As students return to school, we begin the transition from our virtual pandemic lifestyle at home, back to the busy and bustling on-campus life at Sonoma State. While things seem to be changing almost every day, classes have picked up and turned busy for all students overnight. However, one thing stays the same: Seawolves are hungry. While many students would stumble into The Kitchens at late hours or hit Lobos, looking for a nice restaurant feel whilst maintaining the college budget, many new students will need to wait for their favorite food places on campus to open up. 

Sonoma State’s campus has made a variety of accommodations to allow all students to safely enjoy their favorite foods on campus. Lobos is currently closed, and The Kitchens hours have changed from 7:30 a.m. – 8 p.m. on Mon. – Thurs. and 9 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. from Fri. – Sun. The Student Center offers a variety of snacks and beverages, leaving Sip as the only other place to grab a bite on campus. Sip is open 7:30am-2pm Monday-Friday.  

An interesting upgrade for students is that SSU has recently partnered with Grubhub for their new “on-campus pickup option”. Beginning Sept. 20, students will be able to order their favorite coffee, pastry, sandwiches or snacks from Sip. While Sip will be the first feature available for this new upgrade, there is hope of the other campus restaurants to be added over the course of the new semester. This will allow students to pick up meals and eat them without having to go into the dining halls. All orders are done through the Grubhub App and picked up outside of Weyden and Brewster’s, which will be right outside of the student center. Students have the option to pay per meal using most payment methods, including WolfBucks and Bonus Dollars, with the option to buy meal plans.

It is hard to say when the Kitchens and the rest of the Culinary Services will be offered in full effect and at their maximum capabilities, but it is not hard to see why. “Normally we need 400 students to work all of the restaurants and jobs for the Culinary services. This semester we are looking for 120 students to smoothly run our current operation. There are currently 68,“ said Nancy Keller, Director of Culinary Services. Things that used to be served in places like Charlie Brown’s Café and Stomping Grounds are now being offered at Sip, while the school remains at a low capacity of students. For some students with in-person-classes, it feels like life on campus is starting to come back, but it’s clear that we are still dealing with repercussions because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Culinary services have also changed their benefits towards its employees. In the past, workers would get one free meal for every four hours worked, but now employees only need to work two hour shifts before getting a free meal. Culinary Services are using this as an incentive and opportunity to potentially earn and save students money, while also being able to help the food places on campus work properly to their full potential.

As we shift back into in-person classes, Culinary Services, food on campus, and a variety of things once considered normal, have been forced to change. The Kitchens are opened at different hours and new services have been made available to order off campus, and Culinary Services are trying their hardest to accommodate to all students on and off campus. All departments on campus have had to make changes due to COVID-19, and Culinary Services are struggling because of a lack of employees, resulting in the shortened hours of availability. Be sure to take advantage of the upgrades and changes to how Culinary Services will be operating on campus this semester.