Bye Refter, hello Foodcourt! The new restaurant on campus will open its doors in a month’s time. For those looking forward to the opening already, here are five things you want to know.

1. A great selection
Hungry visitors to the Refter were able to choose between three hot meals: one vegetarian and two with meat. People who like a variety of choices will like the new Foodcourt. There will be a counter with Asian dishes, one with Mediterranean dishes (yes, pizza too), and one serving the classic Refter meals. There will also be a separate counter for snacks and chips. The Foodcourt will be open from half past seven in the morning until eight o’clock in the evening with different counters open at different times. The wine bar will open at the end of the afternoon.

2. Meat on Monday, but more vegetarian options.
The renovation of the Refter means the end of Meat Free Monday. However, Facilities & Services promises that there will be more vegetarian and vegan meals on offer. ‘We want to persuade people to choose a meat-free meal’, says director Gerben Smit. ‘Also on Tuesday and Wednesday.’ And sustainability has improved: coffee grounds will no longer go in the bin, but will be collected and recycled as soil for oyster mushrooms.

3. One hundred additional spaces to eat and to study
In the old Refter, a lot of space was used by the area in front of the tills, where visitors could take their meals and drinks. And the kitchen was also a lot larger than it will be in the future Foodcourt as many dishes will be prepared right in front of you. All in all, there will be one hundred additional seats. According to Gerben Smit from Facilities & Services, visitors are more than welcome to come and study or work – the Foodcourt needs to be a place for other things besides filling your stomach. For instance, the balcony has a library-like setting.

4. Additional entrances and a terrace on the south side
Staff from the Berchmanianum can walk straight into the Foodcourt. There will be an entrance and a terrace on that side. And the Foodcourt will also be accessible from the Pieter Bondamplein (in front of the Cultuurcafé). Of course, the revolving door at the Erasmusplein will remain, as will the entrance from the Erasmus Building.

5. Also important: when does the Foodcourt open?
The Foodcourt will welcome its first visitors at the end of February if everything goes according to plan. This sounds rather ambitious as if you have a quick look inside now, you will see that there is still a lot of work to be done. For example, the kitchen equipment still has to be installed and there is no trace of the new terrace on the south side. Gerben Smit is hopeful, however: ‘It will go really quickly from this point forward.’