Students will have to go off campus to find Peking duck wraps and lychee slush after the end of October, when Star Wraps will close its doors. Following recommendations from the University Centers Advisory Board, university officials have decided not to extend the establishment’s lease and instead replace it with a different restaurant.
“It’s not uncommon that when a lease expires that we would consider a new restaurant,” University Centers Director Gary Ratcliff said. “We wanted to try something new.”
Tacone, the wraps vendor UCAB selected to replace Star Wraps, operates an establishment at the University Towne Center food court and will open for business by mid-December. Like Star Wraps, Tacone is a restaurant that features wraps in international styles. The restaurant’s menu contains items that include a “Samurai” teriyaki wrap and a “Chinatown” chicken salad.
“When you get Tacone stuff, the quality and freshness is really better, and that’s what I think sold people,” Ratcliff said.
The decision to recommend replacing Star Wraps was not unanimous, however.
“I like [Tacone], but I really do like Star Wraps,” said junior Carrie Du, the Revelle College representative on the board. “From what I’ve seen from Tacone’s menu, they don’t have the same offerings.”
Board members initially “split half and half” on the decision to remove Star Wraps, according to Du.
Some patrons of the establishment also said they were disappointed with the decision.
“Star Wraps is the only place to go to get a unique kind of food,” Revelle College freshman Aria Jafari said.
Despite a loyal fan base, Ratcliff said that “four threads convinced us that we needed to open it up and take proposals for new restaurants.”
These threads included Star Wraps’ low sales, a review by UCAB’s food committee, evaluations created through a secret shopper program and poor health inspection reports.
According to a UCAB statement, criteria for seeking a new vendor included “food quality, menu diversity, prices, cleanliness standards, restaurant experience, management style and financial performance.”
The three restaurants originally considered for a new lease included Star Wraps, Tacone and World Wrapps. Tacone’s low-cost student menu, vegetarian options and experienced management team were important factors in its selection, according to the committee’s statement.
“We looked for a global, healthy alternative,” Du said.
Tacone’s proposed UCSD menu includes discounted student combination meals, which come with half of a wrap, a soup or salad, chips and a drink for $4.95.
“They had to have something where a student on a tight budget can get a meal and a drink for less than five dollars,” Ratcliff said.
In discussions last spring, UCAB had originally indicated a desire for a mom-and-pop business, but it selected the Tacone franchise over the privately operated Star Wraps.
“We decided that we want the best vendor, whether it’s independent or whether it’s a franchise,” Du said.
Star Wraps manager Damon Woo declined to comment on the decision, but he expressed concerns last year over the accuracy of the secret shopper program.
“I have enjoyed serving the students here at UCSD,” Woo said.
Future UCAB plans include selecting seven new restaurants to occupy the Price Center expansion by 2007 and selecting a Thai restaurant for the renovated Student Center.
