In the Fall of 2023, UNB Saint John saw a complete overhaul of the existing student meal service following the renovation of the Baird Dining Hall.
Initially, when the Baron reached out to students looking to see what the consensus on the changes was back in September, the reviews were largely mixed, though there seemed to be a weight towards criticisms rather than praises. Now, as we enter into the winter term, The Baron decided to reach out to the student body once again to see what has changed.
Since September, construction on the Baird Dining Hall has been gradually ongoing. Both halves of the main dining room are now finished and accessible for students. The entire hall has been fitted with new seating options, decorative internal structures, and improved menu and allergen information displays, which UNBSJ’s student population has taken a fondness for. Additionally, a new initiative on Wednesdays has brought live music to the Dining Hall.
“I mean, they expanded the seating, and I like the music on Wednesdays,” said one first-year Arts student, “but it’s still a big mess.”
There was a bit of commentary from this same individual that painted a more unsanitary picture of the dining hall. They expressed that during their experiences, surfaces were often unwiped and sticky and that floors too could have done with more attention from staff. However, this student did praise the staff’s system of handling dishes as being quite efficient.
A few more broad takes bring up the most crucial aspect of the previous article written on the renovated Dining Hall: the food itself. From the opinions gathered it seems that many of the systems and preparation styles of food over the semester have remained largely unchanged. Despite the introduction of new information displays, food variety remains somewhat limited from day to day, which can be challenging for students who rely on the Baird Dining Hall for all of their on-campus meals.
“Chartwells would be doing better if they changed up the variety a little more.” One Arts/Ed student living in residence expressed.
Another student shared similar sentiments, “If you don’t have an outlet outside of campus for food, you’re stuck eating food that you may not even like.”
So, it would seem that a few critiques mentioned in the previous article on the updated Baird Dining Hall are still largely present as the Winter term begins, but alternatively, a few people came to the Baron with some positive commentary.
“I like the Dining Hall because it makes sure that students have easy access to food,” Another first-year arts student living in residence said. “I think that the Dining Hall has improved significantly, and they do a great job at making sure there’s always food out for students to grab.”
The same Arts/Ed student from earlier went on to say “The Dining Hall is perfect. They’re doing great with the service, I enjoy the food, and the overall friendliness of the staff, employees, servers, and chefs is great.”
Student opinions overall seem to be greatly mixed. Though there are largely shared sentiments regarding cheap food quality, menu issues, and variety in some circles, other groups find themselves perfectly pleased with the state of the Dining Hall, highlighting the outstanding staff team and availability of items. It is safe to say that the future of the Dining Hall still holds a lot of room for change and improvement, but on a broad scale, it wouldn’t be wrong to highlight that improvements have been made since the launch in Fall.
One significant improvement, for example, was commented on by a student, and it is perhaps the most crucial improvement yet. When asked what Chartwells was doing well with now, a student replied,
“Cooking the rice fully.”
