Aggie Commons replaces The Junction

The Junction, Utah State University’s decades-old residential dining hall, has been transformed into Aggie Commons, replacing the all-you-can-eat buffet with restaurants, games and gathering spaces. 

With the building slated for demolition within the next year, Aggie Commons is a temporary use of a space USU Dining Services still wants students and faculty to use.

Aggie Commons is open seven days a week and offers board games, puzzles, TVs, a karaoke machine and free popcorn and soda. 

“We’ve got cornhole, Jazzminton, a really nice poker table, and my personal favorite, shuffleboard,” said Alan Andersen, director of Dining Services. 

Aggie Commons has four restaurants: Big Blue’s Grill, Global Kitchen, Taste of the Americas and Common Greens Deli and Salad Bar. 

These restaurants are open to anyone, Andersen said, whether they are students, faculty or community members.

Students with meal plans can use meal swipes or Dining Dollars here, according to Andersen. One meal swipe allows a student to receive an entree, a side, a beverage and a dessert.

The restaurants at Aggie Commons serve food from 5-9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, which is more limited than The Junction, which was open Sunday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Thursday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

“It became apparent that The Junction was underutilized, especially for breakfast and lunch,” Andersen said. “The place was literally a ghost town at lunchtime.”

According to Andersen, The Junction’s hours contributed to money and food being wasted.

“We looked at the numbers and kept The Junction open last year to really understand the viability of it, to see if it was necessary,” Andersen said. “We determined throughout the year that it wasn’t serving its purpose.” 

Some students, including USU senior Mason England, miss the old hours. 

“I remember some Sundays, I would come in, eat breakfast, do my homework, eat lunch, do my homework, then eat dinner and leave,” England said.

Students living on Central Campus with required meal plans must head to The Aggie Marketplace in the TSC if they want to use a meal swipe for breakfast or lunch. 

“Sometimes it’s annoying to have to walk over to The Marketplace,” said Taylor Kearns, a first- year student who lives in Central Suites. 

Kearns said she prefers the food and environment at Aggie Commons. 

“It’s a very chill vibe,” Kearns said. “The Marketplace can be very chaotic. There’s usually a lot of people in there.” 

Unlike The Junction and The Aggie Marketplace, students with meal plans are allowed to take the food to go. 

“It’s super nice when you are in a rush,” Kearns said. “When I need to go to class or do homework and I don’t want to sit and eat, I can just take the food back to my dorm.”

Students can order food using the Transact Mobile Ordering app and receive a text when the food is ready for pickup. 

In addition to the restaurants, students can buy food and snacks from the Aggie Commons C-Store, previously named The Depot, located by the entrance of Aggie Commons.

“We’ve added a lot more grab-and-go items,” Andersen said. “We’ll have fresh-made salads and then breakfast line items like Jimmy Dean’s sausages too.” 

Since Aggie Commons is a short-term plan, renovations of the building were done on a budget. 

“Since we’re only investing for a year, we didn’t want to spend a million dollars on something,” Andersen said. 

According to Andersen, the tables were brought in from The Hub, and the chairs are originally from the David B. Haight Alumni Center. 

After the building is demolished, a new dining hall is expected to be built in its place, though plans for the site are not yet finalized. 

“The idea right now is to build a new dining hall, and then maybe add a couple stories of housing on top,” Andersen said.