After a month of renovations, Fountain Dining Hall has been completely remodeled. Returning students remember Fountain Dining Hall without many of the commodities seen today. The new alterations include the installation of the largest salad bar on campus as well as an overall expansion of the dining hall.

Fountain renovators started working in mid-May 2019, and they had 30 days to get most of the renovations completed before reopening on June 16. The last renovation was the salad bar installation, which was opened on Aug. 20, right before the start of classes. 

Fountain Dining Hall Manager Crayton Garrell said he believes the renovations have been a great addition to the campus. 

“The renovators removed all of the offices near the center of Fountain Dining Hall and moved them behind the kitchens,” Garrell said. “Now, there’s more mobility, and students no longer have to wait as long in line compared to last year.”

Since the doors of Fountain Dining Hall were opened for the new semester, the number of students coming to the dining hall has increased substantially.

“We used to serve 5,500 students a day,” Garrell said. “Now, we’re serving over 6,000 students.”

Hill of Beans Coffee also experienced new changes. Recent renovations in the Atrium caused Hill of Beans to relocate from the Brickyard entrance of D.H. Hill Library to the Hillsborough Street entrance near The Creamery, D.H. Hill’s ice cream shop.

Penny Lawrence, a sixth-year studying English who works at Hill of Beans, discussed some of the modifications made to both Hill of Beans and The Creamery.

“We actually combined Hill of Beans with The Creamery, so it’s now called Hill of Beans Coffee and Creamery,” Lawrence said. “Though we did lose some ice cream flavors, the only change in the coffee menu was that we went from light roast and dark roast to just one coffee blend.”

Janelle Elliott, an employee at Hill of Beans Coffee and Creamery, also discussed the number of customers they serve during the week.

“We are usually busiest on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9-11 a.m.,” Elliott said. “We tend to serve about 400-500 customers a day.”

Sushi with Gusto is a contract company that makes sushi at nearly 300 locations, including 45 different colleges and universities, according to Lisa Eberhart, director of nutrition and wellness. The company opened in the Atrium on the first day of class, bringing in “sushi-rollers” to both the Wolfpack-to-Go line and One Earth Lounge who specialize in making unique dishes such as Cajun crawfish and tempura shrimp rolls. 

Eberhart said she believes Sushi with Gusto offers students a wider assortment of dishes as well as healthier choices. 

“It gives students more of a choice when it comes to sushi,” Eberhart said. “Some of our top-selling sushi rolls in the Atrium are actually the same in One Earth, such as the crispy savory shrimp rolls and the spicy tuna rolls.”

Barry Tracey, assistant general manager at Sushi with Gusto, discussed the growing popularity of the restaurant.

“Since we opened in August, we are selling about 450 sushi packages a day,” Tracey said. “We not only sell sushi rolls, but salads and poke bowls as well.”