DELICIA HOLDER
Special to The Leader
New things are always a great way to start the new semester.
For this Spring 2019 semester, Fredonia is unveiling a brand new Italian menu every other week at El Diablo’s in Centre Pointe in the basement of the Williams Center.
The rotating food stop will sit under the name “Il Diavolo Blu.” “The Blue Devil” in Italian, just like El Diablo Azul is the Spanish name when the location is serving the original Mexican menu.
Something to spice up the same old, same old, that students have been eating for a while. This new menu features spaghetti and meatballs with chicken parmesan, baked ziti, three cheese lasagna with a breadstick and three salad options.
Fredonia foodies have seen a variety at Cranston Marche from semester to semester and some new additions at Centre Pointe with expanding homestyle options.
However, for a long time El Diablo’s has been the Mexican grill serving rice bowls and burritos.
That was never the plan for the space, though, according to Darin Schulz, the Executive Director of the Faculty Student Association.
“The unit that Diablos and Diavolos occupies was intended to be a flexible space in order to adapt to changing trends. When it was created in 2008, it was named ‘Trendz,’” said Schulz. “We have been operating that space as a Mexican grill concept since the Fall semester of 2014.”
So now, after 4 years, FSA is reverting back to the original plan and making it a place for trendy food.
That means, for this time at least, Italian trends. But why Italian, right?
Well, when considering a new menu option for a school campus, dining service officials have to ensure that it is something that the students would want to spend their money on.
“After just four days, we are seeing an increase in customers by almost 50 percent,” said Schulz.
The decision to introduce Italian came from research, student feedback and requests.
In any case there will always be a few that dislike change. There were the usual negative comments, but the majority of students had all love for this new Italian menu. Even the salad was an enjoyable meal to some.
We heard things like “Salad, a hundred!” “Just the change I needed!” and “The baked ziti is my favorite!”
One question still remains: is this it for menu additions or will there be more?
According to Schulz, this is just the beginning.
“There are three more unique weeks coming for Diavolos, so we hope to keep everyone coming back to see what is new every other week,” said Schulz.