- Lauren Hill,
ISU student
As new buildings rise around the ISU campus and developments are being constructed, a large variety of restaurants and small eateries are becoming more popular.
Aside from college meal plans, students are faced with meal decisions on a daily basis. Coming to college forces students to feed themselves and search for eateries they are interested in.
The location of each eatery is very crucial. It helps to be close to the campus, Ben Craig, Redbird Pizza (808-1699) manager, said.
“I believe restaurant location and specials help students decide what place to go. I think our location benefits our business because we are so close to the residential halls and it is convenient for students. People are coming and going all the time so it is easy for them to stop in to Redbird Pizza,” Craig said.
At Redbird Pizza location and specials help attract students from residence halls on campus. (Amanda Clayton / J-News archive photo) |
Redbird Pizza, 503 S. Main St., offers students a daily special consisting of a jumbo pizza slice and soda. In addition, Redbird Pizza offers a different small each day of the week. The business does not accept any campus special cards.
“I think our restaurant is so popular to students because it is just so good,” Craig said.
While taste plays a large role, prices can even play a bigger one. The majority of students are on a tight budget, so finding a cheap, yet hardy meal is another student goal when choosing a restaurant.
If prices are cheap but the food is not that great, an eatery will suffer. Having a combination of both, good food and realistic prices, will help a small businesses succeed in the long-run and gain popularity with the ISU students.
Chill Out, a frozen yogurt shop located in Uptown Normal, recently opened to the public and has created reasonable prices for desserts, Max Rogers, Chill Out manager, said.
“If a student comes in with only two dollars, the student can actually get something for that price. How much you want to put in your dessert cup is what you pay for. A small amount of money is enough for a lot at Chill Out,” Rogers said.
Additionally, the location is helpful to Chill Out and its customers.
“Since we are right next to Medici, another Uptown Normal restaurant, many students come over after they finish dinner and grab some dessert. We have a lot of late night rushes due to the popularity of the restaurant, which in the end makes us busy,” he said.
Attracting a large student crowd, the frozen yogurt shop has coupons in the ISU coupon book that was handed out to students in the beginning of the fall semester.
Meatheads, (451-3535) 701 S. Main St., also recently opened to the public and offers ISU students a large menu with the most expensive item priced at $6.50. Located next to another popular eatery, Chipotle, Meatheads’ menu has many different foods and tries to attract a different crowd.
According to Megan Thornton, Meatheads manager, the restaurant has ongoing promotions. So far Meatheads has worked with four ISU organizations where 10% of sales on the promoting day will go towards a particular charity.
“The promoting days brings in a lot more students. I think our location right under an apartment complex makes it easy for students to come in and get some food whenever they would like to. Another big attraction is our Coke machine. You can make any flavor of soda you like,” Thornton said.
In addition, the restaurant focuses around cleanliness and making sure students have a good time while dining.
“Meatheads is also popular because of the music we play here. We have had a few sing-alongs already,” she said.
Finding a fun and inviting atmosphere is ISU students, Jessica DiVito and Lauren Hill’s top priority when choosing what place to eat at.
When living in apartment, students most likely do not obtain a meal plan. Instead they make meals for themselves or go out and get some food with friends, according to the two roommates, DiVito and Hill.
“When we do not want to make food we like to go out to Uptown Normal. There are a lot of different places we can choose from and we can dine in,” Hill said.
In addition, they chose to go to Uptown Normal because it is nice to walk around and it is close to their apartment complex. The roommates chose places that have cheap prices so they can save money for groceries, DiVito added.
Eateries located in Uptown Normal attract many students. Places located there include The Rock Restaurant, Windy City Wieners, Jimmy Johns, La Bamba, Firehouse, Maggie Miley’s, DP Dough and more.
As more ISU developments are being completed and more places are open to the public, students are able to choose from a variety of different popular eateries based on their location, atmosphere and prices.