Order up: History of the Hub
From Chinese food to grilled goods, baked sweets to footlong subs, the Hub has long served a variety of cuisines, constantly shifting to meet the palates of students and faculty alike. Located on the bottom floor of the TSC, the Hub has a lasting history of adaptation and suppressing appetites.
According to a book titled “USU Food Services Annual Report and History” by Marnie Corbett, the domestic art department handled the early days of food service at the university. They didn’t manage restaurants to feed students and faculty throughout the day but prepared banquets for special events.
“At one time, the college received a visit from 250 members of the legislature for which the girls of the department cooked a five-course dinner. Because the number of the girls in the department was small, the cooking for this meal was done for three days preceding the dinner,” Corbett wrote.
In a recollection from professor Abby L. Marlatt, who started the domestic art department in 1890, she wrote that boys in the college helped the girls carry food “up narrow ladder-like stairs from the basement kitchen to one of the sewing rooms which was used as a temporary dining room.”
As told by Corbett, the Agricultural College Cafeteria opened in 1910, serving two hot meals a day. In 1935, a new building called the School of Home Economics was built in the southeast corner of the Quad, including a cafeteria offering made-to-order meals. However, during World War II, this cafeteria was for the military only.
The Union Building, now known as the TSC, opened in 1953. During this time, the Fountain, which served quick lunches and soft drinks, was also opened where the USU Campus Store is today. In 1963, the Fountain was renamed the Hub and moved to its current location.
Alan Andersen is the Dining Services executive director and started working for USU in 1989, taking over the Hub two years later. Andersen thought back to the Hub’s various amenities from decades ago.
“You’d walk down one line, and there was four stations for food, a big salad bar in the middle and a saucer of ice cream on the side — drinks and a big huge cooler. You’d walk in and get what you want, you pay and you go out,” Andersen said. “On the other side of the wall was a bowling alley and a billiards place, as well as an arcade.”
According to Andersen, repairs on the bowling alley were too expensive, so it had to close.
“They kept the arcade — there was still pool. There was everything from a video store where you could rent movies. They had a flower shop there — a lot of different downtown businesses,” Andersen said.
Ming Yan, student from China, was hired to open the first restaurant in the food court. It was called Hub Wok and offered Asian cuisine. Alongside Hub Wok in 1992 was the Mexican Fiesta and the All American Grill, now called Scotsman’s Corner.
The longest-standing restaurant has been Scotsman’s Corner, despite changing names more than once.
“It’s always been breakfast all day and cheeseburgers,” Andersen said.
Aside from that, Taco Time was there for over 20 years until last year.
Amber Schoenfeld is the current manager of the Marketplace. She started working for USU’s Dining Services as a student in 2002. She worked at Hazel’s in the Hub, which baked fresh bread. Around the time she started, there was also Taco Time, Hogi Yogi Teriyaki Stix, Outback Chicken and Pizza Hut.
Originally, Taco Time had a limited menu but then transitioned to a full-service menu.
“The biggest challenge with that is we used to only have fryers that were clear back on the other side. We’d have to run all the way from Taco Time all the way over to those fryers and then back over,” Schoenfeld said.
Former Dining Services director Dean Wright, who worked for USU in the ‘90s, is credited with having a lot of forward-thinking when it came to the Hub.
“Dean Wright brought a lot of vision. When we did the food court and started changing that, did some new things up there, people started thinking differently about Dining Services. That’s when we had the library come say ‘Hey, would you consider a coffee shop in the library?’” Andersen said.
In 1992, the Hub won the National Association of College and University Food Services grand prize for the best cash operation on any college campus in the United States at the time.
Andersen and Schoenfeld attribute the ongoing success of the Hub largely to their employees.
“I think most managers — we get a lot of our best ideas from our employees. Most of us are more in my age range than the younger age range,” Schoenfeld said. “We know what we like, but do we know what our current customer base likes? We talk to them to get their feedback.”
Today, the Hub houses Subway, Caffe Ibis, Scotsman’s Corner, Chester’s Chicken, Campus Carnitas, Lotus Kitchen and Sage Pizza. Its grand opening week will be held Feb. 3-7, and Chester’s Chicken will be serving its food at Casino Night that Friday.
“It’s been a crazy ride, and it’s still fun,” Andersen said. “We’re always saying ‘What’s a better way? What can we do better?’ We never put our feet up on the desk and relax. We’ll go and find the new and exciting thing, and that makes it fun.”