When Concordia said 'sayonara' to long-time food provider Sodexho and made way for Chartwells, the quality of food and food choice was supposed to improve. In fact, a vast improvement, according to Concordia's administration office over what Sodexho had provided for 29 years.
But after a year and a half, it may be time to roll up the red carpet, at least at the downtown campus, and start asking some serious questions.
When Chartwells was parachuted into Concordia in June of 2002, after the quick departure of Sodexho, the international food giant expected to be up and running at full capacity by the first day of classes.
By that, Chartwells meant to have the Loyola cafeteria, as well as the Hingston Hall residential lounges, and not the downtown Hall Building cafeteria, ready for student use.
Chartwells was true to their word and dove headfirst into the Loyola project, but gone today is the downtown cafeteria and gone, it seems, according to some students is the quality of the food too.
The progress of the Chartwells downtown operation is a slow and on-going one, especially when compared to the more relatively successful Loyola Campus. So what are they waiting for?
Concordia's Administrator Patricia Posius is very pleased and believes that Chartwells will only improve.
"This is an important year for us as we have the facilities in full operation. The first year was difficult due to renovations and transition, and we will take stock at the end of the academic year," she says.
Linda Symonds, the district manager for Chartwells agrees that when the project first started it was a little hectic. "Our biggest challenge with opening [was] having our renovations completed for September [2002]. As a matter of fact we weren't ready and we had to serve food in temporary locations," she recalls.
Chartwells was viewed as a fresh beginning with new ideas and new locations. But some students and employees are feeling the change and are not too satisfied.
Chartwells provides a grab-and-go café on the fourth floor and decided to set up shop with the Tim Hortons across the street at the Library Building, and ignored the old seventh floor space.
For those who work and study in the Hall Building, the choice of eating at the seventh floor cafeteria was good because it was within reach, like Dennis Parial, 33, an environmental studies student who works at the fourth floor audio-visual department. He says people do not have that comfort now of grabbing a meal close by.
"Sodexho was something that I knew was there and could run up to at any time. With Chartwells we have to walk all the way across the street."
If he does have to walk all the way down and across the street, what is stopping him from going to another corner restaurant or even Java U on the Mezz? To avoid the hassle of going further than he has to, Parial will make his own lunches from home and then just buy something to drink while on a break. He rarely eats at school anymore because it does not prove itself worthy.
"There's a little section here on the fourth floor...but the only thing I really buy at Chartwells, and it's only because it's close to me, is the tea.
Downtown?
Will there be any response to the complaints of people who used to use the Hall Building cafeteria?
Symonds is already talking about the seventh floor becoming useful again. "We are planning a cafeteria for the seventh floor to open in September [2004]. We will put in a Fresh Grill, which is the one program that is missing downtown. There will be a sandwich program, pizza, outtakes, coffee, pastries [and] soup. We are also exploring out the Terra Ve program which is the vegetarian program," she says.
Not only has the inconvenience upset a few people, but also the status of the food doesn't seem up to par either.
Parial does not think that Chartwells was the greatest move.
That is because he spends his time at the downtown campus and believes he is not getting what he pays for. "Coming from a background where I started working in restaurants when I was 14 years of age...I know what food is supposed to taste like," Parial states.
He does not think Chartwells is doing their best. "Sometimes the soup tastes a little too watery, sometimes...a little too salty. I don't like their food because it's not consistent," Parial says.
When ordering a lunch that will cost at least five dollars, it would be nice to know that your money was well spent, but Parial admits there were times when the food he ate was not completely fresh.
"Sometimes the bread is a little bit too hard. I know their Paninis have to be cooked but sometimes you can taste that even when they are cooked that it's probably not the most freshest thing."
When people like Parial do not get what they expect they turn somewhere else. "Five dollars seems odd for a small pizza, whether it be Double Pizza or Chartwells pizza, it is not something I would go for very often... For what you're getting, I think the prices are a little bit unfair, a little bit pricey. I always expect quality," Parial declares.
With the downtown area a cornucopia of restaurants and coffee shops, one would think Concordia would try to keep their students on campus. Symonds believes they are doing their best when it comes to prices. "We do offer Franchises. When adding a new program we do a competitive price analysis with the street before setting prices," she assures.
Posius agrees that there is more competition here than at Loyola but believes that Chartwells' programs are good enough to match the competition and also provide variety.
Parial does not see the variety. "Chartwells doesn't have much of a selection, I find. Sodexho had different choices...hamburgers, lasagnas...if you wanted the junk food like hotdogs, poutine and french-fries, then you had that option as well," he recalls.
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