I'm doing research, this time looking at older places to eat on campus that have since fallen by the wayside. Here's what I got so far. It would also be GREATLY APPRECIATED if one could tell me when the Underground opened (or whatever)

Commons
The entrance sign mentions Zatarain's Louisiana Cafe and Olla Roja, replaced by Oodles of Noodles and Baby Greens, respectively. Zatarain's is odd, since no other "Zatarain's Louisiana Cafe" stores seem to exist. In 2005, the place apparently renovated and changed Stone Willy's (chain) into Sargino's (campus)

A Tomato Bar Express was in the basement where Choral Activities is today. Same type as in Ag Café, or better?

Some sort of buffet was offered in the basement prior to 2004, including an area where students can grill their own hamburgers

Underground
Sometime in 2011 or 2012, "Ultimate Fruit Sensations" became "Degrees" and added coffee products
Whataburger closed 2005, became The Other Burger
Taco Bueno was reportedly there in the past
In 1999, Ultimate Fruit Sensations was "Ultimate Smoothie"
Altoni was replaced by Pickles Deli at some point in the past
bbqs was called Ol' Armydillo's around 2008

Ag Cafe
What did Which Wich replace?


MSC
Before the MSC closed, it contained the 12th Man International Food Court: 01 Armydillo's, a sushi bar (better than the pre-packaged stuff, apparently), Elephant Wok, Olla Roja, and the MSC cafeteria

Hullaballoo was in the basement, with Sargino's, The Other Burger, Chick-fil-A, and Downtown Deli

Other
There was a place called "Zachry Snackery" at one time

Is Rumors still there?

Taco Bueno was in the underground when I was in school. 1997-2001 Don't remember if it was there all the time, but at least a part of it. There was also a Whataburger, Chic Fil A, and some Italian place.

The Zachary Snackery existed at the same time. It was just a little kiosk with pre made sandwiches, chips, etc.

There was also the Bus Stop Snack Bar. It was across Ross Street from the Chemistry Building. It was a little "walk through" shack where you grabbed a tray and went down the line cafeteria style. I want to say they had simple stuff (burgers, sandwiches, fries, etc), but could be mistaken. Didn't go there but once or twice.

When I got to A&M in 94 the Underground had just opened or reopened after a renovation. (It may have been in the spring of 95). As said above it contained (from right to left) a Whataburger, Taco Bueno, Chick-fil-a, Alonti Deli(going with what poster above said here, never went there, but that sounds right) and a yogurt kiosk/stand. I believe it was Columbia Yogurt?

When it opened Whataburger could not serve or at least did not offer Whatachicken or shakes. I believe this was so Chick-fil-a and the yogurt place could have the chicken and dessert business.

[This message has been edited by Scotch (edited 5/15/2012 12:20p).]

The way this is worded, it makes it seem like anything change that happened 4 or 5 years ago is old, and anything that happened 10 years ago is ancient history.

Way to make me feel much older than I am.

I really started to pay attention recently, and no, 10 years ago isn't ancient history. Why, I still remember when Reed Arena opened.

I used to get breakfast burritos at the Bus Stop Snack Bar after I got out of my T/R morning class in the Chemistry building.

This subject is near and dear to my heart. I'll write up a post for later.

Around 1975, the basement of Sbisa was called *****ton and served . . . the same stuff as Sbisa.

I never knew there was a Whataburger on campus! That was well after my time as a student.

There were no "name brand" restaurants on campus in my time.

I would have killed for a CFA, instead, we had to go to the mall.

CFA was the only name brand eats I remember between 1998 and 2002. The commons had a full service campus dining hall in the basement. It was where all the CTs ate on the weekend. They also had two griddles where you could cook your own omelets in that dining hall.

The "fast food" dining they had upstairs had a single line food court type thing where you could get a generic food service's brand sub sandwich, CFA and something else (can't remember). The dining area was fairly dated and it even had a jukebox with many 80s favorites.

There was a small c-store around the corner near the back entrance as well.

Sbisa was closed for a remodel for a while, but I don't remember which years, though, since I didn't eat there except once or twice my zip year. The coffee shop had a remodel as well, I remember playing at the coffee shop after it reopened (TAMU Jazz Society).

