Burger place, Peet’s Coffee & Tea, more seating to replace Starbucks, Carl’s Jr., Taco Bell
The UC Davis Silo, a favorite dining spot for many students, will be undergoing some major changes starting in June.
The entire Silo will be shutting down on June 15 for remodeling this summer. This date marks the end of the UC Davis Dining Services’ contract with its longtime vendor, Sodexo.
Sodexo is the overarching organization that owns and runs most of the restaurants in the Silo, including Carl’s Jr., Taco Bell and Pizza Hut Express. It also employs many of the students who currently work at the Silo.
When the contract with Sodexo ends, the university will be taking over the Silo’s administration.
After the renovation, several current restaurants in the Silo will be shut down permanently, including Taco Bell, Carl’s Jr. and Pizza Hut Express.
Some students have expressed disappointment regarding the closing of some of their favorite restaurants.
“I love Taco Bell,” said David Lee, a first-year animal science major. “If I had to pick a last meal for prison, it would be Taco Bell.”
For coffee-dependent college students, though, perhaps the biggest change is the conversion of the Starbucks to a Peet’s, which is set to open this coming fall along with the rest of the remodeled Silo.
“I’m quite sad to hear that Starbucks is closing,” said Antoinyse Chavez, a first-year art studio major. “I go there daily to get my go to juice and breakfast.”
The closed-down restaurants will be replaced by a UC Davis-run burger spot, a new space for La Crepe and more seating. According to Melissa Hosking, a third-year English and sociology-organizational studies double major and a student manager at the Silo’s Grab-n-Go and Pizza Hut, the remodeled Silo area will also have more food trucks for students to choose from.
The Silo’s current staff also has some concerns regarding these changes.
‘‘Right now there are some benefits that we have […]” Hosking said. “Like Sodexo provides us with meal swipes at the DC [dining commons] but the university isn’t going to be giving it to us […] because then they would have to give swipes to all the UC Davis employees.”
Hoskings, currently contracted under Sodexo, will have to reapply and transition to being a university employee along with all the other Silo employees working under Sodexo. In addition, many employees will be reassigned to different posts and positions after the renovation is complete.
Written by: Clara Zhao — campus@theaggie.org
