was the new location of the sandwich fixings. "I like it better because all the fresh meat and sandwich stuff is together," sophomore Carolyn Abbot said.
Having worked previously at Bread & Circus grocery store and Brandeis University, Falconer is using his experience to make Hodgdon a better dining experience. "The ultimate goal is towards home meal replacement," he said.
Since Falconer's arrival, Hodgdon has greeted students with a number of new foods, from granola bars and microwave oatmeal to barbecue and two-liter sodas. "My philosophy is to keep it interesting and change it and keep running specials until we can establish some permanent menu items," Falconer said.
Klos said that the new food is part of an overall menu change to increase student dining satisfaction. "We're trying to find new foods that will be appealing to students," she said. "We want to mix things up a bit."
In coming months, students can expect to see an increase in Hodgdon's barbecue offerings. Dining Services has been trying to find a home for barbecue-style foods since "Trio's Sunset Barbecue" was converted into a smoothie-bar last year. Falconer said he also hopes to bring back rotisserie chicken, a once-popular item that Hodgdon has served in the past.