Duncan was good 'ol Duncan and didn't change at all during my time there, with crystals of sky and fish running around like crazy. If it is still like it was, looking back at it, the number of people that are served in such a very little time is impressive.

No, Rumors is gone after the renovation. It has been replaced by Barnes and Noble, which has a Starbucks. There's also the Rev Cafe (new) and several new places in the basement of the MSC.

Pie r square? In Zachary I think.

The campus golf course grill used to have the absolute best hamburgers and grilled cheese sandwiches. Sad they closed that and put in vending machines. Really good food.

There was a little place above the underground in 1989-90 called Bernie's that had good pizza. Cannot remember when it closed.

When I came in 2000, Sbisa was closed for the MASSIVE remodel. This put a strain on the other food service locations, which caused many to extend their hours. Rumours stayed open late and served snack type food and breakfast. The bus stop dining car was also implemented. When Sbisa reopened around 2001, it was vastly improved. In the Underground, you had Whataburger, Chick-fil-A, Alonti Deli, Colombo yogurt, and Se' Wrappe. There was also the c-store around the corner. Outside, you had Bernie's coffee shop and pizza parlor (guess this was Bernie's second opening).

In the Commons, where I lived, you had the Commons Dining Center in the basement (now completely removed), which also underwent extensive renovations, possibly while Sbisa was closed or right after. It was all-you-can-eat and fairly decent, though not as popular as the reopened Sbisa. Upstairs in the Commons, you had Chick-fil-A, Stone Willy's pizza, and the Common Denominator (they always picked surprisingly clever names). There was also a c-store where you could use your meal plans to buy drinks and frozen meals.

The Pavilion also underwent extensive rennovation around this time but thankfully they kept it's snack bar which had good fried snacks.

The MSC had the 12th Man Cafeteria/international food court thing (didn't care for it myself), Hullabaloo! food court, and of course Rumours.

Blocker had a sandwich cart, the TTI building (or somewhere close by) had a cafe, the vet sciences building had Crutical Care Cafe, and the best burgers were at the Golf Course Snack Bar. Incidentally, the Golf Course Snack Bar cook (a nice older lady) now has her own burger place in The Pavilion Snack Bar.

There's a lot more information on archive.org. If you do a search there for http://food.tamu.edu, you'll find archived web pages going back to the 90s. Here's one from 2001: http://web.archive.org/web/20011106074459/http://food.tamu.edu/ And here's a little blurb about Sbisa, which was being renovated during 2000. There used to be a really cool PowerPoint presentation on the Food Services website about the renovation but it appears to have been removed.

quote:

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The eighty-seven-year-old Sbisa Dining Hall is brand new again! Built in 1911-1912, Sbisa served as the dining center for the Corps of Cadets until the construction of Duncan Dining Center in 1939. Having undergone numerous additions since its construction, Sbisa was in dire need of major internal repairs and a facelift. It has been renovated to comply with current building codes in such areas as electrical, plumbing, mechanical and modern energy-efficient systems, and it received a badly-needed new roof. Partial renovations were performed during the summers of 1997 and 1998. The entire Sbisa building closed its doors temporarily at the end of the 1999 fall semester (on December 15, 1999) to begin the additional renovation. For a review of the entire history of Sbisa Dining Hall, click here.

Construction on Sbisa was originally expected to last approximately nine months, but took several months longer due to unanticipated, but badly needed, repairs to various subsystems within the structure such as plumbing, sewer, and gas lines. The new Sbisa Dining Center, the Underground Food Court, Underground Market, the new Outbound Dining and Bernie's Cafe ExpressO are opening in the spring of 2001.

The new Sbisa features a market-style service as well as a self-branded food court featuring Italian, Mexican, Asian and American burger concepts. The new Sbisa building will also be the first to offer TAMUnet, a new wireless network service sponsored by the Dept. of Food Services and the CIS Network Group. Sbisa's modernization meets current and future dining needs while preserving the culture and heritage of the original Sbisa. We hope you like it as much as we do!

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[This message has been edited by AggiePhil (edited 5/16/2012 9:27p).]

Bernie's is closed?! Sadness!

