By Tatiana Rivera
William Peace University has undergone many changes as the scare of Coronavirus continues to grow; the layout of classrooms and the dining hall, permitting certain doors in many of the buildings exclusively to be used as entrances and exits and most importantly, the implementation of masks to be worn on-campus.
Another change that was implemented was the closing of the late night dining option “Sandella’s Flatbread Cafe” and the opening of “Late Night Belk Dining Beyond.”
Sandella’s was a late night dining option for students to experience Sunday through Thursday from 7pm to 11pm. The restaurant served options such as flatbread pizzas, quesadillas, wraps, salads, paninis and rice bowls. However, due to recent events and other factors, Sandella’s could not reopen this semester.
One of the major reasons for Sandella’s shutdown was because of the space being used for classes due to COVID-19. There were other factors as well.
“One thing that we heard was variety,” said Terri Ratliff, the Sodexo General Manager of Dining Services. “The students were getting tired of the flatbreads and they wanted a bigger variety.”
For other students, the food at Sandella’s was not filling enough for them. As a solution, another item on the menu was added: the rice bowls.
“That’s when I added the rice bowls, hoping that would do good,” said Ratliff.
Despite this new addition to the menu, students continued to complain that the food was still not filling enough. With all of these factors coming together, an alternate option was created: Late Night Belk Dining Beyond.
“[The menu] was pretty easy [to come up with] because we know what the students like,” Ratliff said. “We had heard comments and we made sure that we put items we had heard were very popular.”
The new menu includes new options that were not present at Sandella’s such as a variety of burgers, grilled chicken sandwiches, chicken tenders, chicken wings, classic and chicken cheesesteaks and salads. These new options have been met with positive feedback as well.
“I think it was a good change personally,” said Selena Adams, a junior majoring in biology who said she preferred Late Night Belk Dining Beyond over Sandella’s. “I think the food tastes better and is made to order.”
The new late night option has been met with a lot of positivity from the students.
One of the late night employees, Moriah Shipman, a sophomore majoring in simulation and game design, has even expressed her own preference for Late Night Belk Dining Beyond over Sandella’s.
“There is more variety for the students and many of the students have told me they like the new Belk Dining Beyond better than Sandella’s,” Shipman said. “I’m happy when the customers are happy.”
A final decision of whether Late Night Belk Dining Beyond will completely replace Sandella’s or not has yet to be made.
“We will talk to a lot of students and we will get a lot of input and see how that has been going,” Ratliff said.