The rotating restaurant in Gina’s Cafe is in the process of turning into a permanent burger and fries restaurant named ‘B+F’.
The change from a rotating restaurant to a permanent one puts an end to a tradition which has lasted for more than four years, since the Martin Center opened in the Fall of 2019. According to the TXWES website, “Restaurant Rotation features on-trend concepts that change every four weeks to showcase different restaurants throughout the semester.”
First-year business major Stefan Milovanovic said he will miss the rotating restaurant concept.
“I think it’s cool to have a different restaurant every month,” Milovanovic said.
Johanna Flenoid serves as director of dining services at Texas Wesleyan. She has been the primary orchestrator of the new development.
“We’ll be offering of course burgers and fries, chicken tenders to start off our menu and then we would like to be able to expand for vegetarian items,” Flenoid said. “Then, also we will consider a breakfast menu if the demand requires it.”
The restaurant rotation most recently served Korean food under the moniker ‘Bibim Box’. It, however, lacked popularity with students and has not been open for the entirety of the spring semester.
“There were definitely low sales in the restaurant rotation,” Flenoid said. “It may have to do with the concepts that were being provided. There just wasn’t a lot of excitement around those different options. Students tend to like familiarity.”
With B+F, the university hopes to provide students with a more familiar dining option.
“There was a missing element for a college campus of like a just a kind of a burger joint,” Flenoid said.
The new restaurant is expected to open in the coming weeks.
“We are planning for it to be open by spring break,” Flenoid said. “When we return from spring break, we want to have a big grand opening.”
University staff have been working hard to get the restaurant up and running.
“We’re already processing recipes,” Flenoid said. “We are actually testing them here in Dora’s, doing different sauces and seasonings on our burgers.”
Various obstacles have slowed down the process, however.
“When the building was prepared, it wasn’t built for that to be a grill spot. There’s no like the overhead exhaust and things like that, we have to try and configure how we’ll cook and prepare those items.” Flenoid said.
The shorter hours of the rotating restaurant seemed to be among the main contributing factors for its unpopularity. Senior business major Marissa Reina seemed to agree.
“I never tried Bibim Box,” Reina said. “I just never had time. Every time they seemed to have [Bibim Box] open I just seemed to have busy days with class and whatnot.”
Instead, B+F plans to have later hours that mirror Which Wich.
Follow @txwesdining on Instagram for more updates and information.
