The Rathskellar “Chiripa in the Wall” dining establishment is not serving what I see as its purpose: serving inexpensive food quickly to students.
The other day, I went down to the Rath to order some food. I got the special (Italian sausage and peppers), a Coke, a cookie, and juice. This cost me over $10. Without the extra drink, it would have been around $7. When I buy lunch for my girlfriend and me, it is usually about $15.
Compare this to fast food chains, where a similar amount of food would be about $5 per person, or to diners, where prices are also generally kinder to students’ wallets.
Students pay too much money for the food the Rath is serving. The sausage and peppers I got was a little over $4 and was very light on the sausage. I’ve gotten a meatier sandwich for much less elsewhere.
Another problem is long waits for food off the grill. During very busy periods, it may take 30 minutes from the time you get in line until the time you get your food. Even when it’s not busy, waits can be five to 15 minutes. To be fair, wait time has improved since last year, but it’s still not as fast as it should be.
One cause of these waits may be staffing. One time I visited, my order was taken by the person standing behind the grill—I had to yell so he could hear me—because there was no one taking orders for the grill station. This might be reasonable 20 minutes before closing, but this was just after the dinner hour. Perhaps the break schedule was just off that night.
In general, the staff that’s behind the counter is helpful and competent. The problem comes from their scheduling and perhaps the processes they follow. Management needs to take a look at what’s going on in the Rathskellar’s “Union Grille”; they need to lower prices and speed up service.
