Issue date: 9/18/09 Section: The Verge

Sophomore elementary education major Lisa Carlson serves salads, the first of three courses, to one of her tables at Reservation Only Dining on Saturday afternoon at the Stevenson Tower Dining Hall. (Audrey Sawyer/The Daily Eastern News)

At Reservation Only Dining, students can order three course meals which can include salad, steak and dessert. (Audrey Sawyer/The Daily Eastern News)

As word travels around campus, Reservation Only Dining expects to be booked at full capacity for the campus' "upscale" dining experience. Now, with an additional day added to its hours, RO expects to become even more popular.

"After students realize that we are around and find comfort in the new school year, we will be busy from Thursday until Sunday," said Jamie Huckstead, Stevenson Tower Dining Center assistant director. "But, adding the new day will allow us to take on more walk-ins, letting students experience RO a lot more."

RO currently seats 250 guests at a time and does not have plans to expand. Open from Thursday until Sunday from 4:30-7:30 p.m., the seats are usually filled with group dinners and couples wanting a night out but for meal swipes or dining dollars instead of cash or debit.

RO dinners cost $6.50 if dining dollars are used and $8.10 if someone is paying cash.

Huckstead said students enjoy the atmosphere of being served, as well as the quality food choices the RO menu provides. Steak is a constant on the menu with the additions of a vegetarian option and a revolving seafood or chicken dish. Deserts, soups and salads are also available.

Jody Horn, director of University Dining, has worked with Huckstead to create an increasingly "upscale" environment for students to dine in on weekends. With the incorporation of "Dress-up Days," in which students dress in their best duds, Horn and Huckstead emphasize the quality of the Stevenson Tower Dining Hall option.

Also, as Family Weekend approaches, the service gears up for hordes of parents and siblings.

"We would like students to participate and know that they have something that not all campuses have, the ability to be served high quality dishes," Horn said.

They both emphasized the university's dining initiative to use student feedback in additional changes to RO. Currently, directors have organized a comment box relating directly to items students would like to see put on the menu. Huckstead said she received little feedback so far, but anticipates it to pick up throughout the semester.

The menu and RO originated almost nine years ago after housing and dining conferences showed an interest in having a waited on dining section.

"Other schools have some form of RO and they presented numbers showing how much their students loved it, so it became a part of Eastern," Horn said.

Housing and Dining first incorporated RO in Pemberton Hall's dining hall, which no longer exists. Eastern's original cuisine only featured steak, which has remained the top ordered item at RO. Other menu items were added at the request of students at the Housing and Dining semi-annual forums, comment boxes and verbal feedback.

"We wanted to do something different for the students, unique and special," Horn said. "Meals in RO are limited, not all-you-can-eat like in the dining halls, so we thought we could control cost while offering some quality food items.

"We thought we could make i work and we did."

Special events in RO have not been planned yet. However, a revisit of "Dress-up Days" is in the near future.

Krystal Moya can be reached at 581-7942 or ksmoya@eiu.edu

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