The z6 gets an upgrade

The Z6 dining hall has been the main dining location at the University of West Georgia (UWG) since the early 1970s. After many years of serving students, faculty and community members, the Z6 is going through all types of renovations to upgrade the quality of the dining service.

In the summer or 2014, the Z6 began renovations to maintain the outside of the building. The Auxiliary Services and Dining Services are constantly working to update the dining hall.

“We have lots of plans for continuing renovation,” said John Lyons, director for campus dining. “We just started working on the entrance to the building, so it is going to look a lot nicer when we are done. After that, we are going to renovate the entrance plaza. We are going to redo the handicap parking area and create a nice looking entrance for students.”

Along with the renovations to the exterior, the Z6 is also undergoing changes inside. New food stations were added to the Z6 to enhance the quality of the food. These new stations include: the Southern Kitchen, specializing in southern comfort food; Jolé Molé, serving Mexican cuisine; Scrambled, serving omelets; Grill West, custom burgers; Pizza Time; and Soups-on, featuring the freshly made soups of the day. All of these stations came about from student request and are open each business day of the Z6.

There are many different options to choose from at each station. Along with the famous fried chicken at the Southern Kitchen, there are selections of macaroni and cheese, collard greens, sautéed zucchini and yellow squash, crispy tofu and other southern comfort foods. All of these sides come together to make a great southern meal.

“The ‘Southern Kitchen’ is a new name for what we used to call the ‘Home Zone,’” Lyons said. “We changed the menu options to really home in on reginal southern fair. We still do fried chicken every Wednesday for lunch and supper; that didn’t change. What changed was what we did around it. We tried to make Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday as enticing as Wednesdays.”

The Grill West station has the most customizable options. Each 5.33 ounce angus patty is made to order with the selection of mushrooms, onions, five different chesses and a fried egg along with the usual burger toppings. This station also has fresh, hand-cut fries to go along with the burger. These specialized burgers are delicious and made just for you.

Another new station, Jolé Molé, has customizable options as well. You can make a fajita, taco salad, nachos, or any combination that you want. Different types of meat, beans, vegetables and other types of Mexican toppings can be added to create your perfect meal.

“Jolé Molé was student driven,” Lyons said. “We do surveys semi-annually. One of the things that students recognized is that there was no true Mexican food option on campus. We also had student focus groups that confirmed that a Mexican option was missing and would be well received.”

All of the new stations at the Z6 are catered to students. Each station is well thought out and has a different type of food for students to enjoy.

“We are doing our best to provide a dining program that students want to be a part of and one that helps them to succeed at UWG,” said Lyons.

Erin

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