Campus dining continues to dish out healthy, savory, and award-winning meals

Whether it is fueling the Flames before they compete in a sporting event, nourishing students before a late-night study session, or offering faculty and staff a unique atmosphere for a social gathering, Liberty University Dining Services plays a vital role in campus life.

Just as Liberty has built up its academic, athletic, and recreation infrastructure over the years into a world-class university, it has also made significant investments in dining, ensuring diverse offerings and healthy alternatives, as well as safe options for those with dietary restrictions.

The campus dining industry continues to recognize Liberty for its excellence. For two straight years (2015 and 2016), Liberty’s dining hall, the Food Court at Reber-Thomas, was rated the No. 1 dining hall in the country by BestColleges.com.

During the National Restaurant Association annual show in Chicago, May 20-23, Liberty received an award from AllerTrain for Best Food Allergy Training at a university.

“This was a huge win for Liberty,” said Louis Cambeletta, vice president of Auxiliary Services. “Everyone has to eat; it’s a basic function of life, and our sincere belief is that every student should have equal opportunities to enjoy a great meal. We want to let the world know that just because someone may have dietary restrictions, that does not mean they still can’t enjoy a great quality of life in a university environment. We want to make all students feel included. Our dining partner, Sodexo, does an outstanding job with being ahead of the curve on how to address and take care of our students.”

All members of Liberty Dining’s management team receive AllerTrain certification — a nationally recognized program that teaches, among other things, how to prepare food safely for people with food allergies. There is also a certified master trainer on staff to help lead on-campus training. All Liberty Dining employees take part in AllerTrain training twice a year.

Beyond safety, Liberty ensures there are plenty of options — and flavors — for those with dietary needs, as well as those committed to a healthy lifestyle.

This fall, every dining location on campus will include gluten-free items on the menu.

Liberty has a gluten-free bakery and a Mindful Station in the Food Court at Reber-Thomas, where fresh ingredients are utilized, reducing sodium and unhealthy fats while emphasizing bold, delicious flavor profiles.

All across campus, Liberty offers low-fat options and healthy meal combinations, with labels displaying calories per serving. Fresh fruits are readily available at locations all over campus. The Liberty Today mobile app includes a dining widget that allows users to see the day’s menu (organized by meal period) and nutritional and allergy information for each item.

Liberty has earned Mindful Gold status from Sodexo, meaning the university is elite in terms of making it easy for people to choose healthy meals.

Food Management, a leading source for noncommercial food service professionals, named The Grid, located in Liberty’s Montview Student Union, the best convenience retail concept in its 2017 Best Concept Award Winners. Liberty has been featured in Food Management Magazine a number of times recently, including for increasing its gluten-free dessert offerings and for its Mexican Fiesta theme night.

Liberty Dining welcomes student input. In direct response to students wishing for more ethnically diverse foods, the university opened Garbanzo Mediterranean Grill and Star Ginger (an Asian grill and pho noodle bar) in the Montview Student Union. Both are the top performing locations for those concepts in the country. Montview’s tea room, Argo Tea, is No. 2 in the country for the brand, behind only the Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

“Food trends will always continue to change and evolve,” Cambeletta said. “We want to make sure we are changing with them to meet the needs of our future students.”

Duke Davis, Sodexo general manager, said students have a “direct pipeline” to provide feedback.

“I take those things to heart,” he said, adding that above and beyond that, “I challenge my whole culinary team and retail managers to come up with new offerings for students. We want to continue to be innovative and benchmark ourselves up at the top as one of the leaders.”

Liberty also began an on-campus pizza delivery service this year — Hilltop Pizza — which can be ordered straight from the Liberty Today app. The university also designed its own food concept, Woodfire Pizza (in Montview), to offer New York-style slices. This fall, students will find new options among the 18 stations in Reber-Thomas, including sushi and fried chicken.

Cambeletta said that while Liberty Dining Services enjoys the accolades and awards, “our main focus has been and will always be striving to make dining better for all students on campus. It is great to have a dining partner like Sodexo and the team on the Liberty campus who always bring innovation to our students.”