Market Square is getting a new look and a new name.

The dining hall, located in the Brown-Lupton University Union, will close starting in December during winter break. According to the current schedule, it will reopen after a complete remodel at the start of the fall 2026 semester.

The revamped hall will resemble East End Dining. Rather than the traditional buffet setup, it will feature a variety of retail-style stations, Jude Kiah, assistant vice chancellor for student affairs, said.

“If you think about East End and its modality, it’s designed to feel like an elevated experience with seven different restaurants and not simply a swipe or board experience,” Kiah said. “That’s exactly what we’re going to do in Market Square.”

University officials began discussing remodeling Market Square nearly a decade ago. Market Square hasn’t been able to keep up with TCU’s growing student population. It opened in 2008 when that fall’s enrollment was 8,865, according to institutional research. TCU constructed the dining hall to serve seven million meals, but by spring 2016, it had surpassed 11 million meals.

The King Family Commons opened in January 2015, providing students with additional study space and dining options. East End Dining opened 10 years later at the start of the spring 2025 semester. With both new facilities reshaping the way students eat and gather, now is the right time to act, Kiah said.

“Last year, we saw that about two-thirds of students dine at East End and one-third at Market Square,” Kiah said. “This semester, it’s closer to 55% and 45%. We’re starting to see balance return, and this renovation will bring both dining halls up to the same level of quality.”

Kiah said Market Square serves around 13,000 meals per week. While Market Square is offline, students can use meal swipes at the door of the King Family Commons Building. Kiah anticipates the KFC will serve 15,000 meals per week next semester, compared to 7,400 meals per week this semester.

KFC and East End Dining will both see updates to their seating options as well.

KFC, which currently seats around 330 students, will expand to accommodate nearly 500 students. East End will also add about 100 more seats to its existing 550.

“We’re going to change the food offerings in KFC as well,” Kiah said. “The Press will become a premade deli station with a bakery, salads and smoothies. O’Brien’s will shift to buffet-style grill items, and Caliente will become a self-serve international cuisine station that includes Mazzi, the Mediterranean concept currently in Market Square. Magnolia 07 will continue as is, but it will operate as board instead of retail.”

Kiah said the timing of the closure aligns with TCU’s larger campus master plan to minimize disruption for students.

“You’re going to need about seven months to do it, so this is the least impactful seven months,” Kiah said. “You certainly don’t want to close in the fall, and we didn’t want to go too many years with these two dining halls being so different in quality.”

When Market Square reopens, Kiah said students can expect a more open layout and a dining experience centered on flexibility and convenience.

“On the West side of Market Square, where it’s currently just seating, we’ll be taking those walls out to create more open space along that side,” Kiah said. “We’ll add a new soup and salad deli station along with a dedicated to-go window, so students can grab meals quickly between classes. Students will now be able to take their food to-go through the to-go window or by using the reusable takeout boxes.”

In addition to interior updates, Kiah said new concourse seating will extend outside Market Square. This will give students additional places to eat and gather. He added that the remodel will help prepare for the university’s new residence halls opening in fall 2027, which will add more than 1,500 beds to campus housing.

Katie Warlick, the hall director for Foster Hall, said the remodel will particularly benefit the first-year students living nearby.

“The food at Gutierrez is amazing, and having that same caliber food located near first-year residence halls will make dining feel less like a tradeoff between good food and convenience,” Warlick said.

Kiah said TCU Dining’s expansion is part of a larger effort to enhance campus dining and the student experience.

“We’ll have two of the best dining halls in the country when Market Square is done,” Kiah said. “We know there will be some growing pains, but we’ll stay agile. If something doesn’t work, we’ll pivot quickly to make sure students are taken care of.”