Space upgrade makes The Pit add diversity to campus

The Pit is taking advantage of increased space to upgrade and add diversity to their menu to better serve the campus.

The Pit is now located outside of Chick-fil-A in the space where The Ice Box used to be. Mike Haun, marketing manager for Dining Services at Sodexho, said the Pit outgrew its old location.

“The ultimate goal of the move was to increase customer satisfaction, in response to asking for new and additional menu items,” said Haun.
“The prior location had no additional counter space to keep food cold or hot. The new location has allowed us to expand our menu with our most popular item being soup and bread bowls.”

Avery Knox, team leader at The Pit, said some items previously available only once a week are now on the menu everyday.

“Some things, like the chicken wrap, the chicken cordon bleu sandwich and the double decker club got so popular, they took off,” said Knox.
“People started asking for them every day. The students and faculty spoke, and we listened. We have also added new items like the soup and bread bowls, the chicken club, the turkey jr. club, the chicken quesadilla, the cheese quesadilla, the soup and half-sandwich special.”

The new facility has enabled The Pit to bring customers better food.

“I like the wraps a lot,” said sophomore Brady Soop. “The quality (at the old location) wasn’t as good.”

The new menu items are attracting students who want a change of pace.

“I like the sandwiches like the turkey jr. club,” said freshman Lyndsey Carden. “It’s something different than the cafeteria food, which is always the same.”

The wraps in particular seem to be a hit, with freshman Carlee Drew citing the spicy chicken wrap as a favorite and freshman Grace Treeter naming the salad wrap as a frequent choice.

The staff at The Pit is working hard to keep quality high. Mike Haun praised Avery Knox’s contribution to keeping customers satisfied.

“His position is team leader, and there couldn’t be a more accurate description of what he does,” said Haun. “He is the emotional leader of The Pit and he will go out of his way to make sure the customer is happy. Avery is always looking for new and innovative menu items.”

It was Knox who saw the potential for moving to the new location.

“It was suggested by me a long time ago,” said Knox. “I had my eye on this place. We have much more room to do more things here.”

The Ice Box moved into The Pit’s old location in the space with Chick-fil-A.

“The Ice Box is doing much better and receives more attention being next to Chick-fil-A,” said Haun.

“The ice cream place was not doing well before, but now everyone is happy,” said Knox.

At the old location, The Pit implemented a new system for customer orders that they have now modified at the new location after getting feedback from customers.

“In order to alleviate congestion, reduce customer wait, reduce food prep time and increase order accuracy, we created order forms designed for the customer to fill out and hand to the cashier,” said Haun. “From listening to customers who participated in the early stages of the new system, we learned that they missed the ‘personal touch’ of corresponding with the cashier and would rather not fill out the forms. Now the customers tell the cashier their order, and the cashier writes everything down.”

The employees at The Pit are adjusting to the new location, expanded menu and new ordering system, but Avery Knox said things are going well.

“We’re still feeling our way through this,” said Knox. “But we have everything in place now, and we are learning every day. Everyone’s pretty much got it now.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Nov 8 2002. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry