Dine in Schine: What to expect from new dining options
Dine in Schine: What to expect from new dining options
After a year and a half of construction and COVID-19-related delays, Syracuse University’s Schine Student Center has officially reopened.
The new building, complete with study spaces, programmatic offices and a revamped Campus Store, has seen swarms of foot traffic since its reopening on Feb. 8. The centerpiece of the new Student Center is the Schine Dining Center, which opened with limited hours on Feb. 5.
The new Schine Dining Center is home to six restaurants as well as a “grab-n-go” market similar to the one formerly in Kimmel Food Court. These six restaurants include Biscotti Cafe, Panda Express, Halal Guys, CoreLife Eatery, The Tomato Wheel and Dunkin’. There is also a dining area where students can sit, eat and study.
Students walking into Schine at any given time are likely see long lines weaving around the barricades for CoreLife Eatery, which is on the far right-hand side of the food court. CoreLife is a local restaurant that offers healthy options such as salads and quinoa bowls. The chain’s locations in Syracuse and DeWitt were already popular among SU students prior to Schine’s reopening, so its on-campus location quickly became a favorite.
Another clear favorite among students like sophomore Mateo Lariviere is Dunkin’, which is located between the programmatic offices and Goldstein Auditorium on the first floor. This new franchise, which has replaced the beloved Dunkin’ in Kimmel Food Court, has touch-screen ordering stations as well as walk-up orders.
According to Jennifer Horvath, communications director at SU’s Business, Finance and Administrative Services Department, Schine Dining has received an overwhelmingly positive response from the SU student body.
“We served almost 3,000 customers on Monday, the first full day of operations, and we probably could have done more if we had our full complement of staff,” Horvath said. “Students have also responded positively to the meal equivalency aspect, which is making up a large portion of our visits.”
Because of the university’s COVID-19 restrictions, Schine Dining is open until 7 p.m. each night. Students who are used to Kimmel’s 11 p.m. closing have found it difficult to make it to dinner on time. This also means that rush hours during mealtimes are busier than they would usually be.
“It was very crowded, which put me off from getting food or sitting in the dining area,” said Kaitlyn Clark, a sophomore public relations and political science student.
Horvath hopes to see extended hours and more student seating available in Schine Dining once it is safe to do so.
“Opening under public health restrictions is not the way we envisioned opening,” she said. “Students understand that things will get better once some pandemic-related restrictions hopefully ease going into the next academic year.”
is a magazine sophomore and contributor for The NewsHouse, as well as the arts and culture editor for Jerk and contributor for Globalists magazines.
