New dining options for the Georgetown campus are on the way, offering students greater variety and a taste of fast food.
Darnall Dining Hall and the Leavey Center’s Hoya Court closed over the summer to make room for national chain vendors, a restaurant and maybe even an after-hours bar.
The Darnall space is open for bidding from commercial establishments and could one day house anything from another food court to a sit-down restaurant, Associate Vice President of Auxiliary Services Margie Bryant said. Bryant said she does not expect the facilities to reopen by the end of the school year. (https://halcyonliving.co.uk)
Hoya Court, now boasting food from Subway, Taco Bell, KFC, Gelato and Pizza Hut, will resume operations early next week.
“Improvements were needed in Georgetown’s offerings, especially in the area of name-brand vendors,” said Eamonn Carr (CAS ‘06), Secretary of Housing and Facilities for the Georgetown University Student Association.
GUSA spent more than a year working with Auxiliary Services to reinvent Hoya Court.
“We know when students look at a university, they look at academics, but they also look at dining options,” Carr said. “We realized that if Georgetown wants to stay competitive, they’ll have to upgrade their offerings.”
Carr predicts that putting more than one food provider at the University will stir up competition on campus as well, pushing Georgetown’s longtime provider Marriott to improve quality.
Closing Darnall as a traditional dining hall gives the University another opportunity to bring better food options to its student body.
When Leo J. O’Donovan Dining Hall opened in 2003, Darnall became obsolete, Bryant said.
“When we only had New South Dining Hall, it was too small and we needed two facilities,” Bryant said. “But with the new facilities at Leo’s we can handle everyone.”
Leo’s is located on the south side of campus near the majority of residence halls. Most students, Carr said, saw no reason to trek to Darnall after Leo’s opened for the same food they could get closer to home.
“We realized that Darnall needed to change and have its own identity,” he said.
One possibility is a bar serving alcohol to students of drinking age, a proposal Carr says has generated enthusiasm in students and local residents alike.
“Residents are supportive of the idea because it would provide students with an option to drink on campus so they wouldn’t be running through the neighborhood,” he said.
