Before today’s staples of The 5 and The 459 Commons, the University had five previous cafeterias: Broussard Dining Hall, Hatcher Dining Unit, Highland Dining Unit, Laville Food Emporium and the Pentagon.
Hatcher Dining Unit, in Hatcher Hall, and Laville Food Emporium, currently The 459 Commons, opened in 1949.
Jacque Landry, University Auxiliary Services quality control manager, said Hatcher Dining Unit was the busiest on campus.
Students 18 and older could also go to the on-campus bar located in Hatcher Dining Unit called The Pub. That was before the legal drinking age changed to 21 in 1984.
Landry, who has been with LSU Dining for 30 years, said he worked in The Pub one gameday weekend, and it was packed.
Hatcher Dining Unit closed in 1985, which Landry attributed to a lack of students using the facility.
“When the University decided to close Hatcher Dining Unit and The Pub, I thought the outcry would be great, but it went a lot smoother than I thought,” he said.
Highland Dining Unit was built in 1954, where the University bookstore and parking garage are currently being constructed. The dining facility was officially closed in 2009, after The 5 opened in 2010.
Broussard Dining Hall and the Pentagon, currently The 5, were built in 1966.
Briggitte Mosley, director of athletic dining and conference coordinator, was hired in 1983 as the assistant manager for athletic dining. At that time, Broussard Hall and Dining were exclusively for athletes.
Mosley said University athletics funded Broussard Hall and the dining hall inside, and the cafeteria was meant only for athletes because they had different caloric requirements.
She said Broussard closed in 2000 after athletes moved to a new dorm, and the NCAA ruled that athletes didn’t need a separate dining facility.
The University’s current dining system didn’t come about until 1997, when the University contracted Chartwells, a food service manager, to take over dining operations.
Before the University contracted food operation to Chartwells, the LSU food service was self-operating. The Commissary, currently the Engineering Annex Building, was the site of University food preparation.
Landry said the Commissary had a functioning bakery and butcher shop, which had the last state-approved butcher in Louisiana.
All food destined for the dining halls was delivered to the
Commissary, where it was prepared and delivered three times a day to each dining facility.
Chartwells remodeled and restructured dining on campus. It transformed dining facilities, meal plans and the resident dining program.
David Heidke, LSU Dining director, said Chartwells’ bid proposed remodeling dining facilities, including the Student Union, Highland Dining Unit, Laville Food Emporium and the Pentagon.
The Union was remodeled in the summer of 1997. This included changing the Tiger Lair from cafeteria style to individual food providers, remodeling the Magnolia Room and changing the game room and bowling alley into a Pizza Hut.
Landry said he remembers when the Tiger Lair was one big cafeteria. The students wanted an upgrade, he said, and Student Government supported the idea, so the University made changes.
Dining facilities underwent major changes when the University decided to close Highland and reopen the Laville Food Emporium, which became The 459 Commons.
Heidke said the University only needed two dining facilities, and at the time the University needed a parking garage.
The University decided to close Highland Dining Unit in 2009 and use that area for the parking garage.
The Highland Dining Unit stayed open while the Pentagon underwent renovations. When the Pentagon opened its doors as The 5 in 2010, Highland was shut down.
Heidke said Chartwells also proposed the University’s current meal plan and Paw Points.
Mosley said before 1997, students could have one entrée, but everything else was all you can eat.
“All you care to eat” is Chartwells’ resident dining program, which changed the amount students could serve themselves.
Landry said since 1982, the quality of food has changed considerably. When he ordered Icelandic fish for the University in 1982, the minimum amount was 15,000 pounds, but since the University closed the Commissary it no longer has space to store that amount of food.
Mosley said the University also serves more fast food now than previously.
“Students have changed,” she said, “They aren’t accustomed to parents cooking at home with recipes.”
University dining facilities also have more health inspections then before. Landry said after 1997 the University decided to have its own inspections.
The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, LSU Dining and Auxiliary Services inspect each dining facility once a month.
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Contact Marylee Williams at [email protected]