Spring semester ticket sales for Stephen F. Austin State University’s student-run Culinary Café and Lumberjack Express mobile food lab open at 8 a.m. Friday, Jan.15, with service on Tuesdays and Thursdays beginning Feb. 16.
Patrons must follow the COVID-19 drive-thru and walk-up procedures. Physical distancing will be required, and seating is limited on the Education Annex building’s patio.
For pickup orders, a server will ask you to verify your name and order quantity. If you’re picking up meals for other reservation holders, have all names available. Your meal will include bottled water and utensils.
The Culinary Café, a fine-dining restaurant, will be open from noon to 1 p.m. Drive-thru meals can be picked up in the Education Annex building’s drive-thru portico located at 1620 Raguet St. For walk-up service, pick up your meals at the purple tent in front of the Education Annex’s north entrance.
Lumberjack Express, a quick-service food truck, will be open from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Pick up orders at the Lumberjack Express by Education Annex Parking Lot No. 15 on campus. Reservations are highly recommended, but walk-up orders can be purchased with credit card only. Each meal is $8, and only 60 meals will be sold.
Despite COVID-19’s effects on the restaurant business, hospitality administration students working in the Culinary Café and Lumberjack Express were able to prepare delicious meals while gaining hands-on experience during the fall semester because of the support from the Nacogdoches and SFA communities.
“We couldn’t have made it through the fall without their help,” said Dr. Chay Runnels, professor of hospitality administration and interim director of SFA’s School of Human Sciences. “Their support helped our students gain real-world experience and achieve numbers comparable to those we saw before the pandemic hit even with our scaled-back schedules.”
Culinary Café served 762 meals in the fall despite a reduced campus population and one less week of service. The café usually serves around 925 meals a semester. Lumberjack Express served 713 meals during the fall, including two private events. The mobile food lab usually serves around 750 meals each semester.
Construction on the future location of Culinary Café at 1401 Mound St., previously the home of former U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, also continues this semester. The $1.5 million renovation will preserve the 1920 home’s historic nature and add a state-of-the-art commercial kitchen and prep area to give students experience working in a more realistic fine-dining restaurant setting.
The first phase of construction for the kitchen and prep area is scheduled to be complete by early spring.
View menus and purchase tickets at sfasu.edu/culinarycafe and sfasu.edu/lumberjackexpress. For more information, call (936) 468-4502. To learn more about SFA’s hospitality administration program, visit sfasu.edu/hospitality.
By Jo Gilmore, marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University.