Bernie's is still in Sbisa, near Houston Street. Who said it closed? It was open at least last semester (though rumors are that Underground will close)

Good eating memories. Was generally pleased with the on campus dining.

Mmmm Bernie's - turkey bacon wrap with ranch, tomatoes, jalapenos, lettuce and pepper jack cheese and a slice of pizza. That and whataburger underground, helped me go from 130 to 160 my fish year.

Bernies is definitely still open

There was a little shop/shack right next to Reed-McDonald - had sandwiches and drinks - nothing special though.

Is poor yoricks still around?

quote:

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There was a little shop/shack right next to Reed-McDonald - had sandwiches and drinks - nothing special though.

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Bus Stop Snack Bar.

Before Stone Willy's or whatever in the Commons, there was Lil' Bernie's in the 90's that had pizza and the great Bernie's pizza rolls.

Hullabullo used to be an unbranded multi-line cafeteria serving standard American fare. One of the 1st level MSC food sides did as well. There also used to be a convenience store that just served snacks, drinks and scantrons across from the elevators in the MSC.

I was told in the 80's that Rumors served some sort of alcohol but never got confirmation of that.

Pi 'R Square was in the CE/TTI building.

Zachary used to have a little snack kiosk.

Easterwood did have both a little cafe and an airport lounge that did serve alcohol and took Aggie Bucks for a brief time.

Blocker used to have an unbranded (I think) coffee and pastry cart when the business school was in the building.

The burgers at the Golf shop were always great.

[This message has been edited by aggiepublius (edited 5/16/2012 4:51p).]

I've added some info to my post above.

quote:

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Ag Cafe
What did Which Wich replace?

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Which Wich is in an area of the Ag Cafe that used to be a sandwich counter run by the campus food service. Cold sandwiches with choices of breads, meats, cheeses and sides assembled for you from your choices as you went through the line. The Wich Wich remodeling added the ordering system in the entrance, separate cash register, and pickup window.

I preferred the old setup, fwiw. Which Wich in the Ag Cafe is unbelievably slow, and having separate cashiers means it's a pain to get a Which Wich sandwich with waffle fries from the Chik-fil-A.

It amazes me to think about how the Ag CaFe and campus dining have changed in my time here. When I arrived, every monday was chicken fried steak at the Ag CaFe. Now there's sushi.

Ah. Here we go:

http://www.thebatt.com/2.8485/a-m-to-close-commons-dining-facility-1.1204122

quote:

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The Commons Food Court, which cost $50,000 to create, will be on the first floor of the Commons building.
Commons Xpress will offer the food formerly served in Commons Dining Center, including hot entrees, side dishes, salads and cookies.
A coffee bar, Common Grounds, will be open 7 a.m. to midnight.
"(Common Grounds is) a really super coffee kiosk-type operation, kind of a miniature of what you might see at Poor Yorick's (Coffee House)," said Ron Beard, executive director of food services.
Mexican food will be served from Olla Roja, which also operates at the MSC 12th Man International cafeteria.
The current establishments on the first floor, Stone Willy's pizza, Chick-fil-A and Common Denominator Grill & Deli, will remain in operation.

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Right, since we know that Stone Willy's became Sargino's circa 2005, Olla Roja was replaced by Baby Greens, so that means Zatarain's (now Oodles of Noodles) replaced Commons Xpress, if my sources are correct.

There used to be a creamery where you could get fresh milkshakes from the cows on campus next to the pavilion. When my mom is being nostalgic she speaks highly of it.

The creamery had the BEST kahlua icecream.....

Common Grounds. Interesting. Reminds me of the Common Grounds coffee shop at Baylor. Spent many an evening there with Baylor friends when I should have been in College Station studying.

Rumor's is gone?! NOOOOO...that place was awesome for a late night breakfast criossant. Why in the hell did they get rid of it? Great sandwiches too.

I remember the old days when the Commons had their crappy cafeteria. It was closed for years while I was there until it was remodeled right before I left. Only went there once and was slightly impressed.

Sbisa was where it was at though. Loved eating there. The Underground sucked when they got rid of Whataburger. Pie R was nice too.

Ate a few times at Hullabaloo and the food court in the MSC, particularly on game day.

Good memories. Look forward to going back to A&M one day for a Master's or Ph.D and getting more experiences.