Two more restaurants accepting Cat Cash

In an attempt to accommodate student spending trends, two new local restaurant locations have decided to accept Cat Cash from students’ Bobcat Cards. Many Asian Bistro and Mellow Mushroom enthusiasts have already noticed the change and begun using their Bobcat Cards at these locations.

The two restaurants have joined a slew of other businesses to add to the card’s versatility. Many students know that the card can be used at Chick-fil-A, Books & Brew, and a few other locations on or near Main Campus. Some may not know that it can also now be used at local CVS, IHOP, Arby’s and Zaxby’s locations.

For some, Dining Dollars and Cat Cash provide an alternative to spending their own money on food and other essentials. Since many of the meal plans include varying amounts of Cat Cash and Dining Dollars, students see using the card as an occasional alternative to using GCSU Dining Services.

“The nice thing about having the Bobcat Card is that I can spend my parents’ money on the meal plan instead of my own,” said freshman business management major Maci Laseter.

With an estimated $52 million annual impact on the Milledgeville community, according to a study done in November 2009, the spending of GCSU students is a big part of the local economy.

“Students weren’t always our key demographic, but it is becoming increasingly more that way,” said Sarah Batchelor, manager of Mellow Mushroom, located at 2588 North Columbia St. “Business has definitely picked up since we began us the card.”

Mellow Mushroom is also offering several student-friendly themed nights and deals like wing night and trivia night, as well as beer specials.

Jacob Paden, manager of Asian Bistro, located at 124 W Hancock St., said he understands that college students are usually on a tight budget.

“Using the Bobcat Card allows students to save some of their spending money,” Paden said. “Since most Asian food is quick and cheap, students have been able to enjoy coming here.”

One local restaurant recently jumped off the bandwagon of Bobcat Card support as some other businesses joined. Deano’s Pizza, located at 128 North Wayne St., stopped accepting the card mainly because of the service charge for using it.

“It just wasn’t profitable for us,” said Deano’s front counter manager Hadley Woods. “The way the system worked, we either lost money or broke even instead of making a profit.”

Deano’s also plans to add alcohol to its menu, which like cigarettes and other tobacco products, cannot be paid for with Cat Cash. Asian Bistro and Mellow Mushroom officials said they plan to work around this stipulation regarding alcohol sales.

In addition, they hope that accepting the card will increase business.

“We hope that using the Bobcat Card will continue to bring business into the restaurant,” Paden said.

Posted by Ryan Del Campo on Feb 5 2010. 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