By Megan Norcross

It was hard to miss the hubbub in the student center on Jan. 30: Music was blaring and free pizzas were being offered over the unispan to a lucky few by rollerskating employees.

It was the grand opening of the University’s new eateries in the student center, Maui Tacos and Pizza Exchange. “As we came to last year, we decided to expand on our Southwestern Mexican cuisine and we felt that Sbarro was getting tired,” said Eisa Shukran, the director for food service provider Lackmann Culinary Services.

The eateries are located in the center kiosk of the Student Center, where Sbarro and the Organic Grille used to be, placing them outside of the main café-style dining area.

Maui Tacos offers foods such as chicken enchiladas, fresh fish tacos, mango salads, tortillas and a salsa bar. Everything is made fresh to order and has zero trans-fats.

“[Lackmann thinks] this is the best Mexican cuisine,” Shukran said.

Pizza Exchange, located on the other side of the kiosk, has personal-sized pizzas topped to order and pizza/salad bowls. Also, they have free campus delivery service and are open late.

“It’s a better option for the students late at night,” Shukran said. “It’s open until 2 a.m.”

Students are divided in their reactions to the new eateries. “It was a great addition to the variety of foods,” freshman Alyssa Sciscio said. “The people are really sweet; the pricing is fine,” said Dina Sena.

Josh Todisco-Westerman, a sophomore, disagreed. “I think the tacos are okay, but they’re overpriced.$3 a taco is pretty ridiculous,” he said.

Shukran responded to price concerns: “We did a competitive price analysis with local markets like Chipotle-there’s no comparison. All the ingredients are made fresh.”

Both eateries were delayed in their opening, to which Shukran said that there were unforeseen problems with the fire alarm system. The satellite was out-of-date and had to be upgraded, and also connected with the rest of the cafeteria.

“We had high hopes to get it up late October or November,” Shukran said. “Obviously, with construction you never know. By the time we were ready, it didn’t make sense to open as students were leaving. We said, ‘Let’s do this right. We’ll throw a grand opening.'”

A server prepares a personal pizza made-to-order at the new Pizza Exchange in the Student Center.

A student takes her order from a server at Maui Tacos.