What Happened to Lakeside Diner?

When students left for summer break, they did not know that they would be saying goodbye to one of the most popular and successful restaurants on campus. Lakeside Diner was a hot dining spot that took meal plans as well as stayed open until 3:00 am. Things could not get any better than that. What other place on campus served chicken tenders at three in the morning? When students returned to school this fall, they were surprised to see that Lakeside Diner was replaced with Maea. Maea is an upscale restaurant with a menu that includes foods such as yellow-fin tuna and chicken nachos. This new restaurant is a sit-down place where the customers are served by waiters/waitresses dressed in black pants, white shirts, black ties, and black shoes. If you ask me, Maea is just too upscale, especially for college students. I do not know too many students who actually crave yellow-fin tuna. So, what happened to Lakeside Diner you ask? Last year, Bama Dining sent out a survey and based upon the results, they discovered that the student body wanted a classy, sit-down restaurant. Now I'm not sure when they did the survey but I personally didn't get a chance to take the survey. I'm sure when the student body said they wanted a classy, sit- down restaurant, they did not mean they wanted to get rid of Lakeside Diner. It does not seem fair that the students have to sacrifice one of our favorite places to eat, just to include another restaurant. If the individuals who are in charge of Bama Dining wanted to satisfy the student’s desire to have a classy, sit-down restaurant, why not replace another place, like Doster’s Café with Maea? It was also said that with the new dormitories opening up directly behind Lakeside, the diner would not have been able to keep up with the capacity of new students. If Lakeside Diner would not be able to keep a larger capacity, why could it not be moved to the larger cafeteria part of Lakeside? Even though Lakeside Diner did not serve the healthiest food, it was still very popular because college students enjoy foods such as cheeseburgers and chicken tenders. Another reason why Lakeside could have been replaced could be that the cooks and workers probably became tired of dealing with the many intoxicated people that came through. Even though some people caused small disturbances, it was not anything too serious, nor did it happen every day. Lakeside Diner was a place students could mingle and enjoy cheap food early in the morning. Lakeside Diner will always be remembered for their patty melts, cheeseburgers, and let’s not forget their exceptional chicken tenders. Hopefully in the near future the Bama Dining staff could take some of our suggestions and bring a late night diner back on campus.