On Sept. 6, UCSD Housing, Dining and Hospitality announced on Facebook that they are turning the Marshall College dining hall, OceanView Terrace (OVT), into an all-you-can-eat buffet. Patrons will pay a single price at the door instead of paying per item, as they could before which is still the case at the other dining halls.
The price varies for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast is $7.95, lunch is $8.95 and dinner is $10.95. While bottled sodas will not be included in the price, water will remain free. The coffee station has been removed, but there will still be access to regular coffee and ice cream. On some nights, OVT will serve special menus that will cost $13.95. “It’s good for guys,” Marshall College senior Kevin Chang said. “I think it’s way better because a meal is usually over $13.”
Along with the change in pricing comes an alteration to the hours. OVT will now be closed between meal periods to give workers time to set up for the next meal. Breakfast will be from 7:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. Lunch will be served between the hours of 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Dinner will be open from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Fridays.
OVT was open during move-in this past weekend, but OVT will no longer remain open on weekends.
Many of the changes in the menu are in response to the all-you-can-eat format change. Portion sizes will be slightly smaller — the deli is cutting long sandwiches into smaller helpings.
Students who are not planning to eat at the dining hall will not be allowed to enter and sit with their friends, nor will they be allowed to re-enter the dining hall after leaving.
Housing, Dining and Hospitality announced in messages to new residents that the need for the dish drop-off locations, Toby Spots, have been replaced. Students will no longer be allowed to take dishes out. Instead, they will be given recyclable containers for leftover food.
HDH Executive Director Mark Cunningham could not be reached for comment by press time.