Following Notre Dame’s Saturday mid-afternoon football game against Miami (Ohio), the dining halls across campus can expect a swarm of students and fans.
According to director of campus dining Luigi Alberganti, brunch options on football Saturdays are offered on only one side of South Dining Hall in order to prepare for the post-game rush. The size of the incoming crowd is partially dependent on how the Fighting Irish play.
“If it’s a tight game, everybody comes at the same time. If it’s a game that is a little bit less exciting … you see the students and faculty drifting in before the game ends,” Alberganti said.
He also specified the influx into the dining halls on game days is 20% greater than a typical day.
“Most of them, if not all of them, are alumni and people who feel nostalgic about the place that they grew up with, especially South Dining Hall (SDH), [which] is a special place,” he said.
Game day menus
Alberganti said the dining hall menus are designed and staff prepares ahead on game days to “adapt” to higher volumes, with North and South Dining Halls appealing to separate guest demographics.
“You have the option: if you want something relaxed and fun, go to North. If you want something more celebratory, you come to South,” Alberganti said.
According to Greg Larson, the senior executive chef of Campus Dining, SDH staff prioritize decorations and presentations to fit a “historic” theme, such as “Kentucky Derby” or “1970s Throwback” that celebrated the 1972 introduction of undergraduate women to Notre Dame’s campus.
On the other hand, North Dining Hall (NDH) staff focuses on preparing foods from an opponent’s local area to produce a “tailgate experience.”
Larson called attention to this season’s Louisville game menu in NDH, which will feature pig shots: spicy sausages wrapped in bacon with cheese.
“Chef [Matthew] Seitz’s twist will feature a locally made (from Berrien County, MI) sausage wrapped in bacon with a charred jalapeno cheese spread served on a mini hotdog bun,” Larson wrote in an email.
The dining halls also use game days to experiment with creative menu options, which Larson said can become “so popular they become staples on the cycle menu.”
“In the spirit of game day, we also have some fierce competition between Chef Heriberto Hernandez from SDH and Chef Matthew Seitz at NDH to write amazing menus with exciting new options,” Larson said. “The culinary team at Notre Dame is a group of very talented and driven professionals with competitive souls.”
Ways to plan ahead
To mitigate and avoid sitting in long lines, Alberganti recommended using the kiosks in the dining halls to place orders before entering.
“Everything is already in the works by the time you find a spot. And it just alleviates a little bit,” Alberganti said. “And the other thing is you don’t have to serve to get your own meal at the same time.“
Larson said Campus Dining, which serves over 2 million meals per year, is always looking for feedback.
“Game day is no different,” Larson said. “Most of the [dining hall’s] improvements start with either a suggestion from a guest or our own internal audit of the guest experience.”
