Lipscomb adding two new on-campus dining options next school year, also expanding convenience store

It’s time to say goodbye to the old, and hello to the new. If you’re someone that has been craving healthier eating options at Lipscomb, then we’ve got some good news for you.

Two new on-campus dining options will be coming to Lipscomb next year. ‘Boar’s Head Deli’ will be replacing ‘Pie on the Fly’, and ‘Wild Blue’ will be replacing ‘Creekstone Burger Company’. The ‘Uncle Dave’s’ convenience store will expand.

Let’s take a look at each of these new options.

Boar’s Head Deli

Boar’s Head Deli is one the more recognizable brands coming to campus. It’s been around for more than 120 years and is known for its fresh-made deli meats, poultry, and cheeses. The deli also provides many gluten free ingredients, filling a need that has been highly requested by students on campus. According to McQueen’s memo, sandwiches can be made-to-order or you can opt to buy a specialty sandwich that is pre-made.

“Well, we have a deli already in Uncle Dave’s, but we really need to expand Uncle Dave’s and a deli is just good on campus,” said Sodexo general manager Anthony Bates. “People want the grab-and-go or the house sandwich; it’s just a good option to have.”

Bates says that Lipscomb and Sodexo felt comfortable with Boar’s Head Deli due to its success on other campuses, its reliability, consistency and product quality. “I think people will enjoy it. It’s popular in other places, we do that on some other campuses. It looks good, it’s name recognition that you know the quality of meat, the product you’re gonna get. Knowing we really want to do a deli and that would be a better spot knowing that the pizza place [Pie on the Fly] really doesn’t do well anyway.”

Bates also says that space is valuable, and that under-performing restaurants should be replaced. “If we have one that’s not doing well, we need to change it because we don’t have unlimited space to make it, you know?”

Wild Blue

An Asian cuisine restaurant, Wild Blue will be replacing Creekstone Burger Company. According to McQueen’s Memo, Wild Blue will serve items such as hot-rice bowls, sushi, and boba tea.

SGA president and PSAC member Liz McKell, a senior disabilities studies major from Germany, says that students have been wanting this kind of food.

“The biggest thing that I’ve heard over the past few years consistently is people really want an Asian option. They [students] really want some kind of Asian food in some way, and I think that Dr. McQueen and Anthony [Bates] and everybody else did a really good job of hearing that.” McKell said.

Bates said that they have also seen and heard the same. “Asian is always the top. It’s that and it’s TexMex, those are the two big ones…”

“To do the Asian [restaurant] and do it right, we have to have that spot [Creekstone Burger Company’s location on campus] because its got the hood system, its got the space, its got everything we need. And then just making sure that what is on campus compliments the others well. I don’t want to put a Zaxby’s in when I’ve got a Chick-fil-A right down there. So, it’s just things like that we gotta think about; making sure it’s new but it doesn’t take away too much from the other places we’re doing.”

Creekstone Burger Company may not be completely gone

And if you love really love a burger, don’t worry. Bates hinted that there could be a chance that Lipscomb students would still see it return or be present in some capacity.

“That has been brought up…” said Bates when asked about the possibility. “I think after listening to the popularity, that people like it, you know, I would like to try to figure out a way to try to get some rotation back in it to say, ‘Hey, we’re gonna bring Creekstone back or keep it on’, and certain things I just gotta figure it out.”

“You know, a lot of them [the students] really liked something like Creekstone because it had like a home feel to it. They just like the simplicity of it, I guess. Tatter tots and a burger, you know, they just like that, the classic feel,” Bates said. “We have some options over in Local Eats in the evening. You know, maybe, we’re talking about either keeping ‘MrBeast’ [MrBeast burger] and doing that for the burger option of the night, or maybe we move Creekstone in there in the evenings instead. So we still have some of that, some of that continuity that people like.”

McKell heard similar opinions. “People had some concerns about that, related to Creekstone leaving,” she said. “But one of the biggest things is that ‘MrBeast Burger’ is a thing on campus. It’s like a late night dining option. So they’re talking about what other options it might look like for that, of making that more available. So burgers will still be, be there as always. I think that was a big concern and that’s something that both PSAC and SGA brought up.”

Uncle Dave’s being expanded and slightly altered

Along with the news of two new franchises, President McQueen also announced in her bi-weekly memo that Uncle Dave’s would be expanded. Due to the addition of Boar’s Head Deli, Uncle Dave’s will no longer feature its deli station, but will instead expand on aspects of the convenience store by providing more freshly-prepared grab-and-go options student, as well as an expansion on frozen food options.

“It was kind of some concern, some praises about the new options that they’re planning on bringing in,” McKell said about the feedback received from students. “A lot of it was, ‘Oh, we love the deli in Uncle Dave’s right now’, wanna keep that going, love the new renovation of that. So they kind of combined those things and took, new renovation, they like the new options in Uncle Dave’s, let’s make it bigger and then create another deli option. So then we have both of those.”

The expansion and new-coming restaurants will likely debut at the beginning of the 2023 Fall Semester.