Student Spices Up On-Campus Dining

Myles Williams

UWG’s campus offers several dining options. East Commons, West Commons and Wolves Den Food Court are just a few choices available to students. However, after going to these locations for the same food on a daily basis it can become somewhat mundane. That’s why one UWG student has decided to provide more options.

Sophomore Kelsey Carter started her business “Karter Kitchen” at the beginning of the 2022 fall semester, stepping into the kitchen to serve fellow UWG students.

“I really didn’t plan to start a business honestly,” said Carter. “ It just happened because I like cooking and serving others, so I decided to start making money while cooking and we only have two dining halls that people get tired of going to and I have good cooking, so I decided to go for it.”

Carter learned about cooking from her family. 

“I used to shadow my father and grandma cooking when I was very young and after a while, I decided to start cooking on days I don’t work so I can keep myself busy from online school courses,” said Carter. “After that, I felt like God told me to start making ‘Tik-Toks’ of me cooking and then eventually I just started to grow from there getting better as time went on.”

Carter cooks her food mostly at the University Suites kitchen since it houses a large workspace. Carter also has cooked in The Oaks and Bowden Hall kitchens as well. 

“I definitely enjoy switching to different cooking locations because I don’t want to be known for just one location,” said Carter.

Setting a day for when you’re going to be cooking and serving food is very important to do. Carter cooks on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Fridays.

“I don’t cook on Wednesday and Saturdays because I don’t want to overwork myself too much,” said Carter. 

The diversity on a menu is what attracts customers because they will return for new and surprising plate options. 

“I cook all types of food like Soul food, breakfast, tacos, noodles, seafood and desserts,” said Carter. “Luckily I don’t need a license to sell food on campus so I can keep on bringing in good food to eat.”

Promotion, exposure and pricing are key to having a successful business, especially on a college campus. The right type of promotion will have a business grow and become popular. Along with promotion, having the right price for customers will have them lining up for more.

“I mostly promote on my Instagram page Karter_Kitchen, word of mouth and I also make flyers for when I’m doing something big,” said Carter. “Pricing on food can range from $1 to $22, it really depends on what you’re getting from regular food to deserts. But the highest you’d have to pay would be no more than $22.”

As the business continues to grow, Carter has some big plans for it in the future.

“After college I would like to turn Karter Kitchen into a food truck and turn the business into multiple avenues of specialized foods like Karter Kitchen presents Southern BBQ, Karter Kitchen presents American cuisine and Karter Kitchen presents Thai food,” said Carter. “I love cooking a lot, it’s an art to me especially since I have a chef kiss touch when it comes to cooking.”