Despite its prime location, the restaurant area below Foster Hall, where City Pork is temporarily located, has become a revolving door for restaurants, cycling through three different establishments in just four years.
The basement of Foster Hall has been struggling to hold businesses in its restaurant location, with Foster Cafe, Subway and most recently T-Beaux’s Creole Cafe all leaving the location. Now City Pork occupies the location while the Art and Design Building is being renovated. But why have there been so many restaurants in this location in such quick succession?
“The main gist of it is that LSU is just not providing the resources for a sustainable business there,” said Emma Frens, a senior majoring in English who works at City Pork.
Many workers and frequent patrons of City Pork are not fans of the new location. They say it’s too cramped, depressing and less inviting than the previous location in the Art and Design Building.
“I honestly thought City Pork wasn’t on campus anymore since they moved,” said first-year law student Ethan McCorquodale, a patron of City Pork. “I used to go to the last location every week. I still go to the new location, but it’s just not as enjoyable for me.”
City Pork’s coffee options, the restaurant’s biggest business drivers, are yet to be completely available in the new location. Frens names LSU’s neglect as a big reason they do not have these options yet, saying the university has been dragging its feet on installing a water line that would allow them to hook up the espresso machine and serve specialty coffee. They have sent many work requests and emails but have yet to find success. Currently, they can only serve drip coffee and cold brew, while specialty coffee remains unavailable.
Frens said this is hurting the workers’ incomes, as people tip less on food than they do on coffee.
“Coffee is my whole job . . . My title is cashier-barista,” Frens said.
Stephen Hightower, vice president of City Group Hospitality, who owns City Pork, said the restaurant’s move to Foster Hall was very sudden; once LSU realized that the Art and Design Building was “falling apart,” they had to adapt quickly, Hightower said. City Group Hospitality did not have a choice of where the restaurant would move, and were quickly spirited away to the Foster Hall location.
City Pork’s move is only temporary. Hightower says that the company hopes to return to its old location in the Art and Design Building in a year once the construction has finished. However, Hightower sees this location in a much more positive light and welcomes the challenges it poses.
“I believe that we can succeed in any location. We have to work hard every day to stay on top of it, but I believe with our wonderful staff, we can succeed,” Hightower said.
