Opening dates for three new campus food venues – Carvings, WOW Caf? and Wingery and TONIC – are pushed back again after months of previous delays, University officials said Wednesday.
Nancy Haaga, director of Campus Support Services, said WOW Caf? and Wingery is scheduled to open Jan. 17, a day after spring semester classes begin. The University has been promoting WOW – an eatery that will have a Southwestern theme, serving alcoholic beverages and featuring high-definition televisions and XM satellite radio – on signs posted around the Marvin Center, alerting students to the restaurant’s location on the building’s fifth floor.
“(Construction) of the restaurant was completed in late November 2006 and Sodexho is currently in the process of securing operating permits (and) finalizing staff assignments, schedules and training,” Haaga said of the venue’s opening hiatus.
Haaga added that the University was planning to open the new eatery several weeks prior to the conclusion of the fall semester, but this plan was altered when the University realized that students busy and studying for finals might lead to poor turnout. WOW was originally scheduled to open Sept. 5 , along with the start of the fall semester and new eateries in J Street.
Another food venue now scheduled to open second semester is Carvings, a deli and buffet located on the first floor of the Potomac House with an atmosphere similar to that of food venues in Ivory Tower. Carvings will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner.
“Contractor-related delays and changes have been the cause of the later than expected (or) planned completion of the (construction) and subsequent opening of (Carvings),” Haaga wrote in an e-mail this week. “However, the owner believes that the mid-January 2007 opening is achievable and progress is presently on track.”
Carvings was originally set to open during the first week in November. Potomac resident and freshman Nina Pedrad said, “We’re all so excited that it’s going to open, but it kind of sucks that during the coldest months of the year, when we don’t want to go out, it’s closed. The buzz has kind of died down now because it’s opening late.”
TONIC Restaurant – a bistro that will occupy the renovated Quigley’s Pharmacy – is now scheduled to open in March 2007 as opposed to its originally scheduled opening date of January 2007.
Of the renovations, Haaga said, “This tentative opening timeframe is contingent upon the timely completion of various aspects of the construction. It’s possible that inclement winter weather may cause construction delays that could effect or slow the current project schedule.”
The new bistro will feature comfort foods such as macaroni and cheese, sloppy Joe’s and pancakes.
All of the venues scheduled to open next year will accept GWorld.
