Atrium Food Court Takes Top Award

NC State’s Atrium Food Court renovation brought home the gold in the Loyal E. Horton Dining Awards sponsored by the National Association of College and University Food Services. The awards are given annually to food service organizations for excellence in dining concepts, special events, retail concepts and catering services.

The Atrium Food Court, NC State’s most popular retail dining facility, underwent a complete renovation between May 2010 and August 2011. The $4.1 million project transformed the once crowded, outdated space into a vibrant, well-designed facility that can accommodate patrons faster with a wide variety of fresh options. The facility’s previous renovation took place in 1985.

“Since the renovation, on an average day, the Atrium Food Court performs about 7,000 transactions amounting to roughly $35,000 in sales,” said Randy Lait, food service director in University Dining. “We attribute the success to creating food concepts and dynamic menus that will keep students coming back. Of the five concepts within the Atrium, all were branded by University Dining with the exception of the facility’s flagship brand, Chick-fil-A.”

Representatives from University Dining, Campus Enterprises and other university departments worked with architects and planners from Moser, Mayer & Phoenix Architects and the Baker Group to plan the project.