The Skyroom offers affordable, gourmet lunches
Most people know if they’re on campus and hungry, The Hub or the Marketplace is where to find the food. But there is one more place that many students don’t know about – The Skyroom.
Located on the fourth floor of the Taggart Student Center and probably most commonly recognized as the place where Poetry and a Beverage used to be held each month, The Skyroom provides a different atmosphere than the other dining places on campus.
“It’s away from all the hubbub of The Hub and the Marketplace,” said Betty Sialaris, manager of The Skyroom. In existence since the 1950s, The Skyroom is a quiet, sit-down restaurant with a menu, servers and a buffet three times a week. It is a lunchtime restaurant, only open from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., but the menu includes everything from sandwiches to dinner-style entrees. It is also home of the Famous Aggie Nut Roll, a ball of vanilla Aggie Ice Cream rolled in cashews or almonds and topped with caramel or chocolate.
“That is a mainstay on The Skyroom menu,” Sialaris said.
One noteworthy and appealing thing about The Skyroom is its head chef, Leo Perez. He had a small restaurant in Panama and worked at a variety of restaurants after moving to Utah. Before coming to USU, he was a chef at The Lion House in Salt Lake City. Sialaris said he does a wonderful job with The Skyroom’s menu.
Except for Perez, all of the employees of The Skyroom are students. Sialaris said she believes that adds to its appeal because the students are working to support themselves and pay for school, and through the restaurant, they have a place on campus to help them do that.
“It makes you appreciate The Skyroom,” she said.
Most of the customers in The Skyroom are staff and faculty, people who come up for a quiet lunch or a meeting. Sialaris said The Skyroom appeals to these people because of the ambiance. She said there is a great view, and it’s quiet.
A lot of the customers are regulars, although that is not always the case.
“We see a lot of new faces up there but most of the time they are regulars or regulars bringing new people,” she said.
Some students don’t realize that it’s a place they can go as well, but Sialaris said students are more than welcome. Addressing another student concern, she said it is something that they can definitely afford.
Our prices are more reasonable than people think,” she said. They compare very well with prices around town, and Sialaris said she thinks The Skyroom often has better service. But sometimes the problem is that students simply don’t know about it.
Natasha Day, a sophomore majoring in social work, said the only reason she knows about the restaurant is from a tour of the school before she was a student. She has never eaten there though.
“I’ve heard good things about it, but the hours are a little inconvenient,” she said.
Her friend Tiffany Pasker, a sophomore majoring in elementary education, had never heard of it until she and Day were asked about it. She said she would like to go see what it’s all about though.
“I am curious to no end,” she said. The two have planned to one day go eat at The Skyroom and see what it is like.
If the food and the atmosphere aren’t appealing, maybe ghost stories will be. Sialaris said there is a rumor that The Skyroom is haunted. Many people have said they’ve felt a presence late at night while cleaning up there.
“They’ve talked about it ever since I’ve started,” she said. However, in her five years as manager, there has only been one experience she was involved in.
Two members of the night cleaning crew who had been up there came down and said they couldn’t clean there because they could feel a presence with them.
Now The Skyroom gets cleaned in the afternoon because no one will go up there at night.
The presence doesn’t keep too many people away though, because The Skyroom is used for several ASUSU activities like the Howl, Mardi Gras and Homecoming. It is also used for catering events like department dinners and community events.
“The Skyroom is awesome!” Sialaris said.
The restaurant is open Monday through Friday and reservations can be made by calling 797-1767.
-kathrynkemp@cc.usu.edu