Two weeks after TCU upended the menus at Bistro Burnett and Kinder Cafe, dining officials decided to add the popular standards—flatbreads, paninis and subs — back to the menu.
The flatbreads and paninis were available at Kinder Cafe in the Neeley School of Business; the subs were served at Bistro Burnett in the Mary Couts Burnett Library.
“We chose to replace the sandwiches and flatbreads because the sales were not doing great. It was intended to be a higher-end change to the menus,” Jude Kiah, the Associate Vice Chancellor Student Affairs Business and Operations, said. “The mistake was not asking students and taking sales as feedback. Unfortunately, there was more going on.”
Students quickly voiced their disappointment on social media and through a survey TCU Dining conducted last week. The survey drew more than 2,500 responses in two days.
“We started noticing on social media that they wanted their Neeley flatbreads and Bistro sandwiches back,” Kiah said. “Between 75% to 80% of students wanted the whole menu back and 10% to 15% wanted a hybrid menu.”
Many students said the new menus fell short of expectations.
“The sandwiches in Neeley are not bad, but they are not super filling,” Cardo Peacock, a sophomore majoring in entrepreneurship, said. “They are cold, thrown together, and there is not a lot of content in them. For one meal swipe, you don’t even get a bag of chips or a drink.”
Hudson Harris, a sophomore mechanical engineering and actuarial science double major, said the changes to both dining locations left him feeling unsatisfied.
“The LA Toasts are such a downgrade to the library sandwiches,” Harris said of the avocado toast options at Bistro Burnett. “I tried to eat it and was disappointed. It is also very expensive and cost three meal swipes for two pieces of toast. I almost went to Gutierrez Hall afterward because I was still hungry.”
The dining areas seemed to lose popularity.
“I have been to Bistro Burnett for coffee, and the workers just look so bored because there is never a line,” Peacock said. “It used to be so busy, and now nobody goes over there.”
Some students said they have avoided Bistro Burnett altogether.
“I haven’t even been to the library for the LA Toasts because nobody talks positive about the change,” Gabby Espinoza, a sophomore nursing major, said. “I can make my own toast.”
Kiah confirmed that both Bistro Burnett and the Kinder Cafe will restore last year’s menus with the possibility of hybrid offerings. The original menus will return in the next week or two, starting with Kinder Cafe before expanding to Bistro Burnett.
“Much like if your favorite show on television that you haven’t watched in a while got canceled and you decided to mount a media campaign to bring it back,” Kiah said. “Well, we’re bringing the original menus back.”
