Undergrads flock to Wilcox and Wu, forgo Forbes

When it comes to determining the success of the renovations, students have been voting with their feet. “It’s not uncommon to see over 1,000 students dining there during dinner,” Director of Dining Services Stu Orefice said in an e-mail to The Daily Princetonian regarding the popularity of the renovated Wu and Wilcox dining halls. For a typical weeknight dinner, Orefice added, the Rockefeller and Mathey dining halls together serve an average of 750 meals, while the Whitman dining hall serves an average of 450 meals and the Forbes dining hall serves an average of 275 meals.

According to data provided by Dining Services, Wu and Wilcox have served between 25 and 30 percent more meals so far this year than they had by this time last year, though last year’s figures may have been affected by the construction that took place at the time.

The numbers reflect a generally positive attitude about the renovations. “I think it’s a lot better, especially Wilcox,” Wilson resident Maria Jose Dobles ’12 said. “It’s more comfortable, and the food is really good.”

Wilcox’ brightly colored walls and remodeled booth seating have given it an entirely new atmosphere, students said. “I can’t even recognize it from how it was before,” said Vinayak Venkataraman ’11, who has a shared meal plan with Colonial Club.

Onder Polat ’12, a Butler College resident, said the absence of trays makes “Wu-Wilcox’ atmosphere less of a ‘dining hall’ and more of a restaurant.”

This newfound popularity of the Wu and Wilcox dining halls is not without a downside. Long lines in the servery and overcrowding have become the norm at Wilcox dinners. “It’s a lot more crowded at the peak hours. I just go later or earlier when I want to eat dinner there,” Venkataraman said.

The crowding has been an inconvenience for some Butler and Wilson residents. “We wish sometimes we had something like Whitman’s College Night,” Dobles said. “Sometimes it’s really crowded with people who aren’t in Butler or Wilson. But we used to go to Whitman before, so it makes sense that other people would come here.”

When Whitman’s dining hall opened in 2007, it faced similar overcrowding problems.

Though most Wilson residents have praised the changes to their dining hall, some said there might have been something lost in the renovations. “Wu and Wilcox are now like some of the other dining halls,” Venkataraman said. “In some ways, it’s lost some of the charm.”