CLOSED OU EATING OPERATIONS AND INCREASED NORMAN RESTAURANT TRAFFIC COINCIDE
Norman Restaurants See Increased Business on Weekends

If one were to dine at a Norman restaurant on the weekends, one might notice the increase in restaurant traffic and a decrease in parking spot availability.

“I’m basically forced to go eat out on weekends to eat, and when I do there's always longer lines and it takes longer to make my food, but at least it's good for Norman restaurants," freshman Will McWhirter said.

The reason for increased restaurant traffic and decreased parking spot availability is because Norman restaurants have better business on the weekends, Darrol Ray said, co-owner of Ray’s Smokehouse BBQ located on W. Lindsey Street.

Typically Ray’s makes most of its profit on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Ray said.

However, Ray’s isn’t the only Norman restaurant that sees increased business during the weekend.

Texadelphia – located on W. Lindsey Street – and Seven47 – located on Asp Avenue – see about a 30 percent increase on the weekends compared to weekdays, Brian Bogert said, owner of Texadelphia and Seven47.

And increased restaurant sales don’t end with Ray’s, Texadelphia and Seven47.

Lucky Star, a Chinese restaurant, located next to Ray’s on W. Lindsey Street, also experiences more customers during the weekend, Sanny Lee said, a Lucky Star employee.

“There are times on weekdays where we don’t have any customers,” Lee said. “But during the weekends most tables are occupied”.

Since Norman is home to a university with over 26,000 students, according to the College and University Directory, the demand for restaurants is high, Ray said.

“Restaurants are in such high demand, and there’s such a high restaurant per capita rate in Norman, that it almost scared me away from settling here,” Ray said.

Weekends Also Equal More Student Business
Along with increased business, Ray’s, Texadelphia, Seven47, and Lucky Star also see a higher number of student customers.

During the weekends at Ray’s, about 30 percent of its customers are students, compared to only about 20 percent student customers during weekdays, Ray said.

Those statistics are similar to Lucky Star’s. In a normal week without holidays, Lucky Star sees about 30 percent student customers compared to about 10 percent student customers on weekdays, Lee said.

Closed Campus Food Options Affect Increased Norman Restaurant Traffic
Both Ray and Lee said closed campus food operations played a role in its increased weekend business.

“We see flocks of students come in for lunch and dinner on the weekends, and they don’t have to,” Ray said. “They could stay on campus eat at the open campus restaurants, but we appreciate it. Obviously the choices are more limited for students during weekends on campus”.

Ray, a former OU student athlete, lived in the athletic dorms in 1980 and experienced the closed cafeteria every weekend, which forced him to venture off campus for meals.

“Looking back to when I lived in the athletic dorms the cafeteria closed on the weekends,” Ray said. “So I always had to go out to eat and spend money. Nobody goes hungry, everyone has to eat somewhere”.

Campus Operations Close to Save Money
There are currently 22 dining locations on campus, according to the university’s Housing and Food Web site. However, only six of these dining options are fully open on the weekends: Burger King, Crossroads, O’Henry’s, Oliver’s, Taco Mayo, and Xcetera.

“Those six operations that are open on the weekends are fairly busy throughout the course of Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday before Couch restaurants opens back up on Sunday evenings for dinner,” Lauren Royston said, Housing and Food Services Marketing and Public Relations Specialist. “Those operations see great traffic and our student response to those being available is really positive”.

These six operations stay open on the weekends for three main reasons: it saves the university around $250,000 per year, many students leave campus for the weekend therefore all 22 food options aren’t necessary and the six open food operations can handle the volume, Food Service Director Chuck Weaver said.

In Kitchen Comments Issue No. 633, Dave Annis, Former Food Services Director and current Housing and Food Services Director, said when Couch was open all weekend there weren’t many customers from Friday night until Sunday afternoon which ultimately led to lost profit.

Customer Service a Top Priority for Food Services
To give students better eating options, since 16 operations are closed, Food services broadened meal card use around campus. Currently, Burger King, Cate Center and Crossroads have meal exchange capability which allows students full access of the menu with their Sooner ID card, Weaver said.

But customer service is Food Services top priority and the Food Services employees are always in planning stages of improving, Weaver said.

Introduced last year, room service from Cate ala Carte was added as a convenience for students living in residence halls or OU Traditions Square. The room service is available every day of the week, and is considered another weekend eating option for students, according to the Housing and Food Web site.

Freshmen Thoughts on Closed Operations
Although Food Services closes 16 operations to save money, which increases local Norman restaurant sales, some students aren’t OK with eating off campus every weekend.

“All the effort to please students with meal plans, like myself, doesn’t go unnoticed,” McWhirter said. “It’s just frustrating because the only place I enjoy eating is the cafeteria, and when it’s closed, it forces me to eat out”.

There aren’t plans to fully reopen Couch Cafeteria, or the other closed operations, on the weekends in the near future, Weaver said.

Owner’s Thoughts about University Not Changing Closings
So while students may not be pleased with eating off campus, restaurants owners, like Ray, see the closed campus eating operations in a positive light.

Ray said the university’s decision to keep 16 of the 22 campus food operations closed for the weekend can only increase sales for his restaurant.

"Doesn’t hurt it, doesn’t hurt it," Ray said. “It certainly isn’t bad for [Ray’s Smokehouse BBQ]. It only gives students more reason to come eat here”.

Closed campus food operations and increased restaurant profit on weekends coincide with one another, Bogert said.

"In general more people just eat out on the weekends," Bogert said. "People look at the weekends as mini vacations and want to eat out".

So unless Food Services decided to fully reopen Couch Cafeteria or any of the 16 closed food operations, things seem as if they might stay the same.

“For now I’ll keep going off campus to eat,” McWhirter said. “Only until I figure a better way, or perhaps more affordable way, to eat on the weekends".



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