Another turnaround for carousel
The Carousel Square has spun its way into a new dining service available to all students with extended hours and a new, expanded menu.
The Carousel Square, now called the Marketplace Eatery, is located on the second floor of the Taggart Student Center and offers students a fresh alternative to campus eats.
Chuck Weaver, director of Food Services, said one of the goals of the new Marketplace is to create an environment that can guarantee the freshness of the product and give the customer the ability to customize their meal options.
“The food is different, some elements stayed the same, but the way we deliver is better,” Weaver said.
Most of the food items are made to order, he said, rather than prepared ahead of time and served out of the kitchen.
The Marketplace is an all-you-can-eat smorgasbord of fresh choices. When students walk in, they will notice a few changes to both the menu and the environment. The Marketplace is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and each meal is a flat rate for all the food you can eat, including a variety of available dishes like a Mongolian grill, American grill, Mexican and Italian bar, a dessert buffet and an expanded fresh deli section.
A full breakfast menu is also available, serving bulk cereals, milk, waffles, bagels, muffins, pastries and hot breakfast menu items made to order. Weaver said students and faculty have the option to make everything from omelets to toast hot off the grill starting at 7 a.m. Monday through Friday.
“We have the ability to make fresh pizza by the slice, roasts cut to order, fresh tortillas and salsas from the Mexican bar and Aggie ice cream with all the toppings,” Weaver said. “All concepts are prepared with the ability to expand the current menus.”
The seating in the Marketplace has been expanded to accommodate the students moving into the new student housing development on campus. Weaver said the Walnut Room is available for overflow seating during lunch. At capacity, the Marketplace can hold about 468 students, with room for expansion.
The change from the Carousel Square to the Marketplace has been on the drawing board for quite some time. The kitchen was closed last year for renovation and the entire facility was closed after the last day of classes, just reopened Aug. 22 as the Marketplace.
“When the new resident living center was planned, they knew they had to have a way to feed those kids,” Weaver said.
Although the initial reason for the Marketplace was to serve the new students living on campus, the facility could be an asset for all students and faculty on campus because of its expanded hours.
The Marketplace is open until 10 p.m. Monday through Friday, until 7 p.m. on Saturdays and 8 p.m. on Sundays.
-etippetts@cc.usu.edu