New Red Rock Cafe offers more

The Red Rock Café had its first big menu revamp this school year after seven years of being open.

Changes include simple things such as taking off less popular meals, and increasing how often more popular ones are available. Also, the salad bar was redone over Christmas break, and Martin Peterson, director of campus dining services, said it now has six more items than Pizza Factory's salad bar, including homemade croutons.

Jessica Leavitt, a freshman radiography major from Spanish Fork, said she enjoys the salad bar because of all the different toppings you can add to your salad.

"I like that it has the salad bar right in the middle," said Tamsy Thompson, a freshman integrated studies major from Hurricane. "It makes it easy and very accessible, and it doesn't get in the way, so if you just want a salad, you can go right over."

The reason for the menu change is that the cafeteria seemed to be a bit repetitive, Peterson said. He said prices were a concern, and he saw a need for changes.

"We want to be as affordable as we can," he said.

New plate specials every Tuesday and Thursday including meals such as hot chicken salad and Mexican lasagna, and a "Taco Day" on Friday each week gives students the option to eat the food they love, and not spend more than $5.

The café itself has also recently added WI-FI and flat screen TVs in the table area so students can work on homework with Internet access and watch TV. Peterson said although parking is an issue, students can be found in the Red Rock Café even if they aren't eating because it is a convenient place to do class work.

The revamps came from feedback given by students on comment cards. Peterson also held a focus group that discussed what kind of changes would be made and when, and although rumors have been spread about the café changing its name, Red Rock Café remains.

Although there was variety before, the Red Rock Café now offers several different meals, from several different types of food on a rotation, which Peterson said will help students get variety in their diets.

Big D. Deli serves sandwiches and other deli treats, and the menu stays relatively the same throughout the year.

Home Cookin' is said to be just like the kind of food Mom makes back home. Its menu changes every day and rotates every week between several different meals that have the "home-cooked" feel such as BBQ pork ribs, steaks cooked to order and soup in a bread bowl.

Rebelanos has pizza, pasta and other Italian delicacies, and the Backyard Grill serves hamburgers and other BBQ favorites. Wok Your Way serves Chinese cuisine including the popular and quick-to-eat rice bowl.

Two stations in the middle, Soup'r Salad, the salad bar, and Quenchers, the drink and treat station, also occupy the cafeteria.

"We feel we are serving quality products," Peterson said.

Peterson encourages students to get meal cards, because the Red Rock Café serves quality food for a smaller price. Also, with a meal card, students automatically save five percent off their purchases, and no sales tax is included.

Leavitt said, "I don't have a meal card or anything, but I like to eat in there every once in awhile because the food is really good and really cheap."

Students can go to the information booth in the Gardner Center for more information about how to set up a meal plan account. The Red Rock Café is open Monday to Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 7:30 p.m. Every day's menu is available online at http://dining.dixie.edu/dining_redrock.php.