The Maize wins national Loyal E. Horton Dining Award
If you’re looking for an award-winning place to eat lunch or meet with friends, look no further than Concordia’s own quick-serve café.
The Maize was recently awarded with the prestigious Loyal E. Horton award. The prize, which was issued by The National Association of College and University Food Services, recognizes excellence in residence hall dining facilities across the nation.
Concordia’s one-year-old alternative dining center qualified with enough points to receive the silver award this July—the highest award given in the category of retail sales among small schools.
Janet Rice, the Associate Director of Dining Services, said this award is an exciting achievement for the school.
“We were just thrilled to win because judging was really rigorous,” she said. “It really means something to win this award.”
The award receives entries from hundreds of schools and is judged by a cross-section of college food-service administrators from around the country. Points are given in the areas of menu, food merchandising, marketing, and other business areas.
Rice believes that this award reaffirms the success of the Maize’s intended purpose.
“It really is a multi-purpose space,” she said. “It’s a gathering place.”
She said the Maize was designed to fulfill a need on campus—both as a place to gather socially and as a quick way to get a snack or a meal outside of Anderson Commons. It was a vision that planners weren’t sure would succeed.
“We had the question of, ‘If we build it, will they come?’” Rice said. “But students have come. [The Maize] is actually busier than what we were expecting.”
In fact, Sabrina Whiting, Marketing Supervisor for Dining Services, says that positive customer reviews about the Maize’s general atmosphere and menu were a contributing factor in winning the award.
The Maize’s directors continue to build upon the café’s quick success. Rice said that students can expect additional menu items this year, such as more packaged ‘to-go’ items. The addition of a new register and an express lane should speed up check out time, Whiting said, and customers can enjoy various promotions this fall, like coupons on the bottom of some receipts and Monster Cookie Mondays, where cookies are just 50 cents.
