In response to student complaints, the Roadrunner Café added new features over winter break, including a panini press, more non-carbonated drink options and more desserts.
“Changes occur on regular basis to best meet needs and request of students,” Director of Services Burt Reynolds said. “‘Napkin Talk’ provides an invaluable medium for interaction, with menu additions and changes frequently occurring as a result of this feedback.”
A few students said they enjoy the Roadrunner Café overall because of its convenience and the employees’ courtesy. However, they also felt the recent changes to the Roadrunner Café did not help to fix the problem. Maria Cardenas Cardona, junior psychology major and resident assistant at Chisholm Hall said, “The problem with the café is they serve the same thing over and over, and sometimes they make it worse.
“So, by adding new sodas, they are not addressing the real problem.” Cardona further suggested that the café add more fruit and improve the salad area.
Angela De La Cruz, a sophomore art major and resident assistant at Chisholm Hall, who claims she was a victim of food poisoning from the Roadrunner Café on several occasions, also expressed her frustration with the café and said the new appliances and amenities did not fix the problem.
“I wish the time and effort they used on getting a new machine was put into possibly fixing some of the ways they store the food or the quality of the food,” she said. “As a victim of food poisoning, the best thing to hear is not we have new drinks.”
Several students believe UTSA’s administration should hire a new caterer, or at least have a trial run with other caterers once the Aramark, UTSA’s current food service provider, contract ends in 2020.
“The caterer must be the problem because the food is not good,” Braylon Fox Smith, freshman science major, said. “It’s on UTSA’s administrators to make sure students are getting what they deserve. I have heard more bad things than good things (about Aramark), so maybe it’s time to try something new.”
Sophomore finance major Brysen Streeter expressed his frustration with the UTSA administration’s lack of transparency with students. “UTSA should do what is best for students. The student should have a choice of what food we eat. I feel like (UTSA administrators) should tell us what plans are available or talk with student’s representatives to see what is best,” Streeter said. “They are not eating the food. We are! And we should be able to decide what we want. We give them our money and I feel like for us to get basically prison food is not fair. I want them to eat the food for a whole month straight and see how they feel.”
Herbert Ganey, director of the Student Union, explained that students must take the initiative to see changes at the Roadrunner Café.
“It’s the students voice that is ultimately going to be the thing that guides this process,” Ganey said. “The students have to be the ones to say ‘we need some improvement.’”
Ganey said other food service provider options for UTSA are Sodexo, Chartwells, Bon Appetit Management Company and others.
